Systematising, Software Selection, Set Up, Implementation and Training

A business is a system, or it's not a business.

So suggests Robert Kiyosaki in his various books including the best selling 'Cashflow Quadrant'.

If you were buying a business, would you choose ...

• Business A: where the owners are each working 60 hours a week doing everything out of their heads, and whose staff are too, but all differently?
• Business B: which is so organised that the owners don't have to work in it all because they have employed and trained staff to do their jobs the same way, including what the owners used to do?

Few people, if any, would not choose the organised Business B.  And if you don't understand why, then there's nothing we can tell you here about systematising that will help you.  Really, you are not in business, and until you grasp this idea you never will be.

However, there are many business owners who 'wish' their businesses were of the organised kind, but who are still struggling to get it to be so.

We could sympathise with the business owners that have so many things to do that only urgent tasks get any attention.  We're sure you want to develop better systems to do those regular tasks more efficiently; but you can never quite get around to it.

But the harsh truth is that this excuse is very much like the man with a leaking roof. When it's raining it's too wet and dangerous to climb on the roof to fix the hole. And when it's fine there seem to be so many other things that are more important to do, and there is no longer a pressing need to fix the hole!

If you're still giving yourself this excuse, then you're wasting your time at our web site, and we suggest you move on.

Fact 1: Efficient systems are worth it

Every business can profit from better systems.  Poor systems waste high level skills and cost you sales.  If you don’t want to spend time on administration and finances you first need to have the systems to safely step back from those functions.  Without good systems you spend your life running around putting out fires.  All of this is a hidden cost in your business.

Sure it takes some upfront investment to develop systems but that’s where you need to be clever. By drawing on Edensilk's years of practical experience reviewing and adjusting hundreds of business systems, you can fast track the process of streamlining your own.  We can take the guess work out of what works and what doesn’t.  Where the pitfalls are and what gives the greatest payback.

The unique thing about Edensilk is that we don’t just look at financial systems.  We have a large array of diverse skills across various business disciplines including marketing, sales, recruitment, accountancy, and e-commerce.  We come to you as one tightly integrated team that can produce a similarly tightly integrated system for your business.

Fact 2: Your business needs to be unique

Systems are not the end product, they are just one albeit necessary tool to boost the returns to the business owners.  If systems make your business just like all the competition then you can only expect the returns that everyone else gets.  Smart businesses adopt our unique and practical methodology for developing and implementing systems.  At Edensilk we guide you through a structured process to ensure that your systems are relevant and in line with your overall winning strategy.

If you are truly committed to turning your current 'business opportunity' into a real business, that is, into a profit generating machine that runs without you and can be sold as a going concern for an equity return; then let's talk.

Software Selection

A system does not necessarily mean software or IT; but why would you build a system and not automate it as much as possible.  It's then just a matter of choosing the right software application(s) and platform.

Packaged applications are commonly available to help you systematise your financials, marketing, sales force activity, banking, point-of-sale transactions, e-commerce, payroll, manufacturing, time-billing, document management, etc.

The benefit of these packages is that they already incorporate many best practice procedures; and so their implementation can speed your own systematisation if they are reasonably good fit with your intentions and don't require you to compromise on key areas of your own competitive differentiation.

For example, with thoughtful set up and good training MYOB, Quickbooks, ACT!, Goldmine, and similar products represent good value for the simple business.  At Edensilk we have consultants who have years of experience in making sure you get the most out of these applications.

However, many businesses quickly find limitations with packaged products.  Common reasons include:

• high volumes of transactions
• expanding to multiple locations or otherwise distributed workforce
• inability to integrate different packages with common data that gets out of sync eg CRM with Financials with web inventory
• inability to report from data that is spread across multiple applications from various vendors

Issues are complicated further when different vendors/users upgrade certain applications without regard for interconnectedness.

The IT platform side has numerous potential pitfalls as well, including:

• installing an in-house network and server
• maintaining an in-house network and server
• managing remote access and data synchronisation/integrity across multiple sites/users
• ensuring all software licences are current and legal

Many business owners find there is a large investment required to properly install and maintain the underlying platform and application infrastructure for systematisation to be achieved; so they indefinitely delay the development of practical and powerful systems that would greatly assist their business.

Our question is ... at what cost?

What is the opportunity cost of not being able to properly track advertising response rates, or lead conversions, or web traffic, or KPI's for your different offices, or have real time information on all aspects of your business?  You will never know until someone that knows what is possible asks you these questions, and assists you to calculate the answers.

But even if the cost-benefit analysis turned out to be favourable, then you would need a robust technique for identifying the appropriate software and ICT platform to deliver those benefits.

The promoters of the various packages will all make their product sound ideal; but it can be really tough working out what each application actually can and cannot do.

Choosing which package(s) are right for you can be like buying tinned food without the label. You can never be really sure what you are getting until you have opened the tin!

What you need is advice from people who have opened those tins many times before, and tasted the contents.

In so doing, Edensilk consultants have learnt that the cheapest option is rarely the best for the growing business. The key is to identify the best value option.  And to determine value you need two things.  An intimate knowledge of your business requirements, and an unbiased understanding of the various packages.

Edensilk has decades of experience analysing varied business requirements, as well as an intimate knowledge of the latest available software applications.  We take the guesswork out of finding the right solutions.

Set up, Implementation and Training

Will you bend to the system, or will the system bend to you?

No single application will offer a 100% fit to your particular way of doing things, but it also helps if you know what and how you want it to do things for you.

Edensilk consultants know how to guide you through a realistic process of constrained optimisation when it comes to configuring the use of your chosen applications.

And sometimes more importantly, we can assist your staff to effectively adopt new systems with minimal resistance and error.

Our tested methods of scoping, phased project management, and delivery ensure you get the right systems providing expected results on time and within budget.

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