web development :: business management system
Our business management system is built using our unique "codebase" that enables us to bolt-on additional modules as and when the business needs the additional functionality. The system sits on top of the standard "codebase" and consists of the following standard modules:
- Business accounts allowing us to record income and expenditure against one or more accounts; The accounts provide a number of accounting reports including a balance sheet, cashflow forecast, profit & loss, end of year returns and VAT returns; We plan to extend the system to include PAYE in the new year;
- Client relations management system enabling us to maintain accurate records about affiliates, clients, suppliers and sales leads;
- Project management that helps the development team manage the work in progress and feed into the billing system;
- Sales management allows us to manage our sales pipeline as well as measure the effectiveness of our marketing;
- Technical support and after-sales allows us to maintain client relationship long after the initial work has being completed, opening up new oppurtunities with existing clients.
Our business is no different to yours; we found that we needed to impliment systems to help us as the business grows; we were like to architypal kitchen fitter the never finished fitting the kitchen! We suddenly found that as we expanded the business the original systems were no longer robust enough and as new staff joined the business, the floors in our business procedures meant that we could no longer maintain standards. This is a serious issue for any growing business and can potentially prevent growth and in some instances cause the business to fail all together!
The model above shows the stages of growth within a business; there are no set time-scales to the model and business can pass through this model within days or stagnate within it for years. It's also important to realise that this model is repeated many times within a business and can be applied to the business as a whole or within specific processes.
During the early stages of a business the initial investment will be made (represented by the barrier on the left hand side); once the initial investment has been made the benefits will be enjoyed allowing the business to grow. If a business does not plan ahead, the needs will quickly outgrow the initial investments, causing issues within the organisation as it approaches the second barrier (shown on the right).
During discussions with a business last year, we could see the effect of not preparing for growth. The business had spent a significant amount of time and effort on their procedures during the early stages of growth, but had not made any significant investment since; they were using an on-line system that was charged on a per user basis each month, which while they were small did not represent a significant overhead. As the business started to expand the costs quickly increased and became a serious barrier to growing the business. Whilst a bespoke system was not viable during the early stages, it quickly became economically viable as the user base went from five users to fifty users within a short time-frame.
Ayrmer Software's business management system allows your business to bolt-on additional modules as and when the business need arises.
Additional modules include:
- content management system for publically accessible areas of your website;
- e-commerce functionality that can be bolted into your payment service provider (PSP);
- email client user interface which can be bolted onto the client relations management system;
- newsletter management system, allowing you to create and maintain your own email marketing campaign;
- document management and distribution (used for distribution of training manuals / operating and maintenance manuals / corporate information);
Additional modules can be purpose built to meet your specific needs and we would be delighted to speak to you about your requirements.
