Software is sexy, and there’s never been more software at our fingertips. But are your systems being counter-productive?
On Wednesday at Networking in…we heard from Dan Sparrow of Rapid Indigo.
He was speaking to us about “How to succeed with systems.”
He started by talking about the journey within software in the company:
1. Startup phase
When you’ve just started off and you’re just shuffling paper around but on the computer.
2. Reactive phase
You end up with a CRM system, accounting software, and perhaps a number of productivity tools.
You have lots of isolated software and within that you’ve got data silos.
You’re constantly copying and pasting between softwares.
3. Purposeful phase
Where you have a process of onboarding a new software.
In this stage, you harness integrations to make life easier for you in a cohesive plan.
4. Optimised phase
Pulling all data together across different software. The software is aligned to goals, and there are higher levels of efficiency and innovations.
Bear Traps
He then went ahead to speak about the bear traps that stop businesses from moving on that journey.
He spoke about:
- Selecting sensibly
- Replace not revitalise?
- Subscribe and forget
- Integrate & automate
- Spreading love
5 tips to succeed
Lastly, Dan talked us through his top 5 tips to succeed with systems:
1. Planning
What do you want to fix? Prioritise that against the outcome.
2. Build stamina
It’ll take a few tries to succeed, so make sure you see it through to the end.
3. People
You need to take the people on the journey with you through to the end.
4. Long-term
Continuously strengthen your software and be in it for the long term to improve your systems. Look for incremental changes and get comfortable with the journey.
5. Expertise
Get some purposeful advice from people who lack bias. But also, consider security and data protection.
Up next, we have a special talk by Mark Cuddigan and we would love it if you could make it. Mark Cuddigan, owner of Ella’s Kitchen, a half billion pound business will be speaking to us. Check out this and all our upcoming events here.
