WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textChoosing a platform for your e-commerce is not easy. There are several factors to consider. While SaaS options make buying and maintaining easier, their pricing could be tricky to understand. The hosting for open source options could be cheaper, and the licensing fee might not be applicable with these options. On the other hand, the development and support costs could be more expensive. The SaaS option may require you to use their payment gateway and might take a cut on your revenue. In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with e-commerce platform licensing and pricing. We also discussed the red flags one needs to look at in the competing options you might evaluate. Finally, we discussed the nuances of transaction-based pricing and cheaper hosting options available for open source.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhen you start your business, you are going to do everything in your power to survive. You might sell anything and everything to anyone and everyone who has cash. But as you grow, the number of decisions that your team will have to make daily will grow exponentially as well. The more products you maintain, the higher the number of decisions you need to make daily, which causes frustration and chaos. This frustration will grow within your employees, but it will be equally frustrating to your customers.In today's episode, we have our guest, Darrin Mitchell, who discusses the challenges and strategies of people, processes, technology, and products at each stage of his growth through inflection points. He also talks about how simplifying product mix and messaging could help streamline the sales process and position you as an expert. Finally, he discusses how custom platforms and inflexible solutions might result in organizations switching to asynchronous planning and ad-hoc process solutions maintained on error-prone spreadsheets.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textPacking is always the bottleneck in most manufacturing facilities and is often blamed for slowing production down. But replacing the packaging equipment is never fun as you need to understand thousands of variables related to machines and their impact on your process. The manufacturers might not understand your processes or product, and you might run into a scenario that the packaging machine may not work for your specific needs. And then you might run into contract issues or follow-ups with manufacturers who may not be as prompt as the sale is already made.In today's episode, we have our guest, Christine von Pander, who discusses the procurement process for food packaging equipment. She also discusses the factors you need to understand thoroughly to ensure you acquire the right packaging machines for the right situation. Finally, she shares several supply chain stories around backup strategies that you can employ in case of your equipment or material shortage. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhat comes to mind when you think of the most complex business from the viewpoint of business processes? I can almost guarantee that it will not be a poultry business. How hard could the poultry business be to run? Shouldn't it be as simple as raising a bunch of chickens, feeding them corn, and selling eggs and chicken parts? Well, running a poultry business requires tight control of yield and financial processes. There is always a push for higher productivity and yield because of the cost pressures.In today's episode, we have our guest, Gabriel Paunescu, CEO of Naologic, who discusses the nuances of the agriculture and poultry business and how the manufacturing processes are different from other industries. He also discusses the challenges associated with maintaining in-house ERP solutions and their implications on the business. Finally, he discusses how custom platforms and inflexible solutions might result in organizations switching to asynchronous planning and ad-hoc process solutions maintained on error-prone spreadsheets. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe traditional methodology for selecting software focuses on features and functions. In fact, if you have too many features, the software is likely to be complex, and it may be harder for business users to learn and adapt it. While features are important to select the right software, more often than not, you will rarely use all the features offered by your software. In fact, the overall utilization of your software would probably be lower than 20%. Most software demos focus on the commonly used scenarios as the demo would be harder for business users to follow, but they are rarely a critical success factor for your software selection.  In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with technology procurement and software selection to discuss the critical success factors for software selection. We also discussed the process for building the criteria for software selection and their deeper implications. Finally, we discussed several stories of software selection and how to identify the critical processes that will be similar to performing heart surgery to your business operations.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textMost financial executives leave the deployment details to their IT team as long as their websites run fine. But while making a decision for your e-commerce platform, your biggest cost driver will be how and where the solution will be deployed. If you are signing a SaaS or hosting contract, you need to pay attention to at least ten different variables such as performance tiers, the price increase at each tier, storage restrictions, security, speed, and staging environments. These factors could drive your costs significantly in the long run if you don't understand their implications.  In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with deploying and implementing different e-commerce systems. We also discussed the basics of the software deployment process, the importance of staging environments, and how deployment affects your SEO and security. Finally, we discussed how to compare competing solutions in order to make an informed decision for your e-commerce deployment.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textIf you are responsible for cutting the check for your marketing spend, it's a frightening experience. Your marketing teams may sound highly confident in every initiative they might have on their radar, but you know from your prior experience that marketing investments are extremely risky. You require careful analysis of your existing successes and mapping out the channels that have been the true contributor to your success.In today's episode, we have our guest, John Readman, who discusses how to compare and measure marketing channels to plan your marketing budget. He also discusses how to attribute the total cost of sales and get comprehensive insights for each of your customer groups. Finally, he discusses how to design touchpoints, stages, and the best practice to design stages for longer sales cycles. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textE-commerce is all about mapping your sales and marketing processes digitally regardless of the type of your business, irrespective of whether you transact online or send them invoices. But while transitioning to e-commerce, one of the resistance you will face is the adoption of e-commerce, as your sales team is likely to derail your efforts because of a conflict of their interests. To be successful with your ecommerce journey, you need to create an organizational strategy and compensation plan that incentivizes everyone in your company to encourage your customers to move to e-commerce.In today's episode, we have our guest, Lori McDonald, who discusses sales compensation best practices for organizations aiming to transition to e-commerce from the traditional sales model. She also discusses why digital commerce is cheaper for organizations because of the self-serve and automated nature of the model. Finally, she discusses the best practices for creating sales compensation that will take a holistic view of the organization.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textIf you are embarking on the journey of your digital transformation, you will have several options. You can either work directly with the software provider and utilize their implementation team or work through a consulting company. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and the process requires due diligence from your side to ensure that the company you are hiring truly understands your business and is qualified to implement your project.In today's episode, we have our guest, Bonnie Tinder, who discusses the pros and cons of various digital transformation project models, working directly with software providers or through a consulting firm. She also discusses how these projects vary in the enterprise vs. SMB space and how team turnover is the most significant contributor to project failures. Finally, she discusses the most important criteria for selecting a software vendor.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textSome enterprise software vendors provide their professional services, while others rely on resellers and system integrators. If you are evaluating your enterprise architecture, one key decision you will need to make would be to work directly with OEMs or software producers vs. consulting companies. While working with OEMs, you don't have to deal with multiple companies, but they could be expensive, not as skilled, or flexible. On the other hand, with so many system integrators out there, it may be harder to evaluate their core expertise. Irrespective of whether you work with OEMs or consulting companies, you will most likely be working with multiple companies and signing multiple contracts. What can you do to reduce the surprises you might get with your implementations?In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise implementing ERP and digital transformation projects for several years to discuss the pros and cons of working with OEM directly or through consulting companies. We also discussed the differences and their motivations for each of the players involved in the implementation, including OEMs, VARs, SIs, and ISVs. Finally, we discussed several other topics related to today's discussion, such as contract differences in each of these arrangements and implications of project and partner churnFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.