Choosing the right business system for your company can be overwhelming, but it's crucial for your success.
Edward Fyvie, Tidy Partner, is a consultant who helps businesses assess and select the best system for their needs. Recently, due to changes in the Xero marketplace, he has been fielding more questions about evaluating and choosing a suitable system.
In this article, we will share his insights on how to select a business system from a consultant's perspective.
The first step in choosing a business system is to identify your business model. What type of business are you? Is your company a service, distribution, industrial fabrication and installation, manufacturing, or healthcare business? Depending on your business type, different systems will be suitable. For example, if you're in the service industry, billing professional services with no material items, Xero may be sufficient. On the other hand, if you are in the distribution industry, importing or locally sourcing items, and holding inventory for resale, you may need an inventory control add-on.
Once you have identified your business model, the next step is to determine what information you need from the system. You should consider the necessary, useful, and sufficient information needed to run your business. Avoid unnecessary complexity and only list what is essential. You should also consider whether the add-on communicates smoothly with Xero if it acts as a user-friendly front-end for Xero, if it provides operational information for daily use, and whether it can enable effective 2D management reporting to the P&L (Profit & Loss) level in Xero.
The third step is to consider the technical and application support available, for quick and effective onboarding. Will the application support or help you configure the system to fit your unique business model? Is there user training available? Is there comprehensive online help, in text and/or video form? Can you get effective, timely support from knowledgeable humans, not an offshore chatbot or 3rd party script-driven help desk? If you are converting from other systems, how easy will the process be?
The final step is to check references. It is essential to know the size of the user base and whether you can contact other users in similar businesses to share experiences. These references will help you understand the system's performance and reliability from a user's perspective.
Choosing the right business system is essential for the success of your company. By following these four steps and working with a consultant like Edward Fyvie, you will be able to evaluate and select the best system for your unique business needs.
Feel free to chat with Edward at edward.fyvie@5emsv.com
