Going Paperless

Going Paperless By Andrew Pride

As a consultant who has specialised in Trade and Service Business Improvement for over 10 years, I can tell you that the ultimate success of any Business Improvement Program or Strategy will be determined by how well you can gain the support and participation of the staff members involved in its implementation and daily use.

Nothing is truer when implementing a Computer Based System such as IMS. As far as Business Management Software for Trades goes IMS is one of the most simple and effective systems I have seen; however as with any such system it can only ever be as good as the people who use it. The old saying of “Garbage In = Garbage Out” holds very true, so if your people don’t fully embrace the system it can’t possibly function at anywhere near its full potential...

Solid Foundations

A number of my Trade Clients are currently working with me toward implementing IMS to it’s FULL POTENTIAL within their businesses, so I thought I might share with you some of the basic changes we are implementing to ensure we achieve complete success. While each of these changes obviously play a key role in providing a solid foundation for IMS they also play the dual role of involving staff members in gradually increasing levels of change within the business so they become comfortable with participating in the process before they get to critical strategies like implementing IMS.

Time Management and Business Priorities for the owners of the business are reviewed and improved to ensure that they are able to offer sufficient time and attention to the overall Development and Implementation of Business Improvement Strategies within the business.

Logical Product Code Systems are implemented to ensure that everyone in the business understands what products have been used on every job. This minimises mistakes and avoids any confusion. Tradesmen in the field use a simple process to account for everything that needs to be billed out for each job they do.

Structured Regular Team Meetings are implemented in the business to involve all team members in the overall Business Improvement Program so that they understand why the changes are needed in the business, and what is expected of them and how well progress is being achieved.

Simple Stock Control Systems are implemented in Warehouse and Mobile Units to identify “Core Stock Products” and ensure that appropriate stock holding levels are continually maintained. This saves significant money by enabling bulk buy purchases of stock and avoiding unnecessary and costly visits to wholesalers by employees.

Logical Office Workflow Systems are implemented in office areas by admin staff to streamline the flow of information and clear any bottlenecks identified. We also look at areas such as Customer Service Systems, File Management, system backups, stock reconciliation and invoicing processes to identify and address any inefficient problem areas.

If you already have IMS up and running in your business but feel that you can achieve more with it, these are a few of the areas I would suggest you look at in your business to ensure that you achieve maximum return from your IMS System and also achieve maximum profitability and minimum stress from your business.

Andrew Pride
SmartBiz Consulting
www.business-advice.com
Ph 0412 895 599