The Pros and Cons of Public, Private and Hybrid Clouds…..
By now, you’ve heard about the cloud – and you’ve also likely heard about the benefits of using cloud computing for your business or enterprise.
Small business thinking big
What makes a smart small to medium business? We asked people in our network about the characteristics they see as key factors of success in the sector.
Here’s what we’ve come up with. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any additions you have for the list.
Clear proposition
In a market like New Zealand, it’s easy to want to be everything to everyone. There is a tendency to think that because the market is smaller than our international cousins, we need to spread the net wide. Of course a business has to have a market to sell to – and one that is large enough to support existing revenue and growth plans – but focussing in on a clear proposition and defined target audience (customer set) is the fastest way to get the market to sit up and listen to what you have to offer.
Resource savvy
The right resources in the right place – it might seem like an easy thing to achieve, but time and time again it proves to be one of the toughest things to master. Recruiting the right people; making a call between resourcing in-house or outsourcing to companies or contractors, all takes some thorough planning. In a sector short on time, it can be very easy to throw a solution at an issue without thoroughly thinking through the alternatives. While it is a short-term solve; it can lead to long-term pain.
The human factor
Leadership might seem like a worn out business phrase these days, but regardless, it’s what gets everyone working on the same page and engaged in what the business is trying to achieve. The ‘soft’ stuff like business culture, internal communication, team dynamics, all play a vital role in business success.
Finger on the pulse
Data, data, data – whether it is about how the business is performing across sales and fulfilment functions, or what the marketplace is doing, having a finger on the data means the difference between making informed decisions or working on guesswork. Of course, some great success stories have come from educated guesswork, but on the whole having timely information to hand enables business to capitalise on opportunities as they arise; refine business operations; respond to market changes quickly and generally make smart decisions.
Systems smart
Whether it is IT or the processes established to run efficiently, being systems smart enables business to focus on the task of ‘doing business’ rather than ‘running the business’. Mapping out processes implementing systems or automating functions, frees up the business to focus on customers and market opportunities instead of operational needs and issues.
Planning for success
Usually, success doesn’t just happen. It has been planned for and thought through – what is achieved in a year began months before. Looking ahead to assess market changes against planned growth and defining the steps that need to be achieved in sequence is what ultimately delivers on goals.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Why do some companies grow faster than other?
Sometimes – looking from the outside in – it seems that two companies are exactly the same: they offer the same or similar products; operate in the same market so encounter the same set of challenges and opportunities; and have been in business for a similar length of time etc…
But there’s a difference: Company A is growing at a much faster rate than Company B. What could the all important ingredient be? Is it luck? Timing?
No, it’s much more concrete than anything like luck. It’s all about efficiency and the value a company places on getting this all important ingredient right.
Inefficiency equals lack of visibility
Perhaps the most dangerous thing about inefficiency is that it makes it incredibly hard to see how the business is performing; where opportunities are being missed; and where threats are gathering ready to cause havoc with the bottom line.
If the day-to-day details of dealing with customers; stock management; accounts and other operational functions demands every free moment of the day, the big picture – the one that drives growth – never gets attention.
Market leaders are those who have established a well-oiled machine which ticks over, taking care of the daily details and maximising every available resource – ultimately leaving ample time to consider the big picture and move the business forward.
Systems driven solutions
Nine times out of ten, companies that are growing at a faster rate than their competition, are those which have invested in business systems software. They have overcome the common objections – for example staff reluctance; ‘finding the time’ to implement a new system; cost perceptions etc – and are driving growth through efficiency and business visibility.
So if the growth curve of your business is not keeping pace with your competitors, it might be time to take a look at your internal processes and systems. The good – no, great – news is that you may just be sitting on a growth spike waiting to happen, simply by making internal efficiency improvements. That’s simply too good to ignore.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Automation opportunities: Quick wins and big gains.
Finding better, faster ways of performing tasks is at the heart of successful business. Automation is a key way to achieve efficiencies in everyday activities; those that produce quick wins and big gains. For example:
Increased productivity: Automating tasks that do not need human intervention speeds up processing time and frees up staff to work on more profitable tasks.
Growth without additional staff costs: By automating what is definable, you take away much of the mundane tasks involved within each role; meaning fewer people to look after more. This helps you to grow your business, without increasing resources needed to support it.
Quality control: Removing human intervention in processes often delivers greater accuracy and reduces the risk of error.
Opportunity focus: Focussing staff on activities that drive growth and profit helps to drive a culture of high-performance and achievement.
Getting started with automation
Step one: Review your business processes, looking for those that are repeated frequently and don’t need human intervention to make decisions to complete the cycle.
