Business survival tips for Covid-19 and Eskom
The financial effects of Eskom’s unrelenting rolling blackouts, combined with the knock that Covid-19 has brought to the global economy, have left South African businesses reeling.
Running a business for over 20 years in South African means that we’ve seen the impact that recessions and economic downturns bring to SMEs, corporates, and households alike.
What we’ve seen is that the businesses that live to tell the tale are those that found ways to tighten up operations, reduce waste and lower expenses. More often than not, they have used their ERP, or BOS to do so.
Here’s how.
How to use ERP to survive the economic downturn
Before we start, if you haven’t yet, invest in ERP. Today. Seriously.
This goes without saying. Trying to survive economic slumps without robust business software is like trying to fend off zombies with a fly swatter; frantic effort with rather unsatisfying, often terminal results.
If you need one of us to contact you and talk you through the process, we are friendly, experienced, and ready to help. I need more info on ERP
Survival Tip #1: Use ERP to automate admin and streamline overhead costs
Salaries are usually the biggest bill at the end of the month. Non-profitable job roles, such as admin, accounting and estimating, are much-needed but dishearteningly expensive.
Thankfully, BOS’s built-in full-house accounting functionality automates every aspect of accounting, with most activities being executed in a few clicks. The same applies to estimating.
That means anyone who knows how to use BOS can carry out all of these functions, within a matter of clicks, making the expensive admin resources unnecessary. These can either be reskilled into profit-producing roles, or the admin team can become leaner and lighter.
Survival Tip #2: Reduce monthly IT costs
Your IT costs can be reduced by 75% thanks to the improvements in internet speed and up-time. Migrating BOS from your expensive, high-maintenance, slow local server to cloud hosting is a more viable, scalable, and affordable option.
Aside from the monthly savings, you can enjoy serious security, seamless BOS upgrades, daily backups, anytime accessibility, and flexibility for growth.
Survival Tip #3: Embrace remote office options
Remote work is more than a passing fad, with benefits ranging from improved productivity, higher staff engagement and retention, to less office space costs and, naturally, a limitation to the spread of pandemic viruses.
However, the only way to make remote office work for your organisation is if you move away from spreadsheets and patchwork apps and systems. These only impede efficiency, breed human error, and are a hothouse of frustration.
ERP facilitates remote offices by bringing every department, role, and activity of a business into one system; improving transparency, accountability, productivity, time management, and staff management.
In conclusion
It will take several years for Eskom to sort out the power grid, and we’re not sure how long scientists will need to produce a vaccine for COVID-19. However, what we are certain of is that your business can survive the economic downturn if you use BOS to optimise operations, reduce expenses, facilitate remote working, and improve productivity and control in every department.
ERP systems safeguard your business. More than backup power generators and hand sanitiser, investing in ERP is the best hope for your business to survive the economic effects of power cuts and the Coronavirus in South Africa today.
