In a challenging economic climate, businesses across the board are aiming to do more with less. The “grow at all costs” mentality has been replaced by a focus on driving efficiency across people, technology, and processes – with a mission towards profitable growth.
This is where business management systems – or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software – are helping to keep the focus on productivity by managing financial processes, centralising operational data, and helping analyse performance. In turn, this means that founders have the time and resource to capitalise on a great business idea.
The Cheeky Panda is a textbook example of combining a great idea with scalable technology to challenge an unsustainable industry and create growth. Launched in 2016, co-founders Julie Chen and Chris Forbes had returned on holiday to Julie’s homeland and were struck by the naturally regenerative nature of Bamboo that makes it a super sustainable resource. Today, The Cheeky Panda uses this abundant resource to make sustainable Bamboo tissue paper, wipes and other household essential products.
The business has since expanded to over 25 countries including China, Europe and the U.S., using Oracle NetSuite to closely manage its financial processes, inventory, and sustainability efforts as it has grown to over £12 million in annual revenue.
Gain real-time visibility
Speaking to Elite Business at SuiteConnect London, NetSuite’s annual customer conference, David Carter, chief operating officer at The Cheeky Panda, highlighted how NetSuite has helped the company scale. Carter outlined why implementing an ERP system early on in their business journey delivered a competitive advantage.
“It’s important to get an ERP solution as early as you can in your business,” says Carter. “When you’ve got other priorities during your growth phase and you have to suddenly think about an ERP solution, it can throw you off track. If you’re thinking about expanding your business, having an ERP system as early on as you can is really helpful, because then you are ready for growth. I always think that planned activity is always much better in the long run. The plan for Cheeky Panda was to grow significantly, and it was the right choice to implement an ERP early on when we were a £2 million turnover business.”
Streamlining operations
Carter also outlined how NetSuite has given clear visibility into data across the business, tighter controls and protocols, and helped streamline processes to keep operations lean and productive.
“On a collaborative system like NetSuite, you’ve got visibility of what everyone is doing,” said Carter. “So, you don’t have different countries using different platforms. Everyone’s on the same page and everyone can see everything. We have teams in China, Europe and the US, and that’s the real benefit of ERP system visibility, that everyone’s working the same process. From an international perspective, having different subsidiaries using the same sort of process works really well.”
He highlighted The Cheeky Panda’s adoption of NetSuite OneWorld in part for the ERP system’s ability to automatically consolidate financials for international subsidiaries while supporting 190 currencies, Carter said, helping to support The Cheeky Panda’s global operations.
Reduce manual processes and save costs
Navigating the complexities of today’s supply chain can be time-consuming for a growing business, while warehouse management can quickly become chaotic if managed with spreadsheets.
Carter also highlighted how NetSuite’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) has helped keep operations lean and efficient, without having to rely on specialists and third parties.
“We don’t have any IT specialists in the company, and we’ve managed to implement NetSuite’s WMS without a support team. It’s very user-friendly and we were able to do it all remotely with the existing team. We implemented WMS last year for our wholesale business customers, and it’s been a game changer. The WMS is just a more efficient way of working when doing the constant reconciliation of stock and orders. Stock is really accurate and you’ve got good visibility of all of that. There is an accurate reflection of the availability of stock on our website. Customers will know what is truly available because we’ve got such an efficient system in place with up-to-date numbers. These are definitely nice benefits to have when managing stock.”
New shoots of growth
And with NetSuite, the team has the capabilities it needs to help boost profitability this year and beyond. The Cheeky Panda sells via a range of channels including direct-to-consumer and wholesale and uses NetSuite reporting to determine which SKUs are selling well in which regions and adjust production accordingly.
“Our objective is to scale The Cheeky Panda into a £50 million turnover business and a household name,” Carter said. “We want to be the go-to choice for young people when they start their families. I love to see people adopt Cheeky Panda as part of their lifestyle.”
