NetSuite Global Business Management Archives

Top 7 Proven Strategies for Successfully Scaling Your Business

March 6, 2024

by altitude NetSuite ERP NetSuite Global Business Management NetSuite Manufacturing NetSuite Wholesale Distribution Services - Solutions

NetSuite ERP
NetSuite Solutions
NetSuite ERP Partners

Scaling your business is a transformative step towards achieving sustainable growth and enhanced profitability. When you strategically expand your business operations, you open your organisation up to a wide range of benefits including economies of scale, greater brand recognition and increased market share.

No matter the size or stage of your business, scaling encourages innovation, attracting top-tier talent and elevating your organisation into a formidable industry player. As you continue to expand, the potential for increased revenue becomes substantial too. Ultimately, embracing scalability both future-proofs your business and unlocks opportunities for diversification. In this blog post, we have explored seven top strategies for scaling your business and elevating it to the next level.

1. Going International

Expanding internationally is a logical progression for a business demonstrating product-market fit and success in its home market. Venturing into global markets, however, poses challenges. If international expansion is on the agenda, then it’s important for a business to ask key questions about currency conversion, transaction consolidation, shipping options and costs, taxation (like EU VAT), and compliance with local regulations such as GDPR.

Adopting NetSuite OneWorld is an effective strategy to streamline your operations across multiple countries and currencies. It can enable your organisation to evolve into a global player, facilitating the transition from local to global operations.

NetSuite OneWorld enables businesses to manage multiple subsidiaries, business units and legal entities from just one ERP solution. It supports 27 languages and 190 currencies, so it’s simple to work with customers and suppliers around the globe. With country-specific configurations, you can ensure compliance with local accounting, tax and regulatory requirements too.

2. Building Processes that Scale

Achieving rapid growth necessitates a shift in operational processes to accommodate increased sales, customers and staff. For example, when a distribution business experiences accelerated success, it can lead to a surge in daily orders and the need for a larger warehouse. When this occurs, the old way of doing things simply doesn’t work anymore.

Manually downloading orders and using spreadsheets to track inventory is no longer possible. As a result, there is a need for consolidation and automation. This is where NetSuite’s solution comes into play. With this cloud-based software, a rapidly growing retailer can stay on top of all financials, inventory, order management, e-commerce and advanced analytics in one solution.

Steps can be automated in the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes. And, connecting sales, inventory and financials can provide valuable insights into the relationship between these core business drivers. All in all, businesses that grow rapidly need to invest in tools that provide them with real-time, comprehensive data and automation.

3. Expanding Product & Service Offerings

Expanding product and service offerings is another proven growth strategy. When executed correctly, it effectively meets current customer needs and attracts new clientele. Possible diversification avenues include exploring adjacencies, adding capabilities to existing offerings or introducing related products/services.

A hybrid approach, integrating services with products (or vice versa), can enhance revenue streams and stabilise cash flows. Another noteworthy trend is the rise of “second engine” or “engine 2” growth, where investment in a second core business leverages assets from the initial core to drive expansion.

If your business is contemplating product expansion, it’s crucial to ask questions about the problem solved for customers and why it persists, the current market and the advantages offered, who your competitors are, your organisational readiness, and how you’re going to measure successful product or service expansion.

4. Acquiring & Integrating Businesses

The fourth strategy, acquiring and integrating businesses, can pose critical challenges and opportunities for fast-growing companies. While acquisitions offer avenues for growth, they also entail risks and complexities in blending products, cultures, systems and business models. Leaders facing such decisions must carefully consider factors like deal pricing and the level of integration between the acquiring and acquired entities.

Approaches to integration vary, with some businesses tightly blending operations and others maintaining a more independent structure. Key questions to ask include the acquired company’s values, the extent of operational and data integration, and areas for mutual learning.

5. Prioritising Education Around Technology

Technology can play a pivotal role in fostering business growth. But, to achieve this, it’s important for companies to emphasise the need for comprehensive employee training on their technological systems. Effectively upskilling or reskilling the workforce has a hugely positive impact on innovation, productivity and market competitiveness.

