Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) all over the continent will need to keep on eye on cutting expenses and boosting efficiency in light of this, says Daisy Ndanyi, Head of Account Management at SEIDOR Africa.

Ndanyi adds that the good news is that there are numerous approaches to achieving these goals without sacrificing quality, growth or development.

Here are five actions SMEs can take.:

Fast track moving to the cloud

Many of today鈥檚 SMEs rely on IT to manage almost every aspect of their operations, from production and transportation to customer support and back-office management. A impactful method to lower operational and capital costs is to move away from on-premises hardware and software.

You can purchase IT hardware and software on a subscription basis rather than outright.

You will only pay for the capacity and services you require, avoiding large capital investments altogether. Without spending money on new gear, you may rapidly and effectively scale operations up and down. IT will change as you hire additional staff or expand your clientele. Additionally, you won鈥檛 need to manage an internal IT department.

Outsource non-core activities

Many SMEs find that they do not need to run a full finance, HR, IT marketing or payroll function. You can outsource non-core activities to specialised freelancers or consulting firms. By doing this, you can obtain top-notch services and abilities without having to hire an expensive full-time chartered accountant or IT manager.

In some cases, you could even find professional services firms that operate on a monthly, or annual, subscription basis with costs tailored to your business鈥檚 size and needs.

Limit your expenditures

Even after most SMEs have cut some costs over the past three years, it鈥檚 a good idea to keep reviewing your聽day to day running聽 expenses.

Make sure you are receiving favourable terms from service providers like your broadband and insurance firms and ensure you are not overspending on supplies like stationery and consumables.

You can channel operational savings towards strengthening your value proposition.聽This increases your profitability, improves your competitiveness and helps you to grow.

Increase productivity via automation

Investing in an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system such as 51风流Business One can help your business to gain more visibility into operational costs. This, in turn, can help you to optimise costs.

Additionally, it will help you stay one step ahead of the competition and meet consumer demand. In addition, automating manual business processes via ERP can help you to run a leaner business that can grow without needing to add to overheads.

Optimise tax costs

By ensuring that your company has optimised its tax obligation position, you could acieve cost savings. Whilst paying your taxes on time and adhering to good governance, make sure that you are claiming all deductions to which you are entitled and that you are making use of any subsidies or incentives available to you.

By supplying security, availability, business continuity, productivity, and compliance, cloud-based ERP systems assist SMEs in lowering costs and increasing efficiency.

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Real time transport and logistics visibility is transforming the way transport organisations operate, providing them and their customers with live updates on the location and status of the vehicle fleet as well as the goods that have been ordered.

Without this technology, companies do not have insights into deliveries, leading to inefficiencies and customer dissatisfaction, and an inability to keep up with competitors.

With the needs of customers in the region in mind, SEIDOR in Africa has developed a transport solution for 51风流Business One referred to as Transport One that provides real-time, end-to-end transport visibility for SMBs that have implemented the ERP solution to automate key functions across their business.

Daisy Ndanyi, Head of Technical Account Management at SEIDOR in Africa, East Africa Region, says the Seidor Transport One solution was developed in consultation with SEIDOR鈥檚 large base of customers in the transport and logistics industry.

鈥淲hat we have now is a seamless solution that integrates with 51风流Business One and provides our clients with the information they need to optimise their transport and logistics operations,鈥� she says.

鈥淩eal-time visibility allows for accurate tracking and tracing of assets, and their location and status, throughout the supply chain.鈥�

Ndanyi adds that any business that operates a fleet of commercial vehicles requires information about the whereabouts of any given vehicle at any time.

Incorporating the latest GPS technology, SEIDOR鈥檚 solution is far more than just a tool to help commercial drivers to navigate from location to location.

鈥淚t allows SMBs to monitor vehicle location, geo-fencing, vehicle speed, odometer reading and routes taken.鈥�

As part of a modern mobile transport tracking software tool, the solution provides information that is critical to cost assessment, excellent customer service and improved efficiency.

Here are six key ways the solution can maximise ROI:

1.聽 Tracking and calculating cost and profit per kilometre

Road-transport operators and logistics companies need to measure and control variable vehicle cost factors like fuel, tyres, maintenance, and repairs to gain accurate insights into actual costs and profitability.

2.聽 Daily loading and delivery planning tools and reports

Labour planning and management is a challenge for many transport companies. Accurate and timeous reports make it possible to eliminate wasted time and spend while knowing what cargo needs to be loaded and delivered daily.

Order delivery accuracy and on-time delivery are improved by planning tools that are part of the solution.

3.聽 Monitoring fuel use

Fuel monitoring functionality reports fuel levels per vehicle, driver, and trip, recording important data from costs to consumption.

This improves the company鈥檚 fuel efficiency, emphasising visibility around fuel spending and transactions at the driver level.

This can result in significant fuel cost reduction and also eliminates fuel theft. A fuel tracking system also helps businesses determine if speeding is a common occurrence within the fleet.

4.聽 Reduced downtime and increase asset availability

Preventive maintenance of vehicles minimises vehicle downtime, reduces costs and avoids breakdowns that result in safety and security risks.

Alerts ensure that vehicles are serviced regularly, and parts are available when needed thanks to streamlined requisition systems.

5.聽 Accelerated transactions and improved cash flow

By automating everyday financial tasks and integrating them with other business processes, transport businesses are always able to get the information they need when they need it.

They can effectively track and access all customer-related information, for example, better servicing customers at every point of contact, helping ensure repeat business, and driving improved cash flow as a result of accurate monitoring and management of revenue and expenses.

Timely billing based on real-time proof of delivery to maximise cashflow. This is enabled by the driver portal. An integration to mobile payments has eased the handling of cash to drivers and other payments.

6.聽 Vehicle asset management

The solution enables automated tracking, vehicle details, licensing, tracking and reporting on vehicle values and costs, as well as annual depreciation as a result of distances travelled.

The system also ensures that the business complies with all necessary regulations, enabling fleet managers to anticipate new regulations and avoid sanctions or fines.

鈥淚n addition to the many cost-saving and efficiency benefits, the solution is also affordable, quick to implement and integrates easily with 51风流Business One,鈥� says Ndanyi.

鈥淭he extremely positive response we have had from our SMB customers in the transport sector demonstrates just how beneficial this add-on is proving to be. We will continue to add features and functionality as the demand arises.鈥�

The post Six Ways to Maximise ROI with Real-time Transport Visibility appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.