Though initial order volumes may not seem to warrant a complex system, the hidden benefit of this early adoption of decoration-specific management software is that the working through the system can inform your process and workflow.
Particularly for more inexperienced decorators, relying on the system means that they’ll be immediately using industry-proven methods to interview customers, create quotes, take orders, and handle approvals. The new shop that follows the intended workflow of a well-made software system will more than likely find themselves operating in a professional, sustainable way from the start.
As the software manages the flow and storage of information, organizes production, and records customer contact, the shop benefits from this consistent record of their work and accessible information that spans back to their initial contact with customers. This store of information makes jobs repeatable, and paired with these imposed good habits for collecting and storing data, allows them to add sales or management staff with some ease as they grow.
In the short term, new owners will have to invest capital in business software and initial training. That said, the cost is easier to justify when it means having a jumpstart on keeping a business running in an orderly and sensible fashion and avoiding the pitfalls that often come with those early stages of growth. Moreover, the tools available for automating things like purchase orders, artwork approvals, production file preparation, and customer contact will ultimately save shops a great deal of time allowing them to redeploy that time in developing revenue sources, building customer relationships, and working on, not in, their businesses.
—ErichCampbell.com
