Business Diagnostic — Full Intake | Petrus Van Der Merwe
Business Diagnostic · Step 2 of 2

The full intake

This is the raw material for your report. The more accurately it's filled in, the sharper the findings — but estimates are genuinely fine. Anything you're unsure about, say so and I'll flag it as an estimate in the report rather than treating it as fact.

You can close this page and come back. Your answers are saved in your own browser until you submit.

Allow 40–60 minutes · Have your accounts to hand
Section A of J
Draft saved

Confidential. Everything here is treated as confidential, used solely to produce your diagnostic report, and never shared, published or used as an example. Your data is retained for twelve months after delivery and then deleted, unless you ask for it sooner.

If you don't know a figure, estimate it and mark it as an estimate. A report built on honest estimates is useful. A report built on invented precision is not.

Section A

The business on paper

The formal shape of the thing — what exists legally, and who owns it.

Sole trader, LLC, Ltd, partnership, not yet registered…
Names aren't needed — "me 100%" or "me 60%, partner 40%" is enough
Section B

Revenue

Where the money actually comes from. This drives the revenue-model and concentration analysis.

So I can see direction of travel
If the business is seasonal
Every distinct thing you sell, with roughly what each brought in over 12 months. One per line — e.g. "Treatments 156,960 / Retail products 17,400 / Workshops 9,200"
How many sales, jobs, treatments, covers, orders — per line if you can
Estimate if needed
Roughly what share of revenue comes from returning customers?
These figures are
Section C

Costs

Split into costs that rise when you sell more, and costs that don't. This produces the gross margin and the cost-structure verdict.

Materials, stock, consumables, subcontractor or associate payouts, delivery, card fees. One per line with annual amounts.
Rent, wages, utilities, insurance, software, marketing, accounting, loan repayments, everything else. One per line with annual amounts.
Excluding anything you took yourself
Amount outstanding and monthly repayment
These figures are
Section D

Your own labour

The most important section in this form, and the one most owners have never calculated.

Why this matters

Your time is almost certainly the largest cost in the business — and it appears nowhere in your accounts.

Until it's priced, any profit figure is fiction. These six answers produce the restatement that usually becomes the headline finding of the report. Estimate honestly rather than modestly.

Actually doing the thing the business sells
Managing, admin, marketing, bookkeeping, ordering, firefighting
52 minus real holiday
Salary, drawings, dividends — everything
Per hour, or per job — the going market rate, not what you'd like it to be
Annual salary for a competent manager in your market
Family, partner, yourself in a second role
Section E

Pricing

Rates, history, and where you sit against the market.

Every service or product with its price. One per line.
Names not needed. Their published prices are enough — this anchors the pricing analysis.
And roughly what share of sales go out at a discount
Be honest — this answer is more revealing than you'd think
Section F

Capacity

How much you could serve, versus how much you do. This is where idle assets show up — and it's often the largest single opportunity in the report.

Your unit of capacity
When you're open or available
Your best honest estimate of overall utilisation
Which days and hours are full, and which are dead. Be specific — "Tuesday to Thursday mornings are almost empty" is exactly the kind of answer that produces a finding.
How often, and roughly what it was worth
Section G

Customers and positioning

Who you think you serve, versus who actually pays you. The gap between those two is often the finding.

If it's different from the answer above, say how
Frequency and value are often different people
Roughly what share from each channel — referrals, walk-in, search, social, ads, partnerships
Everyone who has ever bought
Haven't bought in over a year
"Never" is an extremely common and very useful answer
Section H

Operations and dependency

Who holds what, what's written down, and what breaks if someone leaves.

Delivery · Sales · Customer relationships · Finance and invoicing · Ordering and stock · Marketing · Hiring. Name the role, and say whether the process is written down anywhere.
What they are, and when they renew or expire
Booking, POS, accounting, CRM, inventory — and whether the data can be exported
The recurring operational problem you've stopped noticing
Section I

Your own read on it

Answer these before you see any analysis. Where my findings differ from yours is where the value of this report sits.

Be specific — a number, a change in your week, a decision made
Every business has constraints the owner won't move on. Naming them keeps the recommendations useful rather than theoretical.
Section J

Documents and declarations

The last step. Documents are handled separately and securely — not through this form.

Don't email financial documents. Once you submit this form, you'll receive a private upload link. Please put your documents there rather than sending them as email attachments — it's more secure for you, and it's how I keep the confidentiality commitment I've made.

Tick everything you have. Missing items don't stop the diagnostic — they're noted as limitations in the report.
Days and hours in your local time

Your report follows within 7–10 working days of the intake call

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