Do you sense a boom?

Monitoring Challenges That Can Undermine Your Profitability

Losing Control with Manual Tracking of All Items

The sensation of not having full control can be incredibly stressful. If sales are decreasing while our revenue is increasing, why is that? Where are our costs going? How long have our goods been in stock, and which items are merely tying up capital? Companies should want answers to questions like which items are most popular and whether the price increase implemented at the beginning of the year was wise. Gut feelings can hint at something, but without data to back them up, they remain unsubstantiated.

In the past, tracking sales with Excel was sufficient. However, with hundreds of different products, product categories, and brands now in play, maintaining oversight becomes almost impossible. Determining the smartest purchases, the items offering the best margins, or how to optimize your warehouse, requires an analysis based on current business data.

1, Inability to convert data into strategies

Every company inherently has all the necessary information within its structure, yet often struggles to translate it into viable strategies. Our IT systems hold vast amounts of data regarding customers, their behaviors, the business operations, and everything related to it. However, this data often goes unused. Understanding the data can be challenging, especially when it’s not structured in a manner conducive to monitoring and analysis.

2, Data scattered across various systems

Many companies employ several different systems to create their comprehensive IT solutions, resulting in data being distributed across numerous locations. This data might be found in business systems, warehouse systems, or point-of-sale systems, complicating the process of forming a holistic view of the business’s health. The lack of interrelation between these disparate data points hinders our ability to see how different aspects of the business interact. Simultaneously, the human element increases the risk of errors, as a manual compilation of all these data sources is required each time a report needs to be produced.

3, Monitoring the Wrong Things

Another prevalent scenario is that companies actively engage in monitoring but don’t observe what they intend to. This is typical for those working with simpler business systems where tracking is an inherent part of the system. Often, these systems generate a standard report that does not allow for specific filtering or integration of data from other systems, hindering the evolution of the monitoring process over time.

4, Time-consuming and Complex Reporting

Reporting to a CEO, management, or board presents additional challenges, as it necessitates searching through various systems each time, manually cutting and pasting data to compile a report. This process is not only awkward but also time-consuming. The information often becomes static, making it difficult to delve deeper into the data if anomalies arise. This complexity extends to answering follow-up questions about the report, making the entire process quite challenging.

5, Business Intelligence Clears Up Your Questions

One solution is to use Business Intelligence (BI), but what is it? Business Intelligence is a collective term for processes, methods, techniques, and computer-based tools that companies or organizations can use to better understand their business or a business area. This happens when the BI tool collects data from various sources relevant to your company and the world around it. The analysis made from these collected sources is data-driven, unlike previously when the analysis was based on logical rules and flow diagrams. The data that is collected and analyzed should support organizations in their decision-making by being visualized to make it easier to understand. It is an incredibly effective tool for making the right decisions.

Therefore, choose a solution based on Business Intelligence to understand your business and everything that influences it. A tracking system that is intelligent, versatile, and flexible so that you can grow with it. If it is built on Business Intelligence, it can interpret data from various sources and explain the information in a way that you understand, allowing you to turn vague numbers into clear strategies, which will improve you and your business.

Do you need help finding that solution? We are happy to help.