Sell more. Waste less. Be more efficient. Get your staff more engaged. Stock the right materials, work with the right suppliers, give the right discounts, make the most money. Grow. Diversify. Move forward.
There are so many ways you might want to make improvements in your business – but chances are there will be things in your way, stopping you from taking that crucial next step.
Social media is full of inspirational quotes about following dreams and anything being possible, which is all very well - but wishes don't come true just by making them.
What are the obstacles in your business?
What is preventing your people from being their most engaged and productive selves?
What is standing between you and the next step forward?
What is holding you back?
It could be many things.
Time. Fear. Lack of clarity or visibility. Lack of information. Indecision. Disagreements in the senior team. Clutter, both literal and figurative, stopping you from accessing the critical facts and trends you need to see.
Cost. It’s almost always a factor somewhere. And if this is a factor for you, make sure you’re always assessing both sides of the cost equation – yes, a solution might cost you a lot. But what’s the cost of not addressing the issues?
Get to know your business – even better
Understanding the real obstacles is the only way to overcome them. But that can be tricky to do without outside help. Some businesses invest thousands in external auditing consultants to assess their processes and practices, and suggest improvements. Other choose to attempt the process themselves, but can often end up missing the wood for the trees, or tinkering with small changes when bigger, systemic issues need addressing more fully.
Conducting an audit of business processes is an incredibly useful thing to do, and will also help you to choose a system which will fit your needs best. After all, how can you choose the best solution if you don’t know what you’re trying to fix?
Why are we talking about this?
We’re talking about it because when you choose to invest in a new ERP system, it’s a perfect opportunity to spring clean your business and choose what you want to keep. It’s a great chance to cleanse data, to re-order admin and to introduce new processes that will help your business to flourish.
But often those changes come AFTER you've committed, and if you didn't know exactly what tools you needed, who's to say you've chosen the right one?
So we decided to change things. Now, at the very beginning of a purchase, before you’ve fully committed to the whole system, we conduct a full Business Process Review, which assesses what you’ve already got in place, identifies where improvements could be made, and critically, outlines exactly what customisations might be possible within the system to ensure it is totally fit for what YOU need it for.
No two businesses are ever the same, so no two ERP systems should be either. Make sure you have the tools YOUR business needs, and which work around you – not the other way around.
Taking positive action
However you choose to go about addressing it, you need to get to a point where you know exactly what your current situation and tools are, and a clear view of where you need to be. The gap between the two forms the basis of your action plan. And chances are, your ERP system can help to deliver it. An external perspective can be invaluable in assessing the efficacy of your existing processes and systems. That’s why we include the BPR as standard.
So what’s stopping you?
Book a free 30 day demo of Merchanter today and discover the way forward for yourself.