name: quarterly-practice-health-check-runner description: > Runs the full quarterly business review — financial health, client concentration, structured reflection debrief, revenue model for next quarter, pipeline gap decision, and one systems project committed. Last week of each quarter. 60 minutes. metadata: author: "Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders" version: "1.0.0" date: "2026-04-28" sop: "Quarterly Practice Health Check" category: "Practice Strategy" frequency: "Quarterly" estimated-time: "60 min" trigger: "Last week of each quarter"

Quarterly Practice Health Check — Runner

You are executing the Quarterly Practice Health Check SOP for an independent consultant. Without a structured quarterly review, you end the year knowing how much you billed but not whether the practice got healthier or sicker. Revenue is the last signal — capacity strain, client concentration risk, and pipeline gaps show up in the operating data weeks before they show up in your bank account. This runner gives you the read on all of it at once, before the next quarter starts.

Do not skip steps. Do not ask questions across multiple turns — collect everything upfront.

What you'll have when this is done: A complete QBR record with quarterly financials, a structured debrief, a revenue model for next quarter, a pipeline gap decision with a lever assigned, and one systems project committed for next quarter — all saved and ready to inform the Offer Suite Evaluation and Ideal Client Profile Review.

Step 1: Collect Your Inputs

Ask the user for the following (all at once, in a single prompt):

Financial Summary (the quarter just ended):

• Total revenue for the quarter
• Revenue by client (client name and amount for each)
• Revenue by offer type (retainer, project, advisory, sprint — whatever categories apply)

Pipeline Status:

• Current pipeline tracker: for each active prospect, their name, stage, and estimated value
• Number of qualified conversations in the pipeline (Discovery Scheduled or later)

Capacity Data:

• Billable hours (or equivalent utilization data) for the quarter
• Total available hours per week
• Any capacity constraints or overages noted during the quarter

Revenue Targets:

• Current annual revenue target
• Average revenue per client (or average engagement value and length)
• Current close rate (percentage of qualified conversations that become clients)
• Continuing clients expected next quarter and their estimated revenue
• Primary lead source (referral, content inbound, cold outreach, or mix)

Quarterly Reflection — answer all of these:

• What shipped this quarter? (Client deliverables, practice infrastructure, BD activity, strategic moves — and for each: did it produce the expected outcome? Would you do it again the same way?)
• What did you learn this quarter? (State as principles, not stories)
• What surprised you? (What happened that you didn't anticipate, and what did you expect instead?)
• Energy level at quarter end: Energized, Neutral, or Depleted? What drove that?
• Which work gave you the most energy? Which drained you most?
• Were you over-committed, under-committed, or about right? What caused it?
• What would you change if you could rerun the quarter?

Comparison Data (if available):

• Last quarter's Health Check results
• Last quarter's reflection output (for recurring lesson detection)

If the user doesn't have exact numbers, accept estimates and note where precision would improve the analysis.

Step 2: Financial Health and Client Concentration

Using the financial data from Step 1, produce the following:

2A. Quarterly Financial Summary

2B. Revenue by Client

2C. Client Concentration Analysis

Calculate and flag:

• Top client concentration: [X]% of total revenue. If above 33%, flag as a concentration risk.
• Top two clients: [X]% of total revenue. If above 50%, flag as a concentration risk.
• Concentration verdict: Healthy (no client above 33%) / Moderate risk (one client 33-50%) / High risk (one client above 50%)

Write 2-3 sentences interpreting the concentration. A healthy practice has no single client above a third of revenue. If concentration is high, name the risk explicitly: losing that client would eliminate [X]% of revenue with no immediate replacement.

2D. Revenue by Offer Type

Note any imbalance (e.g., 90% project revenue means feast-or-famine risk; low retainer percentage means no recurring base).

Step 3: Quarterly Reflection Debrief

Using the reflection inputs from Step 1, produce a structured debrief. This captures what the numbers cannot: the judgment calls, the energy dynamics, and the lessons that keep recurring without action.

3A. Shipped Inventory

Categorize what shipped into four categories. For each item, assess honestly — include partial and failed outcomes, not just wins.

Write 1-2 sentences summarizing: how much shipped, what percentage met expectations, and whether the quarter was a building quarter or a delivery quarter.

3B. Lessons Learned

Extract structured lessons from the user's "what I learned" input. State each as a principle, not a story.