A Deloitte survey in 2022 highlighted that organisations fostering a strong learning culture were significantly more likely to innovate, be productive and lead in product/service launches. NetSuite can address this challenge with NetSuite Learning Cloud Support (LCS), which offers continuous education to enhance users’ proficiency in the NetSuite system.

6. Tapping Private Equity or Venture Capital Investment

Entering the world of private equity or venture capital investment is a significant shift for CFOs and their companies, with growth taking centre stage. Despite a recognised need to turn data into actionable insights, a report by Accordion reveals a gap in CFOs’ ability, with only 17% deemed excellent in this area.

However, 80% of investors acknowledge CFOs’ effectiveness in using value levers for robust growth. CFOs are urged to play a larger role in identifying growth opportunities, aligning with investor priorities, emphasising key performance indicators (KPIs) and providing reliable data.

Strategic and operational enhancements, supported by unified data systems like NetSuite OneWorld, are crucial for maximising private equity returns in 2024. The focus lies in balancing cost-cutting and fuelling future growth to navigate the evolving exit market landscape.

7. Divesting to Reinvest

Lastly, leadership teams can strategically divest non-core segments to drive long-term growth. This is a move synonymous with “rightsizing” and rather than being solely about reducing costs, it’s about refining focus, structure and product mix for future success.

Bain & Company’s study of 2,100 public companies reveals that those engaging in focused divestment outperformed inactive counterparts by 15% over a decade. Essential divestment questions surround your strategic goals, the financial benefits, market favourability, deal specifics and robust data management during due diligence.

Speak to a Trusted NetSuite ERP Partner Today

At OSSM, we are a leading NetSuite partner based in Ireland, offering a comprehensive suite of NetSuite software solutions, including industry-specific software and robust reporting tools. Alongside our expertise, these solutions aim to revolutionise business capabilities. We enhance informed decision-making through the world’s leading cloud ERP software.

Our groundbreaking solutions cover financial management, inventory management, manufacturing, order processing and field service management. This empowers businesses to oversee operations in real time within a unified cloud-based platform. We are committed to efficiently and cost-effectively implementing the globally adopted NetSuite ERP system, ensuring transformative benefits for businesses.

On March 20th, we hosted a webinar discussing ways in which you can scale your business with NetSuite.

The webinar delivered valuable insights for businesses looking for a new Finance/ERP system to accommodate their expansion plans or are currently using NetSuite and wish to collaborate with a local solution provider.

See the link to the webinar: https://youtu.be/wzo2EdAnFGg

Key Additions To Any CFO’s Checklist

October 13, 2023

by altitude NetSuite ERP NetSuite Financial Management NetSuite Global Business Management

NetSuite ERP, NetSuite Financial Management, NetSuite Global Business Management

The role of a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is dynamic and demanding. This position is at the heart of an organisation’s financial operations and it has changed a lot over the years. A CFO’s day-to-day activities encompass a vast range of responsibilities, from monitoring key metrics to strategic financial planning. However, there is always more that can be done to drive a business forward. After all, the CFO plays a pivotal role in shaping the financial health and overall success of the organisation.

For CFOs looking for ways to not only improve their organisation’s financials but stay abreast with other aspects of the business and cement themselves as strategic stakeholders, we have created a list of key additions to a CFO’s checklist. While there might not be enough hours in every workday for these tasks, finding time to incorporate them into your workload can help to improve your professional performance as well as the performance of the business.

Host Frequent Meetings With Team Members

There is no denying that communication is essential in business and as they’re in a leadership role, a CFO should keep in touch with their team. To improve communication throughout your department, it’s beneficial to host meetings with your team on a more regular basis. Not only do these meetings provide you with an opportunity to support your team with any concerns they may have, but it enables you to offer coaching to aid ongoing development.

