It’s hard to know when to upgrade your business management system, especially when you and your employees are comfortable with the current system.  Below are some common headaches business owners, managers, and employees face that indicate it may be time for a new system:

1. Your inventory is often inaccurate.

Does your inventory seem to be inaccurate more and more often? If this sounds familiar, the inventory management part of your system is probably due for an upgrade. For more accurate inventory levels, direct connections to suppliers and co-ops are available through EDI updaters. Also, ERP systems can sometimes produce more accurate inventory levels than POS systems for larger operations, as the inventory module is connected to ordering, warehouse management, delivery management, finance, POS, and more.

2. Your business uses multiple, disconnected systems.

Using multiple business systems to manage your business can be a headache for many retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. If employees need to manually enter data from one system to another, whether it be for invoicing, customer data, pricing, or more, then you are not only increasing the opportunity for errors, but also you are not maximizing productivity when your employees spend their time manually transferring or inputting data that your business already has in a different system. It’s surprising how much this can cost your business.

3. The system you use is not specific to your industry.

Many business owners purchase POS, ERP, or other business management systems that are not specific to their industry. While this works for some enterprises, it can also cause a big headache for managers and employees. For example, some lumber businesses cannot set up automatic unit conversion for their lumber items (to easily buy in one unit and sell individually). Some garden centers cannot print plant tag labels right from their inventory list. Some firearms retailers do not have an electronic bound book integrated into their system. All of these examples show how time is wasted and processes are less efficient when your business management system does not utilize industry-specific solutions.

4. Your team is unsatisfied with support.

Sometimes, especially with outdated business management and POS systems, managers find themselves reaching out to support more and more often. Many support teams do not assign account representatives, so each time you call you speak with a different person. This may not seem like a big deal, but it becomes an issue when the support person troubleshooting your current error is not aware of the issue you experienced last week that may be causing it. This can be relieved when working with a provider that assigns a support account representative to your business.

5. Your current system is not keeping up with the growth of your business.

This is a common headache for businesses. As your business grows, so do your operations, staffing needs, locations, inventory needs, and more. While it may have previously made sense to ship items from suppliers directly to your store, now it may make more sense to invest in a warehouse, ship all materials there, and use trucks to deliver to the stores. Your business system should be equipped to handle these types of changes if you see your business needs growing or changing in the future.

6. You don’t have mobile options.

Mobility for business systems can mean a few different things, all of which can cause headaches for business owners and employees that are not practicing them. The first is mobility at your location. For larger stores, tablets enable employees to quickly answer customer questions, show new or related products, and more. They also allow warehouse employees to immediately enter shipping information, and delivery drivers to input delivery information. The second is mobility outside of your location. As a business owner, it is important to be able to access your data anytime, anywhere. If you are in meetings, being able to access all of your information live is invaluable. At tradeshows, buyers can buy or sell on the spot, placing orders in the system or charging clients directly.

If you are experiencing any of these headaches, System Solutions LLC can help.
Give us a call at 860-781-6470 or email us today.

Business management systems usually don’t come cheap – whether it is a POS, ERP, Accounting, Inventory, or any system that helps to run your business. But did you know they can continue costing money even after the system is paid off?

One major way systems continue to cost money is through support. Some systems have a lower cost for the software, and a high monthly support cost. This seems like a great deal at the time – you’re saving thousands up front! But are you really saving that money in the long term? The lower up front cost with a higher monthly support cost is actually a better deal for the provider, not for you. If the system you purchased was $10,000 less than another system, but the monthly support cost was $200 more per month, then it will only take 4 years and 2 months to equal out. After that time period, the system you purchased is actually more expensive than the one with a $10,000 higher initial price. To combat this, try finding a system with multiple support options, and do the math to see what it will really cost you.

Another way your system could be costing you money is through manual processes. Let’s say you have a separate accounting system from your business management system. Your finance team spends about 4 hours per week manually generating invoices, entering and ensuring accurate data, double checking that the charges in your accounting system match to the transactions in your business management system, etc. That seemingly insignificant 4 hours per week is actually pretty costly, costing your company over $7,000 per year if paying the finance employees an average $35 per hour. That $7,000 could be saved by using a system that can automatically generate statements, journals, receipts, and other financial information. Manual ordering has the same consequence – if your business submits inventory orders manually and not through an automated or streamlined process, then you will be costing your business thousands per year. Using a system that makes ordering fast and easy, or connects directly to vendors, saves not only time, but also money.

Lastly, while you may be missing out on sales with an outdated system, you may also be missing opportunities for sales if your system does not have reporting capabilities. Yes, everything will run smoothly and work properly – but do you know if you are maximizing profits? With reporting capabilities, some systems are able to tell you your best selling items for any timeframe, margin reports to show your most profitable items, inventory forecasting to make sure you do not experience shortages or over-buying, and even customer data to show which customers spend the most money, what time of year they spend it, and what they spend it on. While not having these insights does not directly take money from your account, it does come at a price. What opportunities are you missing out on? How many times have customers come in looking for an item that you are out of stock of? How many customers love your business, but you just don’t have what they’re looking for when they need it? All of these questions lead to this: How much money are you letting walk out of your door, and how much money did you not invite in in the first place?

If you are interested in learning more about a new system, System Solutions LLC can help you get your money’s worth. Please email us or give us a call at 860-781-6470 for more information.