Step two: Assess the time involved in running the process manually and consider other tasks the employee responsible could be performing should you choose to automate. Do these two things equal a significant opportunity?
Step three: Prioritise the processes you’ve identified as automation opportunities. Which ones do you want to work with first? Which will produce the greatest results?
Step four: Assess the automation investment needed for each process. What is the cost and how quickly will the change pay for itself. For example, if a process costs the business 10 hours a week and the automation investment is $X, how many weeks will it take to pay for the change.
Aztech Solutions works with clients seeking ways to automate for efficiency and performance. If you are interested in looking at the potential benefits for your business, we welcome you to get in touch.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Are you getting your money’s worth? Measuring system ROI.
You know how much you’ve spent; but do you know how much you’ve saved or the additional revenue you’ve generated? What we pay for business systems is easy to calculate, but the upside they provide is not always so easy to put a number on.
Evaluating the ROI of your systems software is not the most straight-forward process and does involve a bit of thinking time. But the value of doing it is significant – it helps you to understand where your system is driving efficiency and where the business may be sitting on untapped opportunities for more cost-savings and bottom line benefits.
For many SMEs in New Zealand – running at full speed across a range of functions – the time involved in strategically calculating your ROI can feel like a ‘nice to have’ and ‘impossible to find’. If you’re in that boat, then we hope the following ROI planning starters are helpful.
Process change evaluation:
Depending on the type of business you are in, your business systems software will have streamlined or automated a number of processes – after all, it is one of the primary objectives of implementation. Consider ordering, inventory, production quality, reporting – financial and other regular reports – and all other processes which act as the glue of your business. What metrics can you put around these in terms of time, accuracy, resource requirements and other factors?
The human factor:
Looking back on your business before the implementation, what kind of efficiencies have you achieved? For example, the time involved and accuracy of functions performed; the number of functions individual staff manage; more time available for revenue generating activity; have you been able to grow without adding part or full-time employees to the payroll? What metrics can you put around these factors?
The power of real-time:
Timely information is a big factor in efficiency, growth and in mitigating the risk of waste and lost opportunities. Consider the reporting you now have in place and the business decisions it has enabled you to make. What have been the revenue upsides and the cost savings?
Customer and client management:
In most sectors, customers have choice and keeping them loyal to your business takes work. How valuable has your systems software been in securing and supporting customer relationships; exceeding expectations and driving referrals and new business acquisition? Compare the new and old way of doing business and put some metrics to the business maintained and won since implementation.
Not an exhaustive list, but certainly some key thought starters to build a list of metrics on which to measure the ROI of your business systems software. Some of the most successful businesses have their finger on the pulse of their ROI to drive greater efficiencies and leverage previously unseen and untapped opportunities.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Make the most of training time with these questions.
The systems we have in place are only as good as how well we put them to work. Refreshing your team’s knowledge about the features and functions available in MYOB EXO Business can help unearth a number of previously untapped efficiencies.
Of course, making the most of systems training for your team is largely determined by how tailored it is to the skills your team members need to further develop. To help you conduct a training needs assessment, we’ve collated a list of questions to run through with your team.
Training needs assessment:
• In which areas of MYOB EXO do you spend most of your time? Do you believe additional training in these areas would enable you to complete tasks (a) quicker (b) with more accuracy (c) with more job satisfaction?
• What are the key functions you perform? In which of these functions do you believe you would benefit from training the most? Please provide specifics.
• Which five tasks do you believe training would enable you to perform quicker?
• In which three areas do you believe training would enable you to run more efficient processes?
• Are there areas of your job currently performed manually that you believe could be included as a function in MYOB? Please provide specifics?
• Have you set up a range of templates and repeatable functions in MYOB to enable quicker processing? If not, what would help you to achieve this?
• Are there new features of the version you are currently using which you have yet to explore and use for your day-to-day tasks?
• On a scale of one to five (where one = very little), please indicate the overall level of benefit you believe additional training in these areas would achieve.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Putting your staff in the driver’s seat.
Whether you have a small or large team, engaging staff in identifying and executing efficiency gains is – if managed well – a cost effective and comprehensive way to drive improved business operations, and ultimately better bottom line results. Outlined below are some key elements to consider when implementing a staff driven efficiency project – scalable to any size of organisation.
Set the objective – business and employee motivations
The success of all projects is underpinned by whether all important stakeholders are engaged with the end-objective. Your employees are the most important stakeholders in any efficiency drive. It’s simple, they are the ones performing the daily tasks that add up to a well-oiled machine or a business leaking time and money.