In addition to hosting meetings within your department, you should find time to stay up-to-date with other aspects of the business too. Improving communication between departments can help others to understand how they impact the overall financial performance of the business. By openly discussing with different departments how their decisions can affect cash flow for the whole business, you can ensure everyone is on the same page. Improving communication can have a positive impact on financials moving forward.

Automate More Processes and Daily Tasks

All CFOs should be using technology to their advantage on a day-to-day basis. Automating time-consuming and error-prone tasks is a great way not just to improve productivity, but boost the organisation’s bottom line. During financially challenging times, automating business processes can help to reduce the need for hiring more employees too. You may be surprised by just how many different tasks you can automate with the right technology.

It’s not just the finance department that should be automating tasks either. Introducing more efficient ways of working throughout the organisation can have a huge impact on budgets. So, new software and systems should be seen as an investment. Using technology throughout the whole supply chain can assist with everything from inventory management to faster decision-making, boosting overall business performance.

Be Proactive on Social Media

In this digital day and age, it’s more important than ever for CFOs to maintain their personal brand. Using platforms like LinkedIn, CFOs can stay up-to-date with the latest financial news and get involved in conversations with other industry professionals.

Regularly updating your LinkedIn profile with qualifications and awards is always beneficial, and you should be proactive in connecting with other financial professionals in your industry. In addition to commenting on other professionals’ posts on LinkedIn, consider writing your own posts. This is a great way to engage with other CFOs and boost your profile. Think of social media platforms like LinkedIn as a modern alternative to networking events.

Keep in Touch With Other Departments

As mentioned above, a CFO needs to communicate with other departments and educate them on the impact their decisions have on the business as a whole. However, as head of the finance department, you should also take some time to learn more about the struggles faced by different departments and the inefficiencies they’re experiencing.

Encouraging the whole finance team to engage in conversations with people from other departments can provide you with invaluable insights into what’s going on in the rest of the organisation. Simple ‘water-cooler chats’ during coffee breaks or lunches can help you to learn more about the challenges, priorities and goals of different departments. As a CFO, this puts you in a better position to collaborate with others and make decisions that benefit the business.

Provide Analytics Beyond the Finance Department

Tracking a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across the business can help you to understand how the organisation is performing in real time. Not only should you be tracking financial KPIs, but there is an array of operational KPIs that can help to improve business processes and support data-driven decision-making.

Helping other departments understand the data and analytics that are available to the finance team, and use these to improve their operations can have a positive impact on the business. Providing departments with KPI graphs, for example, can simplify information and help to improve their understanding of current performance from a financial perspective. When you provide different departments with straightforward analysis of KPIs, you can ensure that everyone is working together toward the same goal of improving the bottom line.

Invest in New Technologies

Should you find that your technology is no longer working efficiently for your business, investing in new systems can transform your day-to-day operations. When trying to automate more processes, you may find that you don’t currently have the capabilities to streamline everyday tasks and this can highlight the need for new technologies. With such a huge array of options on the market now, there is a software solution that can improve every aspect of your business.

Making the right technology investments at the right time can transform the way different departments operate and in turn, the organisation’s financial situation. Implementing powerful and intelligent software like NetSuite has proven time and time again to change the way organisations do business. NetSuite solutions can improve efficiency by simplifying and streamlining complex processes across various departments. Not to mention, these flexible, cloud-based solutions offer unparalleled transparency. By bringing a new level of intelligence to your organisation, NetSuite can boost your bottom line.

Consulting a NetSuite Partner in Ireland

As a modern-day CFO, adding the above tasks to your checklist can help you to ensure you remain a strategic advisor that’s benefiting the whole business. Remember, finance directly impacts every department and CFOs can improve an organisation’s long-term profitability and prospects. If you’re interested in finding out more about how you can use technology to support both financial management and business management as a whole, contact our team at OSSM.

We are leading NetSuite consulting partners. Our expert team understands that all businesses have different problems and our consulting services can help you to determine the best systems for your specific needs. The creative and flexible NetSuite solutions we provide can help to improve your business both now and long into the future. We genuinely care about the outcomes of our projects, and we are passionate about helping our clients implement changes within their organisation.

