Owner
Broadbent Industrial Supplies
Broadbent Welding & Industrial Supplies is a new division of PAY Broadbent, an established business offering repair, maintenance, and refurbishment services to engineering and manufacturing businesses.
Branching out to consumables, Broadbent Industrial Supplies started in 2019 offering high-quality consumables, tools, chemicals, fasteners, and PPE workwear to businesses across the UK.
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Broadbent Industrial Supplies began its journey using Xero to manage its customer, product and financial data. But with prior experience with OGL Software in a previous company, it was key for the owner to invest in the right digital foundation early on to create the most profitable operation from the outset.
As a small business looking to grow their revenue, the owners needed a solution that would be cost-effective, flexible to their needs, with the scalability and long-term potential that would see Broadbent Industrial Supplies through the decades; "with Profit4, I know I have the platform to grow, adapt, diversify and be flexible and that's exciting."
The owner explains: "A previous company I worked for used OGL Software but not to its full potential in terms of the stock management capabilities. That was a bugbear of mine, as a sales rep; we had this software that could control your stock, but we didn't use it. That's why I got in contact with OGL when the time was right for Broadbent Industrial Supplies, because I knew the potential the system had to help a business with stock management, as well as all the other wonderful things it does."
"With Profit4, I know I have the platform to grow, adapt, diversify and be flexible and that's exciting.
"My business partner was worried financially about making the investment in a full ERP system, because for a small business like us, Profit4 can feel expensive, but it isn't for what you get. And let me tell you, running stock on Xero is not an easy thing to do, it was taking up all my time. I got quick on Xero but you have to go into loads of tabs just to reorder something for a customer, everything just took ages and my only alternative to investing in software was to hire and add a wage to the business just to assist with admin.
"I fully believe in automation and implementing Profit4 hasn't come at any expense of staff because I really believe people buy off people. It just means the staff I will have will be fully equipped to do what they do in a better and more productive way, which makes us all more money. It's key to get people into the business to do business, not backend processes. And as it happens, I've got a driver starting and I'm looking to hire a salesperson. The business is taking off and the figures look good and that's largely thanks to Profit4."
Profit4 has enabled Broadbent Industrial Supplies to focus on growing the business and provides the team with a digital platform that creates lean stock processes, efficient customer service, ease of use for the employees and importantly the platform to expand and grow in the future.
"Profit4 helps me set my sales strategy for the business and helps me stay in control. A lot of my competitors are still doing things on pieces of paper or using basic software packages, but now I'm streets ahead of those businesses because Profit4 is so adaptable and it's helped me grow."
"I was determined to get the most from Profit4 right from the start, so we did a complete stock take before importing any data into the system. You have to put the work in, and I always recommend getting your stock in order because when that was uploaded, and I could first see my stock levels and valuation report it was fantastic."
"I now have visibility of exactly how much money was in the building, what my rolling stock looked like and what I needed to order. Having an accurate and real-time stock database is your oracle; it tells you everything you need to know, and it essentially runs the business for you."
"Having more time to focus on business development has resulted in an increase in turnover and profit and they are the numbers that matter."
Broadbent Industrial Supplies use Profit4 to run their entire operation, from their trade counter to their accounts and in the future they're looking to integrate an eCommerce website.
"Just thinking about how I used to do the invoicing before Profit4; I'd have to take a pile of paper, look them up individually on Xero, mark each job complete, raise an invoice etc. In Profit4, it's a simple tick box and I can send them all, it's amazing."
"It's little things like that that make a massive difference to small businesses. With all the time and money you save from automating your admin tasks, you can invest it back into sales and marketing to grow the business."
"Profit4 has already paid for itself in the amount of time it saved me because if I was still using Xero to run my business now I genuinely would have given up, because with the sheer volume of products we get through and a growing customer base, Xero would not have allowed me to have a life!"
"I wish I could quantify the efficiency savings but we're just simply more efficient, we've been able to hire more staff and with the right fundamental processes and systems in place, it alleviates some of the pressures of running a business."
"The support from your software provider is key. The training was brilliant because they are online and flexible, which meant I could still run my business whilst doing the training.
"Absolutely everyone at OGL has been fantastic and helpful and crucially, are easy to deal with. My advice for anyone looking to invest in ERP software is go for it with a partner like OGL; the support is there, training sessions are adaptable and positive change helps businesses grow, and Profit4 has been a positive change."
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Take full control of your stock with real-time visibility of stock levels across all locations.
"Now I can quote, convert to order & make a PO in half a dozen clicks."
"The speed & time-saving it has given us has made a big impact on the business."