To engage your team, identify the business benefits of an efficiency drive. Importantly, be specific about the areas in the business where increased efficiency will deliver great results, and define those benefits. Probably the most important piece though in this stage, is to identify the actual benefits to staff. Help them see how improved efficiency will improve their work experience, potential for salary increases (if appropriate), and other employee benefits that may be introduced as a result of efficiency gains.
Define the project teams
Now you need champions to forward the process. Consider your team and identify (1) the project areas, for example sales fulfilment; (2) key employees you feel will champion the project with enthusiasm and importantly the aptitude to take a team on the journey with them; (3) lastly, give your champions the reign to select team members for their specific project.
Project process, reporting and timeframes
With your champions and their teams in place, set the project structure in terms of timeframes for delivery, the project process and reporting mechanisms. For example, the champions will have their own team meeting on an agreed frequency and report back to management in a face-to-face forum on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis depending on the overall project timeline you set.
Provide the team with process and reporting templates, for example: (1) A process document would include: (a) defining the efficiency objective for the specific area; (b) the steps involved to assess and identify the efficiency opportunity, for example insights from staff and other stakeholders; situation summary; short, medium and long term efficiency opportunities; infrastructure and resources changes needed; anticipated cost to business; anticipated time and costs savings resulting from the proposed changes etc. (2) A reporting template in which the champion and team can update their progress and notes on the steps set out in the process document.
Establish the committee and assign mentors
Your champions need to have a clear reporting line to the ultimate decision makers – those who will vote yes or no on their recommendations. Establish a panel of senior members of staff that combined have a wide range of skills and understanding of the business. These people will be the Dragon’s Den of your efficiency programme – both the panel to which your champions will report to at specific milestones in the project timeline and also individual mentors to provide support and a seasoned sounding board for the many questions your champions will have.
Access to learning resources
For many of your of champions, this project will be new ground. Before the project commences, provide a list of helpful blogs, websites, efficiency resources, and any company background material that will help inform and support their process.
Regular communication
Even projects with the best of intentions and initial enthusiasm can be overrun by the requirements of daily operations. Keep the momentum with regular all staff project updates, including highlights from the teams involved; interesting finds; and any decisions made in the period etc. Leverage the opportunity to turn the efficiency drive into a cultural shift for the company which all employees become increasingly engaged in finding even the smallest ways to be more efficient in their working day.
All organisation presentation
Celebrate the process, the efficiency gains identified and the plans established to reach the objectives identified. Acknowledge the time and efforts of all efficiency team members and, if appropriate, award teams on the basis of greatest gains identified with subsequent projects approved and in place. Importantly, clearly communicate both the business and employee benefits of the project.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Why versions matter.
It’s easy to let new versions of your systems software pass you by. But there are a number of benefits of keeping your software current – both in terms of functionality and cost.
(1) The detail matters. While new releases often focus on one or two modules with new features and functions all areas of the solution are treated to enhancements. Small details here and there are added, driving increased output from the system. Without upgrading, you are unable to take advantage of new features that enhance productivity, or even tools that may open opportunities in your marketplace. You may find the automated efficiency you’re looking for, simply by upgrading.
(2) Gradually upgrading your system ensures that your hardware and other IT keep up at a manageable pace. If upgrading is left until the absolute last moment, the cost of upgrading associated systems can often be much more than had the investment been made over time. And of course there’s the impact on cash-flow – progressively investing is easier to manage than a significant cost in one go.
(3) Small changes made regularly are manageable in terms of staff training. A process change here, new step there is on the whole a seamless change for users to grow accustomed to – as well as keeping them engaged in the potential of the solution and seeking new ways to find efficiencies. On the other hand, skipping a few versions means arranging more formal staff training and the associated reduction in productivity while users get up to speed.
On the whole, the key benefits we believe keeping pace with new versions are: (1) Cost reduction and management, (2) Optimising opportunities as soon as possible and (3) Continual enhancement of productivity and efficiencies.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Marketing with CRM insights – grow with your customers.
Important CRM data for marketing
Depending on the product or service and existing communication processes, businesses store a variety of data. Information such as business size, industry, age of business to purchases, responses to marketing campaigns previously sent, and specific areas of needs etc. The more information you have about your customers, the more effective you can be in marketing to them.
Have a look at the information you collect; compare that to the information that would help you market more effectively, and initiate a programme to gather the missing pieces.
CRM marketing for tailored communication
Customers respond well to organisations that understand their individual needs. One of the most powerful functions of CRM is the ability to set rules for communication designed for particular customers at certain times, or based on specific needs and circumstances.
For example, is there a time of year at which your client has a particular need that you can fulfil? Are there purchase thresholds you can set that trigger loyalty based pricing for top clients?
What would add a wow factor to the experience of different customer groups? Once you have identified these, establish a range of tailored email or other communication types and set your system to roll out as and when customers meet the pre-set criteria.