Click below to download this guide to the top 20 best KPI’s for your business:

10 Common Questions We’re Asked When Businesses Start The ERP Journey

September 28, 2023

by altitude NetSuite ERP NetSuite Financial Management NetSuite Global Business Management

NetSuite ERP, NetSuite Financial Management, NetSuite Global Business Management

There are so many advantages to investing in an ERP system and it’s something that the vast majority of businesses will decide to do at some stage. ERP solutions can manage your business and operational requirements in a smart and efficient way, and they are highly flexible, powerful and insightful. Cloud-based ERP systems are often the first choice for many businesses looking to improve efficiencies and reach their full potential.

Before deciding to go ahead and invest in a new business solution, many organisations have the same concerns and ask us the same questions. So, to help any businesses interested in starting an ERP journey, below we have answered some of the questions we’re most frequently asked.

1. We’re not a huge business, are ERP systems too big for us?

Lots of small businesses worry about implementing an ERP system, but it’s key to remember that ERP systems can scale up and down in line with your needs. When you’re choosing software for your business, you shouldn’t just think about the current size of your business either, you need to think about your growth plans and ambitions too.

The real question businesses should be asking themselves is; ‘will we be able to scale up with the systems we have today?’. Think about things such as resource availability and how many processes are being carried out manually, and consider whether your current software will be able to meet your future needs.

It’s worth noting that systems such as NetSuite ERP can give your small business a competitive advantage. Being small and staying small but being able to run your business efficiently without the heavy reliance on individuals, which can often be the case in owner-managed businesses, is undeniably advantageous.

2. How do you know when it’s time to change systems?

Simply put, if your internal systems and processes can be improved, then it may be time to consider the move to an single platform system such as a NetSuite solution. If the delivery of your products/services is being impacted by a lack of automation, inconsistencies and errors or your team is spending too much time on manual and spreadsheet-based tasks, investing in a cloud ERP system will be very beneficial. If you can’t see your business performance in real time without spending time compiling data from various sources, this is another sign that you should change systems.

Sometimes the answer to this question is really obvious and sometimes until you take stock of what you’re doing, you won’t realise just how much you need a new system. You may even wonder how you’ve managed this far with the systems in place.

3. How long does a typical ERP project take?

This is a tough question to answer as all ERP projects are different. Here at OSSM, our clients range from organisations with a few users and basic requirements to clients with larger more complex projects. The simpler projects can be implemented in a short number of weeks, while the larger projects may take months or even years to fully complete.

Best practice would suggest that having the right team in place and the preparatory work completed prior to beginning the project will ensure that time and effort are optimised on both sides. An example of preparatory work includes documents such as system requirements including current processes along with “to be” process mapping.

Another key factor in determining the length of a project is what the internal project team looks like, and time commitment and resource availability is key to a successful outcome. There doesn’t need to be a full-time team dedicated to the project, although we have found this is good practice. However, the skills and experience of your team will come into play. In our business and when advising clients, we would always advocate putting the best team available onto the NetSuite ERP project.

Ultimately, commitment and project buy-in must come from the top down. Ensuring resources have the space and freedom to immerse themselves into the project will be critical, particularly for larger projects.

4. Should we go with a basic implementation first and then add on the bells and whistles? Or should we do it all in one go?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to ERP implementation and each project is different. Our experience would suggest that a phased implementation is the best way to implement a new NetSuite software. However, if essential processes and requirements must be included as part of Phase 1, then we will ensure that they are in place.

We have seen examples of where ERP projects were sold at a very basic level, but the core requirements of the client have been pushed out to a future phase. In our expert opinion, this is not good practice and while it might make sense from the NetSuite ERP partner’s point of view to keep initial implementation costs down, it doesn’t solve the problem for the client.

