Setting Yourself up for Success in 2014

Our December blogs have focussed on looking back over the past 12 months, reviewing what went well, and the lessons we learnt in our business. The best thing about anything that goes wrong in business is that it opens up the opportunity to change the way we do things or restructure our systems to get better results next time. This week, we’ll be taking a look at what success means for your organisation in 2014 and how you can start achieving it.

The Success Funnel – What Does Yours Look Like?

Let’s take each area of your business and pick the top 3 priorities for 2014. Don’t think about barriers to these goals, such as lack of finance or knowledge – this is your wish list, so be creative! Here are some ideas to help you along the way.

 

Sales & Marketing

1. I want my sales team to spend less time at their desks, and more time meeting new and prospective clients
2. I want our customers to rave about us online
3. I want to succeed in 2 new market segments we have never before tried

 

Finance

1. I want the end of month and end of year financial processes to be completed in half the time it currently takes
2. I want to be able to extract accurate statistics wherever I am
3. I want my senior management team to have full access to all financial figures, even when they are travelling

 

Warehouse

1. I want to reduce our waste stock by 25% within 12 months
2. I want our fulfilment rates to increase by 40% in the next year
3. I never want to display an ‘out of stock’ sign for any product in our online store again

 

Operations

1. I want to decrease machinery downtime by 30% in 12 months
2. I want to run a 24/7 operation during peak times of the year
3. I want to decrease material waste by 15% in 12 months

 

Senior Management

1. I want to run effective weekly micro meetings with all executive management members, wherever they are in the world
2. I want every department head to have access to generate up-to-date reports on their mobile phones and tablets and take immediate action to resolve problems where necessary
3. I want each department head to implement one new initiative to improve productivity or company culture over the next year

 

Human Resources

1. I want to reduce our reliance on expensive temporary staff by 15% during periods of shortage
2. I want employees across all levels to contribute positively to the organisation’s online presence
3. I want to improve attrition rates by 10% over the next 12 months

 

It’s a great time to gather your department heads together and ask them for their input too. Together, come up with your top 5 priorities for each section and commit to a monthly, or weekly, catch up session to see how things are progressing. You might find that some areas are much more achievable than others, so focus on some quick wins, as well as putting in the time and effort to the more challenging improvements.

If your organisation is already leveraging an ERP system like SAP Business One, these success factors are very achievable. If you know where your organisation wants to go, but you’ve been putting off an investment into an ERP, the below infographic might just answer many of the barriers.

 

 

What’s holding you back from deploying an ERP system like SAP Business One (Version for SAP HANA) for your business to improve operations and productivity?

The Blue Ocean Systems team understands that for many SMEs, they know their own barriers to success, and they know that an ERP solution would help them to overcome these issues – but there are still other factors preventing them from taking the leap. Whatever is holding your business back from reaching its full potential in 2014, talk to the Blue Ocean Systems team of ERP experts who might be able to release some of those pains for you.