Elkera provides business consulting services to help medium sized organisations to reduce operating costs, adapt to changing market conditions, improve product and service delivery to customers, and promote improved employee experience and wellbeing.

What challenges does your organisation face?

• A need to reduce operating costs?
• Excessive customer complaints and support costs?
• Software systems that do not meet current needs?
• Unreliable data recording and inadequate business reports?
• Unhappy staff – low morale and burn-out?
• Excessive time to onboard new staff – unclear responsibilities and processes?
• Staff performing manual tasks that could be automated?
• Inconsistencies in output quality?
• Poor coordination or even conflict between workgroups?
• Important tasks falling through the cracks?
• Senior management does not understand how key parts of the business actually work?

Many medium businesses face some, if not most, of those challenges. They arise because of problems with organisational structure, unsatisfactory workflows and processes, and inadequate software tools. Those problems build up over time but they are the result of a lack of systemic planning and poor investment decisions.

If you are a medium-sized organisation in a knowledge or service based industry, a not-for-profit or a smaller government agency facing any of those challenges, Elkera’s expert business analysis consultant can help. We will undertake a thorough, top-down, systemic analysis of your business and help you develop new ways of working that are supported by a clear business case. Together, we will put your organisation onto the path to a more sustainable future.

With Elkera’s assistance, you can expect:

• Business operations aligned to evolving market conditions and technologies.
• Reduced operating costs
• Improved customer service and satisfaction
• Better employee experiences and wellbeing
• A more sustainable future for your organisation.

Now is the time to begin your business process improvement

More than ever, medium businesses and not-for-profit organisations face relentless pressures that affect financial sustainability. In the current global and local environment, those pressures will only increase.

Commonly, senior managers see many problems in their organisations but they are not sure how they relate to each other and how to start fixing them. Uncertainty leads to inaction. Worse, without being able to see the big picture, decisions to effect change may be piecemeal, ineffective and wasteful.

The costs of delayed or ineffective actions are real, and they compound over time. They undermine the future prospects of the business and the returns to the business owners.

The time to act is now!

What Elkera will deliver

Elkera will help you on the path to improved profitability and sustainability.

To begin, we work with you to develop an overall picture of the business so all problems can be seen as part of a larger system. At Elkera we call that a ‘functional model’. A functional model is a high level view of your business functions, main business processes, the roles given responsibility for those functions and processes, and the contributing or dependent stakeholders.

Development of a functional model requires that we identify and work with all relevant stakeholders to understand your business.

The functional model is described in our blog article Growing pains for medium businesses: Why you should clearly define internal business structure.

With a functional model, you and we will know exactly how the business works. The functional model supports a top-down, systemic analysis that will support all further planning. It will enable us to dig deeper to understand the root causes of the challenges you face. It will let you understand and prioritise challenges according to business value and in a coherent, systemic way.

Elkera’s approach to analysing your business and planning your business process improvements will let senior managers act with confidence and assurance about the next steps.

We will help you to devise and implement improved ways of working that will overcome the problems that are identified. You can expect at least:

• A clear picture of how relevant parts of your business work, the problems it faces and where there are opportunities for improvement.
• Recommended improvements to your internal business structure so that roles are optimally aligned to how your business ought to work.
• Identified changes for smarter, more consistent and automated business processes that reduce cost and effort.
• Recommended changes that do not require material financial investment.
• Clear requirements for new software that may required.
• A change plan that will guide implementation, including for any software procurement.
• A business case for all proposed investment.
• Assistance through any software procurement process.

How you can be sure that Elkera is the right business consultant

You may be concerned about the risks of finding the right consultant or you may be concerned about the value a consultant can provide.

Elkera’s way of working removes those risks. Before you make any financial commitments, you will be able to see how we work and be able to assess how our capabilities align with your objectives.

From the outset, Elkera’s consultant will be focused on finding process improvements and system changes for your business that will provide a positive return on your total investment in the project.

We provide a continuously evolving business case for our work that gives you confidence about the way forward and removes many of the traditional barriers to hiring a consultant. Elkera’s way of working ensures that:

• You will be able to assess our understanding of your business before you make a financial investment.
• At each step in the process, you will be able to assess the value of completed and proposed work before making a commitment to proceed further.

The key to this approach is to determine very early in the project if you can expect potential benefits that will justify your likely investment.

Why Elkera?

• 25+ years of experience analysing business processes and systems, and helping clients to streamline and automate business processes.
• Innovation mindset with a practical understanding of how to implement new technologies.
• Extensive experience at senior levels across a range of businesses.
• Experience as the founder of several software businesses that developed completely new, innovative products.
• Extensive experience as a trusted supplier and consultant working with government.
• Expertise leading complex software development and software procurement projects.
• Clear, professional, independent advice with no affiliation to any vendors.

Please follow the links below to detailed service descriptions, or book an appointment for a free, introductory consultation.