CRM marketing and your proposition
How your target customer responds to your offering – features, service, price etc – is one of the most valuable pieces of information available. Markets and needs change and new competition comes into the frame, so for all businesses it is essential to have a transparent view of how the business brand and offering is performing compared to the intended audiences’ needs.
By analysing existing customer and lost lead data, you can generate an accurate understanding of where your proposition is hitting the mark and where it isn’t. From there it is simply a case of understanding the why and what needs to change.
CRM marketing for direct marketing
Blanket letter and flyer campaigns simply don’t deliver adequate return. The only way to make the most of your marketing dollar with direct mail campaigns is to send different messages based on segmented needs. It might be the same or similar offer, but the return will be significantly stronger if the way the offer is communicated is tailored to defined segments of your customer base.
Take your CRM insights, define customer groups and tweak your campaign based on what particular groups of your database need to hear from your business.
There are many other applications of CRM in marketing. The key is to define the type of data that will deliver the information and insight you need to continue to attract the right customer and stay ahead of the competition.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.
Your guide to the best business systems software.
Search Phase One
The best way to approach purchasing of a new system is to rate the elements of the system that you currently use. Document the strengths (what it does well and the things you like about it) and weaknesses (what you don’t like or what it cannot do for you).
When the list is complete, check with your team to see if there are any other issues you may not have thought about, then finish by making a list of the ‘nice to haves’, or a wish list (you might be surprised) how many of these things are standard in a better system.
Categorise the list into four sections: (1) must have, (2) should have, (3) could have, and (4) wish it had.
Search Phase Two
Now you are ready for the next part of the journey. Talk to friends, colleagues, business partners and financial advisors – find out about the systems they know about, how suitable they might be for your business and what they know about the company providing the software.
Make a manageable shortlist of potential systems and do some research. Gather as much information as you can; note features that match your list of requirements and mark those that appear to be missing.
Search Phase Three
Time to contact the vendors of the potential systems. You should expect them to make a visit to your premises to meet with you and discuss what your business does and what your key issues are. For you, this is an opportunity for you to see how they behave and how professional they are: Are they the sort of people that you can build a relationship with?
During this phase you should ask for a cost estimate. If it is way out of the ballpark of what you can afford, then now is the time to be upfront and tell the vendor. Importantly, don’t discount them totally. While it may beyond your expectations it doesn’t mean that the others are going to be cheaper.
Search Phase Four
Next on the list is a demonstration of the product. Be selective – if you didn’t like the people that visited, leave that provider off the list or until last. If at the end of your evaluations of the other solutions none look suitable, then go back to these people but ensure that the relationship is going to be successful (it’s often good in these situations to let the senior manager in the organisation know that you are uncomfortable and need some reassurance).
If possible, it is valuable if the vendor customises the demonstration by using some of your products (although don’t expect it to be exactly like your business – they can only do so much to mimic the situation).
Have a checklist of things that you wish to see and don’t be afraid to ask to see a specific area working and look closely at the steps involved to achieve what you need.
Ask questions – as many as you can. No demonstration will show you every aspect in detail, but you should have a good ‘gut feel’ at the end of it. Does it look easy to use? Does it include the ‘must haves’ on your list? How many of the ‘should haves’ and ‘could haves’ are offered? Does it have any of your ‘wish it had’ items?
After each presentation, grade and rate what you have seen. By the time you have seen three different systems, it may be hard to remember how good or bad the previous system was, so it is good to capture your thoughts at the time.
Search Phase Five
Now for the tough task – the decision. Which system had the best score, ensuring that you have also scored the people as well because the relationship is very important. At the end of the day, you’re investing in people as well as a software system and the people involved definitely do make a difference to the outcome.
You can have the best system in the world and poor support and you will get an average result. Or you can have an average system with great support and you will have a better than average system. It all comes down to the expertise of the people who support your product.
Search Phase Six
Made the decision? Great. Only two more things to consider.
Finances: What is the best way to pay for your new system? From existing capital or by financing it? Talk to your advisors to ensure you make the best decision for your business.
Change management: This is where the work really begins. Change management is a major issue with any new software implementation. You need to appoint key people and have them trained on all the system elements, the business processes that you need, and how to train other staff in the areas they need to know about.
Importantly, senior people in the business need to take on these roles and as the manager or business owner, you need to lead the charge. The project just won’t succeed without you. Some staff will need to commit a lot of extra time to this project, not only do they need to learn a new system and processes, they also need to continue doing their normal job. Helping them through the process and engaging them in the ‘why’ is essential for success.
What are your thoughts? If you have a characteristic of smart small to medium business you’d like to add to the list, click here to get in contact.