Business Process Reviews

Common Issues

Below is a list of common things that we see every day. These things can cause some major roadblocks within a business’ operation, so if you feel any of the below apply to you, you may benefit from one of our business process reviews:

• Spreadsheets
  Non-automated Excel (or similar) spreadsheets that not only take an age to create and prepare but also distribute.
• Legacy Databases
  Disjointed databases (Access and the like) that do not communicate with other key systems resulting in duplication of data as well as work and time.
• Manual Paperwork
  Manually creating documentation for any aspect of your business.
• Reliance on Human Knowledge
  God forbid but, imagine your current workforce were no longer there, could you still operate? Would all the required information still be available?
• Time
  Time is important for everyone within the organisation and should be treated as such. Why spend hours doing something that has little to no return? Make software and processes work for you so your time can be spent on more rewarding aspects of doing business.

Possible Outcomes

Once we have completed our review, we will prepare a report of our findings. This will outline the people/teams we spent time with, the processes/systems we looked at as well as an idea of where there may be issues and ultimately what we think you should consider to make improvements.

It is not only about buying new software,- it could also just be small changes, to help. Below are just some of the common suggestions we may recommend:

• Better Utilisation
  Can you use the systems/people you have more efficiently? This is something we see a lot of, a Managing Director spending hours extracting and filtering sales transactions to give their sales team monthly figures. Why? You already have a system that stores those transactions, it should be able to do that for you and more often than not, with a very small amount of work, it can!
• Physical Processes
  Can the existing processes be changed or replaced with more efficient and better suited alternatives to make improvements?
• Additional Software
  The systems you have in place may be adequate but, they may just require a little assistance in some areas. There are always many options available when it comes to additional software to compliment/improve the existing systems and processes.
• Replacement/New Software
  Sometimes, it is unavoidable that the current systems you have may not be up to the task any longer, be it through growth, industry changes or otherwise. It is always prudent to keep up to date on what ‘could be’ as well as how this would benefit the business.
• Bespoke Solutions
  Sometimes, there is a very niche or specific process/system that ‘off the shelf’ software simply cannot deal with to the degree you require, this is where a bespoke solution may be worth exploring. This would allow you to introduce exactly what you need in a way that works for you.

Benefits

While a lot of what will be discussed is ‘theory’ it will ultimately allow the business to explore things it may not have been aware of previously, or thought would be possible. It opens doors to unexpected benefits as well as aiding in your future decision making.

Any solution/change we recommend will always come with an outline of estimated cost so you will know what can and can’t be budgeted for. The purpose of our Business Process Review is not only for us to empower businesses but also build relationships, not to sell software!