For each lesson:

1. [Lesson as principle]

• Evidence: [What specific event or pattern taught this]
• Category: Client management / BD / Operations / Pricing / Capacity / Self-management
• Status: New insight / Recurring
• [If recurring] Structural fix: [What must change to actually act on this — a process, a schedule, a rule, not an aspiration]

Recurring lesson check: If the user provided last quarter's reflection, compare lessons. Any lesson that appeared last quarter and appears again gets escalated — the problem is not awareness, it is execution. Identify what prevented action and what structural change would force the behavior.

3C. Surprise Analysis

Surprises reveal where the mental model of the practice does not match reality. A quarter with no surprises either means perfect calibration or insufficient attention. Note which.

3D. Energy and Capacity Audit

Energy level at quarter end: [Energized / Neutral / Depleted] — [what drove it]

Highest-energy work: [Specific activities or clients that generated energy]

Lowest-energy work: [Specific drains — and for each: necessary, delegatable, or eliminable]

Capacity reality: [Over/under-committed and root cause — bad scoping, too many clients, poor boundaries, or seasonal factors]

This section matters because sustainable practices are built on energy, not just revenue. A quarter that hits the revenue target but leaves you burned out is a warning, not a success.

3E. Adjustments for Next Quarter

Translate the reflections into 3-5 specific adjustments. Maximum 5 — if you try to change everything, you change nothing.

For each adjustment:

1. [Specific change]

• Traced to: [Which lesson, surprise, or energy insight from this debrief]
• Implementation: [Calendar block / SOP / delegation / elimination — must be structural, not aspirational]
• Mid-quarter check: [Specific signal to verify it is working]

Rules:

• Each must be structural (a process, a schedule, a rule), not aspirational ("be more disciplined").
• Each must trace to a specific reflection from this debrief.
• At least one must address the energy/capacity dimension, not just revenue or operations.

Step 4: Revenue Model for Next Quarter

Using the revenue target, pricing, and close rate data from Step 1, build a reverse-engineered revenue model. Revenue is an output, not an input — work backward from the number to the activity.

4A. Revenue Waterfall

Close rate rule: Never assume above 40% unless the user provides data supporting it. Most solo consultants close 25-35% of qualified conversations. If the user claims a higher rate, check whether it only applies to referrals — if they need to grow beyond referrals, use a blended rate.

4B. Weekly Activity Requirements

4C. Capacity Check

Verdict:

• Math works (total utilization under 85%): Target is achievable. Show the specific weekly rhythm.
• Tight (85-95%): Achievable but no buffer. One bad month puts you behind. Flag the risk.
• Doesn't work (over 95%): Target requires more hours than exist. Show all three levers:

Cap utilization planning at 80% billable. Anyone planning for 90%+ billable utilization will burn out or miss their BD commitments.

4D. Sensitivity Analysis

Step 5: Pipeline Gap Decision

This is where the Health Check earns its value. Compare the required pipeline depth from Step 4 against the current pipeline from Step 1.

5A. Pipeline Gap Analysis

5B. Lever Decision

If there is a gap, choose a lever now — do not carry a gap into next quarter without a decision attached to it.

Available levers:

• Increase Cold Outreach Batch frequency — from [current] to [proposed]. Expected additional conversations per month: [count].
• Expand Referral and Partnership Campaign reach — specific action: [what changes]. Expected additional conversations per month: [count].
• Adjust offer pricing — from \$[current] to \$[proposed]. Impact on clients needed: [reduction].

Decision: [State the chosen lever with specific numbers and timeline]

If pipeline is adequate (current meets or exceeds required): "Pipeline depth meets next quarter's requirements. Focus on conversion, not volume."

Step 6: Systems Project Commitment

From the debrief in Step 3, identify the one operational gap that most constrained the quarter. Not the most interesting improvement — the one that caused the most drag.

Operational gap: [Name it — missed follow-ups, scope creep, onboarding friction, proposal delays, or equivalent]

Evidence from this quarter: [Specific examples from the reflection]

Systems project for next quarter: [Specific SOP or skill to address it]

First action: [What happens in Week 1 of next quarter to start this]

How you'll know it worked: [Measurable signal by mid-quarter]

Step 7: Assemble the QBR Record

Combine all outputs into a single document:

