Module 3-Transitioning to the Digital World Final LK

Finance : Accounting packages e.g. Sage that is cloud based

Sales : Selling online using payment gateways and social media sites

HR : Automated policies & Procedures and payroll

My smalll business

Marketing : Digital using social media to drive traffic to your website; tracking traffic

IT : Networking & Google Tools make online offices possible

Operations : Automated policies and procedures

Remember, online solutions are only as good as the people implementing them. If you introduce automation into the business make sure you /staff is trained to use it.

Figure 2: E-Commerce Business Model

The above model is referred to as an e-commerce model because it shows a set of processes that can be used to convert the basic business model shown in Figure 1 to the above model that makes it possible for a business to transact with its customers online. However, we learnt in Module 1 that business processes need to work in harmony with one and other and therefore it makes sense to look at the business in its entirety rather than concentrating on marketing or sales only. Let us now briefly describe each process in order to understand the potential to convert to an online solution. Never introduce new software or hardware unless you are sure that it will improve your business and save you costs in the future. Equally, don’t allow cost to be the only factor in your decision to go for automation or not. Always conduct a proper cost-benefit analysis before deciding for or against the introduction of new technology or software.

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