New technology needs to stop changing everything.

New technology promises the world and often falls short. Many would unfortunately understand this truth. Attempting to implement new technology for a small business, let alone a large multi-entity group is no mean feat. It’s through simplifying, consolidating and standardising that you unlock performance indicators and enable growth.

Legacy software and different accounting systems can prevent many projects from even getting off the ground. With success rate expectations looking unenticing once a project has started. Boston Consulting Group estimates that close to 70% of digital transformation projects don’t meet desired outcomes.

So, is it the salesperson’s fault for over-promising?

Is it the software’s usability that leads to these failures?

Or is it group controllers and individual businesses that are to blame for poor implementation?

All can be the cause of a failed technology project; however, this is only one side of the coin.

The strategy of many new technologies is to create new environments, processes, and skill requirements. This doesn’t need to be the case, especially for established businesses.

Using a new technology that works within your existing structures and changes elements only where necessary, can greatly reduce the risk of implementation or adoption failure, whilst unlocking the performance and growth opportunities lying hidden within your group.

Simplify & Consolidate

Look for technology that simplifies and consolidates your current technology suite during implementation. Businesses often jump at new functionality and reporting without considering the often already overloaded technology stack imposed on staff or customers.

Harvard Business Review reports that on average, workers toggle between software up to 1,200 times per day. People have a limit to the range of tools and technology they can reasonably be expected to use. So, utilise technology that creates a simpler suite for reduced complexity.

Technology that creates a streamlined communication process or a single point for workflow and project updates will go a long way in understanding differing work occurring across your business whilst also helping reduce the technology strain customers and staff experience.

Standardise

If left to their own devices, employees and franchise group members will create an ever-growing array of processes. Having the full view of your business or group, controllers need to utilise this vision in conjunction with technology to guide franchisees into a consistent ‘one best way’ approach.

It’s not enough to use a workflow platform that still requires high levels of customisation. Standardised and prescribed processes enabled through technology create opportunity for group wide performance monitoring and benchmarking. With the reporting tools enabled through standardisation, improvements will be jumping right out of your financial reports.

Standardisation can assist many areas within your groups structure, but none more so than the Chart of Accounts. Anyone who has spied the financial reports of individual franchisees will unfortunately know that each report will almost read as if it is a different language. Available technology can solve this without creating new systems and enforcing changes to account structures. This technology standardises this labyrinth of data with mapping logic to create standardised financial data that group operators can leverage for clear overview and insight of their performance.

When combined, these technology attributes unlock growth

A simplified technology suite and unified workflow management structure will allow you to identify pain points hindering your staff or members and reduce workload requirements.

Standardised processes and workflows will guide members to use the ‘one best way’, whilst also creating consistency within your groups data.

Incredibly powerful reporting tools are then able to use this simplified and standardised data to create live performance scorecards and groupwide benchmarks. The roadmap for performance and growth is already paved within the fabric of your group’s operations and data. It’s heightened performance monitoring of leading and lagging indicators which will surface growth opportunities.

What does a complimentary technology stack look like?

The golden question.

Working with many business structures and groups, we at Visory know firsthand that each situation is different. That being said, certain structures are better than others, and this is an example of one which exhibits all of the attributes mentioned above.

To capture and track financial data. Enabling automations and integrations with key software.

1. KeyPay – To capture payroll information, provide award rate interpretations and again, integrate with key software.
2. Visory – Provide standardised workflows and simplified communication to deliver complete bookkeeping and payroll support. Integrating with both Xero and KeyPay, so that business owners don’t have to access either software.
3. Visory Insights – Combine simplified and standardised data from across your group to create customised live performance scorecards and benchmarking.

Three integrated software to manage an entire back office, and the need to only access one of these as a business operator. As a group, the benefits of such a unified and efficient software stack are astronomical, with the growth opportunities identified in clear reporting and benchmarks almost being secondary to the workflow efficiencies realised across your entire group.