Commercial organisations need effective process, the focus of leadership and structure that can adapt to enable the company to grow safely as a massive 55% of businesses don’t make it to their fifth birthday. The commentators offer banal opinions as to why this happens. I continuosly observe three key reasons why this tragedy occurs so often and to so many people with different experience, education and knowledge.
The first reason is lack of market comprehension.
Refusal to look at the water ahead. For example People dream up the idea, build the product and then sit back and wait for the market to flock and purchase. In information age there is no excuse for lack of research prior to wasting any time and money on building a product until you have firm evidence there is a market.
The number two reason is lack of understanding of the basics of business.
A significant proportion of people starting a company know their trade, how to offer a service or build a product, but know very little about running a company. Having the ability to read and follow the balances in the P&L or the balance sheet is a vital. The basic knowledge of accounting is rarely imparted coherently by the business manuals, internet resources and experts in the know such as accountants and bookkeepers. This domain is further complicated by manufacturers and their affiliates pushing small business accounting software at fledgling businesses.
Sage software and other vendors as usual are underserving small businesses.
Large enterprises way back deduced that all of their Information systems should be wired together to give them a complete picture of the business and then along came ERP software solutions and packages. One technology business NetSuite had the foresight to see the gap in the market and began selling its small business ERP software. NetSuite competitors have seen the gap as well and as a result lower cost easier to use solutions have emerged.
The third reason companies don’t survive is because of a dirth of process and procedures that put in place the essential disciplines and consistency a business must have to perform efficiently.
Small business ERPcan replace dispirit technology solutions and help you improve your business performance
Every minute of the day in your business, you and your team are busy managing multiple activities like serving prospects and customers, following up sales enquiries, managing the sales paper trail, recording time on projects and tracking stock. Every thing you do in your business has some financial implication so you’ve got to keep your accounts accurate, keep a vigilant eye on what cash is being generated and used….and forecast your sales and cash flow. Every sale, every expenditure you make and every job or project you undertake generates a trail of paperwork.
And from the moment you follow up an enquiry to the moment your business gets paid, you have to be able to record and view detailed information about every activity in these processes. You and your team need round the clock access to all of this information from anywhere. And you, your managers and team leaders have to have an accurate and concise view of every key task and the ability to quickly drill down on any balance or task to view, understand and follow what is occurring where, when and why it’s happening and if these activities are being run effectively.
What gets measured gets refined so it’s vital the activities in every key process in your company can be monitored and measured as they happen so you and your team can take advantage of opportunities, identify and work on problems before they become disasters and manage your business processes effectively.
To get a handle on all of this and consistently have a complete picture you don’t need accounting sofware, you don’t need a CRM system, you don’t need a time sheet and tracking system, an employee expenses tracking system or a stock control system. You need a single system that has all of this in a single environment and lets you give access to all of the key workers in your organisation where ever they might be working. A single system that gives a complete picture of your business, so you consistently understand what’s happening and lets you manage your company in the way that works best for you and your managers.
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