With the mission of "Increasing the competitiveness of our clients through the systematization of management methodologies applied to the strategic layer of public and private organizations, considering the perspective and needs of users", Stratec is launching the concept of Managed Bases on the market, with the aim of also serving the micro and small business market. The Managed Base is a new type of partnership that Stratec is offering to the strategic consultancy market. By joining this partnership, the SME consultant can use Stratec's Strategic Management software as a tool for managing and monitoring the strategic planning work carried out with all their clients on the same production base. All this at a very affordable monthly cost.
Brazil had 4,918,370 companies in operation in 2002, of which 93.6% were micro companies, 5.6% were small, 0.5% were medium-sized and 0.3% were large. According to a SEBRAE survey* in 2011, there are now 6,385,814 companies, 99% of which are SMEs. Of these, 93.31% are micro businesses and 5.71% are small businesses. SMEs are more concentrated in the trade and services sectors, areas that require continuous strategic planning.
According to Guilherme Barbassa, director of Stratec, the aim of this new policy is to make it possible for SMEs to use the software, because in this model, the cost of implementing the software is reduced by 80%, as well as allowing the company to work on the software with just a few licenses. "There are actually two points that make it unfeasible or difficult for companies to use the software: the price, i.e. the minimum cost of implementation, as this minimum is often beyond the capacity of an SME; and the knowledge needed by the company to make the methodology work. In general, SMEs do not have the knowledge of the strategic management methodology and are unable to allocate many man-hours to making the methodology work until it becomes the company's organizational culture. These two factors combined meant that this market was left unserved," he explains.
Sol Sanchez, Stratec's partnerships manager, says that the biggest challenge in consultancy work is gathering strategic information on all clients. This task requires time spent collecting, typing, analyzing and cross-referencing data, and most of the time, the time between collecting and analyzing this information is very long. As a result, this delay reduces reaction time, makes it impossible to make decisions and makes it impossible to change course to alter an unfavorable scenario. "By using software, in addition to optimizing the time it takes to monitor and manage their clients' strategic planning, consultants gain numerous other benefits, such as: being able to monitor business performance and the execution of the company's strategy; monitoring corporate objectives, projects and goals deployed down to the operational level; being able to carry out replanning when necessary, since it is supported by the PDCA method; being able to promote a results-oriented management culture, for performance transparency and alignment of the entire team, from management to operations, around the established global strategy and objectives; as well as using a system that adheres to the BSC, GPD, VBM methodologies," he emphasizes.
Barbassa explains that some Stratec partners who were already active in this market were selected for the first phase of the project. "The consultants who had credibility and proven experience with SMEs were trained in the software, received training and were given a blank database to configure. The database then remains in the consultant's name and within that database, they enter their clients' information. They can put several companies on the same database and this reduces the license cost per company and the minimum number of licenses needed to deploy the software. But each client only sees their own information," he points out. Barbassa explains that the consultant can offer the system as a service, where he adds monthly consultancy hours, the necessary knowledge that is lacking in this market and the tool, filling in the gaps that existed until then.
Renan Chagas, director of Grow up Consultoria e Gestão Empresarial, is one of Stratec's partners in this initiative and one of the creators of the project. "Talking to Barbassa, we were thinking about how we could supply the software to smaller clients at a compatible cost. Today, the managed base makes life much easier for clients, especially small ones, because they don't have to get so involved with implementation, we deliver the base ready for them," he says.
Chagas also says that the Strategic Management Software makes strategic planning work much easier and adds a perception of value on the part of the client when the consultancy also provides an IT tool. Clients see the advantage of working with a tool that facilitates the issue of indicators and projects. "We're including Base Administrada within a Grow Up product. This adds value to my work. I'm a fan of the software," he says.
Sol Sanchez also points out that the only way to avoid predatory attacks from other companies is to have a well-designed strategic plan that allows for rapid changes in direction to keep up with the speed of the market. "That's where the partner consultant comes in. Consultants who use GE software continuously and efficiently are more likely to be able to develop successful cases and achieve positive results with their clients," she says.
Barbassa also stresses that Stratec is open to new partnerships and anyone interested can contact Sol at [email protected].
Sources:
Anuário do Trabalho na Micro e Pequena Empresa. 2011. Available at: http://bis.sebrae.com.br/GestorRepositorio/ARQUIVOS_CHRONUS/bds/bds.nsf/8cb2d324ffde890ece700a5fb073c4da/$File/4246.pdf
Jornal do Senado, Brasília: Senado Federal, Nov. 13, 2006, p. 4) Available at: http://www.viniciuscouto.com/site/a-importancia-da-gestao-estrategica-para-empresas-de-pequeno-porte/
