How are you preparing for change?

Brexit. GDPR. It is all change management. Known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. All of these have one thing in common – the fact that you know changes are coming. I firmly believe it is better to prepare for change rather than bury your head in the sand. But what are some practical steps you can take? Here are four important ways I suggest you can prepare for change.

1. Review your contracts

How many of your international contracts extend beyond March 2019? How much flexibility is built in on price, customs duty, delivery dates, etc. Do you need a new template to help you manage the risks of: significant currency movements, new/higher tariffs, and customs duties or delays in the delivery of goods post March 2019? We all know that as customs procedures could cause significant delays.

2. Business Process Mapping

Before you can model any changes you need to understand what the processes are that you currently use. Create flow diagrams rather than lengthy documents to show the processes so they can easily be understood by everyone in the business. Once you have current processes mapped, it is so much easier to understand how changes will impact on the business. A sample of a TVision flowchart can be seen below – get in touch if you’d like to see more.

chnage flowchart

3. Have joined-up business processes

Ensure you have joined-up business processes. This way you can model the impact of any impending change and you can react quickly. For example, could you quickly and easily work out the impact on your UK business if duty on wine increased to 16%, or see how much of your annual turnover is governed by contracts that reach beyond March 2019? Could you accurately present a report to your Board suggesting the pros and cons of trading in a specific geographical market?

 4. Consider data storage

With the impending GDPR legislation we all need to make sure our data handling and processing is robust, secure, safe and that it adheres to the new rules. Are you storing core business data in Excel spreadsheets? Or if not, can you be certain that your current system allows for GDPR compliance? And your third party suppliers, have you checked to see if they follow your processes and procedures for data handling?

How we can help – Change is what we do!

We transform our clients’ business processes by implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It is a global product with functionality that already handles all the different models of VAT and duty that governments have imposed across the world. But if something new is needed, you can rely on the R&D power of Microsoft to quickly develop functionality. We found out first hand at the recent Directions EMEA conference what is coming.

NAV brings your business processes into a single solution and gets all your data in one place making GDPR compliance so much easier. With NAV your senior management team will be able to easily view its numbers focusing on exposure to new duty or VAT requirements, currency fluctuations, longer delivery schedules, or even staff levels affected by changes in work permit legislation.

Adopting a cloud based model for delivery means you have no infrastructure implications with no outpost required wherever you do business around the world. Plus, new business process and financial management systems needn’t cost the earth when you consider a cloud subscription basis.

Change isn’t always a bad thing. But it does create winners and losers. Why not stack the odds in your favour to win by choosing a tool that helps you create an efficient business environment. One that is scalable, flexible and can grow with your organisation. Each business is unique and has unique challenges. Dynamics NAV can cope with them and can be configured for your particular business needs.

Get in touch to find out more, I’d love to tell you all about NAV and how it can help your business, regardless of sector, be ready for change.

Pippa Odell – TVision MD