Free tool · for founders, operators & HR
Free Key-Person Risk Checklist
Every business has one or two people it could not easily lose — the one who runs operations, holds the key client, or is the only one who understands a critical system. This free checklist makes that key-person risk visible for one team: list the roles you'd worry about losing, mark whether only one person can do each — the bus factor — and the checklist flags the single points of failure. Download it, fill it in by hand, and see your exposure in one place — a taste of how the full Succession-Planning & Key-Person-Risk Workbook maps the whole business.
Take it with you — free, no signup
Direct download. No email, no account — just the files.
What it does
- Lists the critical roles in one team — the holder, what only they can do, and how critical it is.
- Flags each role's key-person risk from two inputs: how critical it is and whether only one person can do it.
- Colors each flag — key-person risk, cross-train gap, or covered — so the exposure reads at a glance.
- Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice — a file you own, with no email or signup.
Own it, don't rent it
Want the whole business mapped, not just one team?
This free checklist flags single points of failure in one team by hand. The full Succession-Planning & Key-Person-Risk Workbook scores criticality and coverage and auto-places every role on a nine-cell risk grid, with a live coverage map, a succession plan that scores each successor's readiness, and a risk summary with named lists and single-point-of-failure totals — in one owned 8-tab workbook (Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice) plus four guides.
A one-time purchase you keep and reuse — the owned workbook between a blank spreadsheet and a rented per-seat talent-management app.
A business-continuity and planning template, not HR, legal, or professional advice. A single-point-of-failure flag is about protecting the business and the person, never a verdict on anyone. The example roles and people are fictional. Free to use; please don't resell or redistribute.