Whatever the size of your organisation, getting the systems right is vital to ensure that you and your team can operate effectively and you hit your revenue and profit margins.
Being (and staying) profitable might be achieved by either turning over more revenue, reducing costs, increasing margins, etc. But how can each of these be accomplished?
The answer is by deploying the latest systems – some of which have a huge ROI and quick payback period. Other techniques don’t involve capital expenditure and can be implemented by making minor changes to the way that systems or business processes operate.
Here are 5 things that you should check to see if they are slowing down or restricting your business:
- How long does it take for your computers to start up in the morning? When you start adding up the time that it can take, the option to upgrade or change machines can become quite appealing.
- Are your automated virus scanners set to run during the day? If so, this slows down machines and the speed they (and people using them) operate at.
- When you need to work with someone else on a spreadsheet or presentation, how long does it take to email it between each other until you get to a final agreed version? Did you also have to arrange a meeting to get together and finish it? Did you need to drive there and incur cost doing so?
- What are the tasks that you need to constantly repeat on your systems? Can these be automated or done differently?
- Do you find yourself writing information on paper, then keying it into systems? Can dual activities be merged into one?
By “zooming out” from current business functions and assessing them from above, you can spot wastage in your business and address it.
What type of things can you find in your organisation?
