Right now a sale at the shop looks like this. A skipper buys rope. Someone writes a receipt by hand on a carbon copy. The ice melts in the corner while they write it. One copy goes in a book. Later, someone keys it into a computer. Later again it reaches the accountant, who reaches Xero.
Three steps and three hands to record a single line of rope. Multiply that across hundreds of products, 50 to 75 accounts on 30 day terms, and a shipping container full of paper.
This is not a people problem. The team are using the best tools they have. The tools are the problem.
Handwritten docket→
Carbon copy in a book→
Re-keyed by office→
Sent to accountant→
Xero
- 01Inventory lives in a notebook, not a system. Stock is made to order from memory.
- 02A fax machine is still in the loop. So is the carbon paper.
- 03Account terms are tracked by chasing. Who owes what sits in the accountant's head.
- 04Each little business carries its own office headcount. The work is duplicated, not shared.
- 05The shop sits in a building you want to sell. Nothing moves until the shop does.
