As Christmas approaches there is often a scramble amongst businesses to make the most out of this traditionally lucrative time of year. Reviewing business processes is never an easy experience for any business owner and can be downright uncomfortable at times, but finding errors or potential flaws does mean there is an opportunity to fix them and maximise all future sales.
In busy times of the year, such as Christmas it can be important to not only concentrate on the customer facing areas of your business. These areas are important and do play their part but should not attain one hundred percent of your attention - the nuts and bolts.
It can be fairly straight forward to run the back of house operation of a small business on a relatively standard IT set up and 'off the shelf' software. However, if you are looking at squeezing everything you can out of your business (and why wouldn't you) then updating your back-end software system could be a wise place to start.
When considering an IT upgrade, be it hardware or software it's worth thinking about the potential extra revenue that will result through making the changes. As often, the initial investment can be quite high but once implemented increased revenue over the next few months and years more than justify the initial outlay.
Upgrading your business' software doesn't always mean buying a whole new IT suite to run it at the same time. Many businesses currently use software that they have bought from an IT store, which serves a general purpose and can do most of what is needed. However, fitting your business processes in around the software you have really isn't logical - getting the business processes right then getting software to enhance those processes is the way to maximise your business and is where custom developed software really comes into its own.
A bespoke system that has been designed and built to match the needs of a business will often increase the efficiency of the backroom operation by bringing all the required functionality into one program. Customer information, order information and any internal notes for example can all be accessible from the same place, by all staff. This alone can speed up the rate at which orders are processed and improve customer relations as well as any potential errors that can surface when multiple people and platforms are involved.
If you are looking for ways to maximise the profitability of your business, this may be one area that has escaped your attention or one that you hadn't considered as your back-end systems are 'ok'. If you are looking to push your business to the next level then don't be afraid to review your IT system and demand to get out of it exactly what your business needs.
In busy times of the year, such as Christmas it can be important to not only concentrate on the customer facing areas of your business. These areas are important and do play their part but should not attain one hundred percent of your attention - the nuts and bolts.
It can be fairly straight forward to run the back of house operation of a small business on a relatively standard IT set up and 'off the shelf' software. However, if you are looking at squeezing everything you can out of your business (and why wouldn't you) then updating your back-end software system could be a wise place to start.
When considering an IT upgrade, be it hardware or software it's worth thinking about the potential extra revenue that will result through making the changes. As often, the initial investment can be quite high but once implemented increased revenue over the next few months and years more than justify the initial outlay.
Upgrading your business' software doesn't always mean buying a whole new IT suite to run it at the same time. Many businesses currently use software that they have bought from an IT store, which serves a general purpose and can do most of what is needed. However, fitting your business processes in around the software you have really isn't logical - getting the business processes right then getting software to enhance those processes is the way to maximise your business and is where custom developed software really comes into its own.
A bespoke system that has been designed and built to match the needs of a business will often increase the efficiency of the backroom operation by bringing all the required functionality into one program. Customer information, order information and any internal notes for example can all be accessible from the same place, by all staff. This alone can speed up the rate at which orders are processed and improve customer relations as well as any potential errors that can surface when multiple people and platforms are involved.
If you are looking for ways to maximise the profitability of your business, this may be one area that has escaped your attention or one that you hadn't considered as your back-end systems are 'ok'. If you are looking to push your business to the next level then don't be afraid to review your IT system and demand to get out of it exactly what your business needs.
About the Author:
MSM are software consultants based in the UK who offer bespoke and custom software development services for businesses and organisations of all sizes.
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