When Should a Start-Up Deploy Business Apps?
By PeiChun Chiang
When a new business is small, it can operate on productivity products, like Microsoft Office, and rudimentary collaboration tools, like email, shared drives, Slack, and QuickBooks. As it grows, the time comes when it must upgrade to more sophisticated business applications, such as accounting or sales management systems. However, making that transition can be tricky.
As organizations evolve, tracking items in simple applications becomes complex, time consuming, inefficient, and unproductive.
· Multiple large data sets become too complicated for spreadsheets
· They lack templates, so customers must create each type of interaction themselves
· Elementary systems often do not support real-time data delivery
· These solutions rely heavily on manual data entry
· The products have limited automation capabilities
· Making changes can be challenging
· Security can be suspect
Time to Make a Change
The end results? Employees waste a lot of time and effort. They spend time fine tuning the application rather than using it. Information is hard to consolidate, so reporting and analysis becomes tedious and error prone.
Eventually, opportunities are lost. The business finds itself constrained, consequently, a change is needed. Depending on the firm, its niche, and its stage of development, they may move away from
· A spreadsheet to more robust financial applications
o Payroll processing
o Financial budgeting
o Payment processing
o Purchase management
· A database management system to sales forecasting and management system
· Spreadsheets or paper and pencil tracking to
o Supply chain software
o Inventory management
o Manufacturing Execution Systems
What Next?
The impact of such decisions is wide and far reaching. First the company needs to examine its current workflow. The new tools often include the ability to automate routine functions and streamline business processes. Such changes save time but interrupt and alter workflow.
Therefore, they need to examine the current workforce. What skills are required to use the new system? Do they have any experience in deploying the new system? Are employees willing and able to adapt? Does the company need to hire extra people to make the transition?
Furthermore, these systems include many cool features, but installing them is not simple. Compounding the problem, the enterprise has to keep its existing processes in place as it transitions to the new solution. That requirement means that the long hours worked in start-ups becomes lengthier. And once a system is set up, it needs ongoing care and constant fine tuning.
Therefore, businesses must get the move right. If an application is set up incorrectly, a great deal of time, effort, and manpower are required later to fix the shortcomings. Eventually, how much the company gains by making the change becomes questionable.
Help Needed Installing Business Applications
How should they manage the transition? First, they need to recognize what they know and what expertise they lack. They can find help if needed --- and it probably will be. Vendors offer some assistance, and third-party specialists, like Start-Up Way, work with organizations to smooth out any rough spots and migrate gracefully.
Start-ups begin operating with simple business tools. As they grow, they migrate to more sophisticated solutions. Evolution is complex and challenging, but they can navigate it well if they recognize their limitations and find the right partner.
PeiChun Chiang has more than 15 years of experience in the start-up ecosystem. She empowered companies, like ATI (acquired by AMD), Lucid Motors, and Parade Technologies, to deploy strong financial systems and create robust financial business processes. As the founder of Start-Up Way, she ensures that new companies maximize their available financial resources.