Want a site like THIS ONE

You are reading this because for sure you have wondered if all this business-tech stuff is worth the investment? Let's talk real business value then.

Lets work up a real life ROI with a little self-test. Calculate how much time you spend weekly:

• Manually entering the same data multiple times
• Searching for customer details across different systems
• Processing the monthly billing run - assembling the bill of materials or the inwards goods receipts, the back orders the arrgggghhhh its tough!
• Following up on unpaid invoices
• Checking if you have enough stock
• Trying to remember who needs a quote follow-up
• Working out which jobs were profitable

Now multiply that by your hourly rate... how we doing?

The best example I ever had of this was seeing a new system reduce the billing team from 3 to 1 persons, and more importantly reduced the time to billing from almost a month to a few hours - it was an extreme case sure.  It was a business that had grown exponentially and everything had become locked in excel spreadsheets that struggled to open each time an invoice run was done.  

It was a mammoth effort to sort all the 'side issues', weird things had sprung up over the years and some customers were billed with different SKU's than others when the product was identical.  This was a result of not being able to scale with volume and provide a discount at point of billing.  

It was a significant investment, but savings were tangible at the very first month end.  Not only were 2 staff allocated in to more productive areas after month 2, but, and this was the hidden benefit, the primary accounts person could take holidays now because the invoice run had become 'routine' and didn't require a stack of special billing instructions to be followed each month. 

• 240+ man-hours to carry out billing reduced to 32 hours.
• Staff reduced from 3 to 1
• Remaining staff was SIGNIFICANTLY relieved of stress and worry

Depending on your situation these may be the sort of gains you are looking for apart from financial: 

• Reduce dependency on 'ad-hoc' process aka sticky notes, email folders, notebooks scribbles and photos of how things should look
• Introduce better disciplines so cross team actions and responsibilities are obvious - finger pointing should be done with clean evidence.  Zero follow-ups recorded, means zero follow-ups done.
• Getting and sending automated reminders, so you don't have to waste brain space 

Sometimes the best ROI isn't just about money saved - it's about finally having time to grow your business (or maybe even take a holiday!).

Ah, the alphabet soup of business-tech! Let's break this down into real-world terms:

A Website is your digital shopfront - it's what your customers see when they find you online. Think of it as your store's window display, but open 24/7. Could be anything from a simple "here's our phone number" page to a full-blown online store.

A CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) is like your digital filing cabinet, personal assistant, and memory bank all rolled into one. It's where you keep track of:
- Who your customers are
- What they've bought
- When you last talked to them
- What you promised to do for them
- When you should call them back
- That thing about their dog's birthday you really should remember

A CMS (Content Management System) is the behind-the-scenes tool that lets you update your website without needing to know computer code. It's like having the keys to your own digital billboard - you can change the messages whenever you want without calling in a tech person.

Here's where it gets interesting...
These days, the lines between these systems are getting deliciously blurry. Modern business tools often combine all three - imagine if your window display could recognize customers, remember their favourites, and update itself automatically. That's what we're talking about.

The real question isn't really "which one do I need?", it's more about figuring out what you want to achieve. Maybe you just need a simple online presence, or perhaps you're ready for a fully integrated system that handles everything from first customer contact to sending them a targeted newsletter that highlights things specific to their business.

😜 Nobody sells it, because it's not a product you can buy off the shelf. The 'Action-Centre' is what we call that sweet spot where all your business tools work together.  The virtual' place where all your different systems come together. 

Think of it this way:

• Your website is chatting nicely with your inventory system
• Your customer database knows exactly what's happening with sales
• Your email marketing tool isn't spam-bombing people who just bought from you
• Your accounting software gets the memo when something sells
• Your reporting dashboard shows you what's actually happening
• And you're not entering the same information in fifty different places!

Basically you have kissed excel goodbye for the last time when this is all going right. 

We don't sell you an 'Action-Centre' - we help put one together that works for YOU and YOUR business. Sometimes that means connecting systems you already have. Sometimes it means introducing new ones. Always it means making sure everything plays nicely together.

Ah, the holy grail of business software! Wouldn't it be nice if there was a big red "MAKE EVERYTHING WORK" button we could just press?

Sure, there are some impressive all-in-one platforms out there. They're like those fancy Swiss Army knives - they have tools for everything! But here's the thing... have you ever tried to open a bottle of wine with that tiny corkscrew? Or cut down a tree with that little saw? Sometimes the right tool for the job beats having all the tools in one pocket.

The reality is:

• Some systems try to do everything but end up being average at everything
• Others are brilliant at one thing but terrible at others
• And let's not talk about the ones that need a PhD in rocket science just to send an email
• Some though, best of bred sometimes,  have to be looked at closely, there is often a good reason why a lot of other businesses are using it

Here's what we've learned:
Most businesses are have similar goals but their circumstances can be unique (yes, even yours!).  Obviously a plumbers needs around scheduling won't match the needs of a manufacturing retailer.

So - its a horses for courses approach, but its still going to be a horse.  

Imagine a time before fuel gauges.  Jamming a stick in the tank or wait till you ran out was how it used to be way back in the day. Imagine then how you would have felt then when you first got a car with a fuel gauge! 

What's a Dashboard?

Think of it as your business's instrument panel - like a car's dashboard but instead of showing speed and fuel, it shows you things like:

• How many sales you made today
• Which customers need following up
• What's running low in stock
• Who owes you money
• Which jobs are making you money (and which aren't!)
• Where your new customers are coming from
• The beauty is, you get to choose YOUR gauges. Ditch the spreadsheets or wait till the engine splutters when the card gets declined

Real World Example:

Picture this: It's Monday morning. You grab your coffee, open your dashboard and instantly see:

• Last week's sales (up or down?)
• Today's appointments
• Which quotes need following up
• Products running low
• Overdue invoices
• Your best-selling items

Reporting isn't just about knowing what happened - it's about spotting patterns, a well over used by accurate phrase these days is "Make Data-Driven Decisions", see the facts in numbers and then make an informed decision devoid of emotion. 

• Why are Thursdays suddenly your busy day?
• How come Product X sells better in winter?
• Which marketing actually brings in paying customers?
• Where are you making (or losing) money?

It's like having a crystal ball, except it runs on data instead of magic!

You know that moment when your phone's face recognition stops working,  or your email inbox won't allow any more stuff in there, then you realise you've forgotten your password? Or when your printer suddenly decides it doesn't know your Wi-Fi exists? Technology is amazing... right up until it aint.

Business-tech is like icebergs (sorry, back to our penguins!) - the bit you use every day is just the tip. Underneath there's:

• Backups keeping your data safe
• Security updates fighting off the bad guys
• Connections between systems staying in sync
• Automated processes running quietly
• Settings keeping everything running smoothly

When it's all working, it feels effortless. But when something goes wrong? Suddenly you're discovering all those moving parts you never knew existed.

This is why we focus on:

• Setting things up right the first time
• Making sure you're not the only one who knows how it all works

Because the best technical problems are the ones that never happen!