Agile resilience – your survival tactic
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Time to spring clean your business?
April 14, 2022
Managing change can be a real challenge, especially in a smaller business. As Donald Rumsfeld might have said, 'you don't know what you don't know'.
So the right help and advice really can make all the difference.
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Paul Thomas at a private event, and we got talking. Paul told me he was a tree surgeon, running a business called Elite Tree Services. He had a young woman working as his assistant, but she was due to leave. And he was getting frustrated with his paper-based office systems.
Although he used Quickbooks to manage his accounts, the program didn't offer him a way to produce quotes. He didn't have an accessible client database, so he had to type them up individually and post them out to prospective clients. As he himself said, he 'wasn't very technical', and had been working that way for twenty years. But he also realised he needed something better.
Less paper, more freedom
Looking at Paul's specific needs I suggested using Xero for his accounts. With Xero he could quickly and easily log the details of a prospective client. And with the new laptops I recommended, he and his team could do that whilst on the move. It meant they could set up a quotation and email it to the client within a few minutes of leaving a meeting.
It saves him time. Gives new clients a good impression of his speed and efficiency. Makes record-keeping quick and easy. And effectively gives him a complete database of clients and prospects alike. Which means that managing change for Paul delivered exactly the result he wanted.
So what does he think about it himself?
In Paul's own words: 'Lisa has had a huge impact - she's made everything we do far more efficient, far more cost effective and far more flexible. As a result Covid-19 has had next to no impact on our day to day working. Lisa is just a very easy person to work with. She's exceptionally conscientious and efficient, so I know whatever I send her to do will be done properly and done quickly. In any case she always pings back to confirm that it's done.'
Could I help your business in a similar way? If so please give us a call on 07780 849549 or send us an email.