5. What skills do we need in-house to ensure a successful project delivery?

We’ve touched on this above, but you should really have departmental representation on your project team. Typically, projects are finance-led, so certainly Finance representation would be the minimum requirement. For larger organisations and more complex projects, we commonly see IT, Sales and Operations representation on the project team too. Apart from skills, experience is hugely important. Having people who know and understand your business and your processes very well is a critical success factor.

6. What does project commitment look like?

Typically, we think project commitment is about having that buy-in from the top and understanding that the individual/s on the project team will be given the freedom and space to put their best foot forward to push the project along internally. Project commitment is an investment in time and effort to ensure a successful outcome.

Project ownership is also critical. We always point out at the outset of an ERP project that we are facilitating the project for our client and that it is ultimately their project. Our job is to project manage and make sure that milestones are met, but the projects with the most successful outcomes are the projects where the client has embraced the ownership of the new system.

7. What are the key ingredients for a successful project?

There are a few points we could make that would point to a successful ERP project, including;

– Having the right project team in place on both sides

– Having a detailed requirements document

– Having a realistic project plan in place

– Understanding the time commitment involved

– Setting realistic expectations from the outset

– Great communication between client and partner

– Top quality project management on both sides

– Understanding the importance of a good set of data – this is often underestimated

8. When is the best time to implement an ERP system?

Often, the best time to start your ERP journey will be dictated by external factors, such as the existing system going “end of life/support” or timing to coincide with other internal projects. However, in all cases, there will usually be a clear cut-off such as a month-end/year-end. If you need any guidance in this regard, a NetSuite ERP partner will help you to determine when you should start implementing new software into your business.

9. Should I go directly to the ERP vendor or should I work with a local partner?

Sometimes, there is a misconception that going directly to the ERP vendor means you will get a higher calibre service or a better price. This isn’t necessarily the case though as a local partner will bring additional value-added services such as industry expertise, local knowledge about taxation, reporting and legislation, as well as being on the ground. Never under-estimate the power of the relationship.

In the case of OSSM, we work very closely with our clients as we don’t implement hundreds of projects each year. We prefer to focus on the outcome of the project, providing exemplary implementation and support services, and having happy reference clients. Our expert team will become part of your internal team for the duration of the project and we build and develop our working relationship over the long term.

10. It’s a big investment for our company, how do we know we’ve chosen the right ERP partner to implement it?

It can be difficult to know which NetSuite ERP partner you should turn to for assistance, but having reference clients can help you get some comfort from your chosen partner. Reading reviews and testimonials can give you an insight into what it’s like to work with a partner.

Here at OSSM, we always insist on carrying out a pre-implementation scoping workshop before taking an order for NetSuite software too. This gives clients the comfort that;

– We have fully understood their needs

– They are happy working with our team

– They will be left with a detailed scoping document, which becomes the basis for the project implementation, should they decide to go ahead. If they decide not to proceed, they can walk away with the document without having invested in the software.

We think it’s important that the client is comfortable with both the project plan and our team before deciding to go ahead. From our perspective, we also look to get reassurances during the scoping workshop. We hope to satisfy ourselves that;

– We would be happy to take on this project and there is a good alignment between the client’s requirements and our proposed solution

– We feel confident that the client has the resources in place to deliver this project successfully

– There is the commitment and buy-in from the top

On occasion, we have turned down projects in the past where we felt the alignment wasn’t there. It’s far more important for us to do a good job and have a happy client rather than going for the quick win just to clock up another order.

Starting your ERP journey with a reliable NetSuite ERP partner

If you’re looking for a NetSuite ERP partner that can provide you with a comprehensive ERP implementation service, don’t hesitate to contact us at OSSM. We work in partnership with businesses to help them improve their operations with a fully integrated suite of NetSuite cloud software solutions and we can help you to overcome any problems you may be facing. We pride ourselves on supporting clients throughout their ERP journey and as a reliable NetSuite ERP partner, we will help to transform your business and even catapult it to the next level. Get in touch with our team at OSSM if you have any unanswered questions about ERP solutions.

If you are planning to upgrade your ERP system but are unsure where to start, why not get in touch with a member of our team?

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