The Modern Consumer of 2015 [FUN Friday]

It’s obvious that the way consumers nowadays engage with businesses has changed. According to Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff, “every century or so, fundamental changes in the nature of consumption create new demand patterns that existing companies can’t meet unless they applied imagination to see beyond what they’re selling today” (Forbes, 2014).

Companies need to be aware that consumers are always connected, very opinionated, value conscious and they seek authenticity and require immediacy. These factors will change the way businesses attract new customers. Below is an infographic from Forbes about Mike, your typical customer in 2015.

Read more

/0 Comments/by

Understanding Common Barriers Involved In ERP Implementation Projects

 It is not uncommon for many enterprises to hit on problems during an ERP implementation project. The project can either go over budget, surpass the expected time frame, or simply fail altogether.

barrier

I recently stumbled upon a great article, called ‘Top Barriers to ERP Success’ on IT Toolbox by author Rick Cook, on the barriers to ERP implementation success. In this article, the top barriers were taken from a survey done by Deloitte Touche, Tomatsu CIO.

ERP implementation success depends on a variety of factors and either all or one can affect a project as complex as this one.

Read more

/by

Why Should Businesses Use EDI?

By now, most business executives have heard of EDI. However, it still seems to be a scary topic for many of them as EDI is quite complex and technical and not easily understood by many non-technical people. On top of it all, a considerable initial capital investment is usually associated to this kind of integration project, as there are professional services, EDI consultants, connectivity fees and more involved.

However, more and more smaller companies are receiving directives from large retailers informing them to implement EDI out of necessity to continue a business relationship. Read more

/by

Big Changes for SMEs

We’ve found another great infographic for our wonderful readers!
2014 is a good year for big changes in SMEs. Entrepreneurs are planning on kicking out their old legacy systems and implementing cloud-based applications, using social media and email marketing to reach more customers, offering flexible work policies and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

Read more

/by

Key to Business Survival: Business Continuity

This week, from June 15 to 18, the World Disaster Management Conference was held in Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Unfortunately, ever since 2009, there has been a drastic decline in attendance partly due to training and conference budget cuts. According to a great article in Ottawa’s Metro News (2014), prior to this conference, organizers conducted a survey to see if this budget cut had any effect on the conference participants and community. What they found however went beyond what they imagined.

Read more

/0 Comments/by

Does Inventory Affect a Business’ Bottom Line?

Does Inventory Affect a Business’ Bottom Line?

Inventory is a huge part of any business. If not managed efficiently, it can have distressing consequences on a company’s bottom line. Profit can be increased simply with the right inventoriStock_000005309144Smally management solution, eliminating common mistakes many executives don’t think twice about, such as inaccurate inventory tracking, excessive inventory, improper use of spreadsheets to track inventory and a lack of a backup plan and solution. All of these can add to expenses, increase human errors, affect sales and in turn customer service. Therefore, now that you know that efficient inventory management can increase profits, what do you do next?

Read more

/by

Surviving a Natural Disaster [FUN Friday]

Unfortunately, many organizations today still do not have a solid plan of action and backup solution in place in case of disaster. Natural disasters and hardware malfunctions occur more often than we think and can have devastating consequences on the organization, such as data loss, business interruption, loss of revenues, etc. Many executives don’t ever believe something like that can ever happen to their business, until it’s too late.

I have written many articles on this topic and have gone on to explain the benefits of implementing a Business Continuity plan. Don’t hesitate to take a look at these for more information on how to secure your data.

Read more

/0 Comments/by

Why It’s the Right Time for Mobile Optimized eCommerce Sites [FUN Friday]

Enterprise Mobility and Mobile Commerce have been trending topics in recent months. Many of the larger enterprises have made the changes necessary to stay up-to-date and ahead of the game. However, many small businesses are still not satisfied and convinced by the statistics popping up everywhere about the importance of mobility in the business.

Read more

/0 Comments/by

How can an e-Commerce Store Increase Sales for your Business?

An e-Commerce Store is an online retail of goods and services. In recent years, it has become the most convenient way for consumers to browse, shop and buy from their favorite retailers (Click to Tweet). However, statistics keep being published showing only a very low percentage of Canadian small and mid-size enterprises having an e-Commerce site.

Read more

/by

Top 3 Tips in Preventing Financial Impact of Business Downtime

Disasters, either natural, man-made or technological, happen whether we want them to or not. We all have lived through at least one disaster situation in the past 10 years, either in our workplace or at home. Who doesn’t remember the terrible Hurricanes that attacked parts of the U.S., like Sandy, Rita, Katrina or Ivan, and the devastating Lac-Mégantic train derailment in 2013 right here in Québec. One of Montreal’s most famous and expensive disasters was the 1998 Ice Storm, where many homes and businesses didn’t have power for many days/weeks. Read more

/by