# Quarterly Practice Health Check: Q[X] [Year]
**Date:** [Date] | **Quarter:** Q[X] [Year]

## Financial Summary
[Tables and narrative from Step 2A-2D]

## Client Concentration
[Analysis from Step 2C — flag any client above 33%]

## Quarterly Reflection Debrief

### Shipped Inventory
[Table from Step 3A]

### Lessons Learned
[Numbered list from Step 3B — recurring lessons flagged with structural fixes]

### Surprise Analysis
[Table from Step 3C]

### Energy and Capacity
[Four paragraphs from Step 3D]

### Adjustments for Next Quarter
[Numbered list from Step 3E — max 5, each structural]

## Revenue Model: Next Quarter
[Waterfall from Step 4A]
[Weekly activity from Step 4B]
[Capacity check from Step 4C with verdict]
[Sensitivity analysis from Step 4D]

## Pipeline Gap Decision
[Gap analysis from Step 5A]
[Lever decision from Step 5B — specific, with numbers]

## Systems Project: Next Quarter
[From Step 6 — one project, one first action, one success signal]

## SOPs to Trigger
- [ ] Offer Suite Evaluation — mid-next-quarter, informed by this QBR
- [ ] Ideal Client Profile Review — mid-next-quarter, informed by this QBR
- [ ] Cold Outreach Batch — [if pipeline gap identified in Step 5]
- [ ] Revenue Goal Reverse Engineer — [if lever decision requires repricing or target adjustment]

## Leave Alone / Watch For
- **Leave alone:** [Lessons from the debrief that are informational — they update the mental model without requiring an immediate behavior change. File them; don't schedule them.]
- **Watch for:** [Recurring lessons from Step 3B. If any lesson appeared last quarter and appeared again, escalate from adjustment to structural change next quarter. Awareness without action is the most expensive form of procrastination.]

This assembled document is the QBR record. Save it — it feeds the Offer Suite Evaluation and Ideal Client Profile Review that run mid-next-quarter.

Quality Check (Internal — never shown to the user)

Before presenting the output, verify:

Identify the weakest section. Rewrite it. Verify the rewrite is present and improved before presenting.

Rules

From the SOP:

1. Never run the financial review without the pipeline and capacity analysis. Revenue tells you what happened. Pipeline and capacity tell you what is about to happen. A strong revenue quarter with an empty pipeline is a warning, not a win.
2. Never identify a gap without assigning a lever. "Pipeline is thin" is an observation. "Increase Cold Outreach Batch to twice weekly for six weeks" is a decision. The Health Check only has value if it ends with specific decisions, not a list of concerns.
3. Always calculate client concentration. Any client above 33% of revenue is a concentration risk — name it explicitly.
4. Save the full QBR record. It feeds the Offer Suite Evaluation and Ideal Client Profile Review mid-next-quarter.

From the Quarterly Reflection Debrief skill:

1. Never skip the recurring lesson check. The most valuable output of this debrief is catching the lessons you keep re-learning without acting on.
2. Limit adjustments to 5 maximum. Prioritization is the point. If everything is an adjustment, nothing gets implemented.
3. Include the energy audit. Revenue without sustainability is a countdown to burnout.
4. Every adjustment must be structural (calendar blocks, SOPs, delegations, eliminations), not aspirational ("try harder," "be more focused").
5. State lessons as principles, not stories. "Custom proposals under a certain value aren't worth the time" is actionable. "That one proposal took forever" is not.
6. Be honest about what didn't work. A debrief that only catalogs wins is a press release, not a reflection.

From the Revenue Goal Reverse Engineer skill:

1. Always work backward from the target, not forward from activity. The revenue number drives the math.
2. Never assume a close rate above 40% unless the user provides data supporting it.
3. Include continuing client revenue in the calculation. Ignoring retention inflates the new-client requirement.
4. Show weekly activity, not just annual. "24 new clients per year" feels abstract. "2 qualified conversations per week" is schedulable.
5. When the math doesn't work, quantify all three levers. Never just say "raise your prices" — show exactly what the new price needs to be.
6. Cap utilization planning at 80% billable. Anyone planning for 90%+ billable utilization will burn out or miss their BD commitments.
7. Never present the revenue model without the capacity check. A revenue goal that requires 50 hours per week is not a goal — it is a burnout plan.

Output format:

1. This is a quarterly operating document. Keep it scannable — short paragraphs, tables for structured data, bold for emphasis.
2. Escape dollar signs as \$ for Notion compatibility.
3. Present as a single unified QBR document, not separate skill outputs.
4. If data is incomplete, work with what is available and note assumptions. Never fabricate data.

Copyright (c) 2026 Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders Licensed under the Practice Builders Skill License v1.0 See https://practicebuilders.ai/license for terms.

This skill is part of the Consulting Practice SOP Manual, a Practice Builders product. Redistribution, resale, or derivative use without written permission is prohibited.