“Everyone has gone a little mad about coconuts, which makes us incredibly happy because we love them,” says the website of Raw C, which in a little more than four years has become Australia’s second biggest distributor of coconut water products.
“We’ve been doubling our turnover year on year and that’s going to continue to grow,” says Dennis Ghetto, Raw C’s co-owner, CFO and Operations Manager.
Raw C imports its products from Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, and distributes them to supermarket chains across Australia from warehouses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
Raw C’s MYOB Advanced ERP system has equipped the company to handle major growth now and for the future.
Lack of comprehensive analysis
Raw C launched with a basic web-based accounting package that was fine for a start-up, but required too much manual labour with spreadsheets and wasn’t really delivering the financial reports the company needed.
“We needed to know we were making money and to analyse our sales data in order to control and grow our business. We needed a fully integrated system because we couldn’t do pre-payments in the old system, or find out what stock in transit was coming from our factories offshore.”
- Dennis Ghetto, Co-Owner, CFO and Operations Manager, Raw C
Warehouse management was another pain point: lack of live inventory visibility caused problems. Raw C could only determine what was in its warehouses by actually going into them every week and doing a physical stock-take.
"We needed more consolidated reporting from a sales and a financial perspective."
A user-friendly system that fits
Raw C went shopping for an ERP system that would link its supply chain and financial management, and ensure compliance with Australia’s very strict health and safety regulations.
MYOB Advanced Business was chosen as the best fit for Raw C’s business model, for its user-friendly interface and the promise that the company’s staff could do a lot of modifications themselves without the need to constantly call for a consultant’s help. A cloud-based system was another prerequisite.
"We didn’t want anything server-based… I’m always travelling and so it’s easier for me to keep in touch with the office via the web."
Better reports and a total business view
MYOB Advanced Business now allows Raw C to do everything it wants - manual spreadsheets are now history; automation gives Raw C’s accountant live data about creditors and debtors, smoothing the process of invoicing, payments and debt recovery.
Paperwork has largely been eliminated, pleasing both Raw C and its larger customers, who’d been lobbying it to adopt electronic ordering and invoicing. The company has been able to handle its rapid growth without having to employ more office staff.
While Raw C intends to continue its growth in Australia, it also has its eye on markets further afield.
“We have 100% confidence that Advanced will continue to grow with us. It has every element we need as a business to jump forward."
Before MYOB Advanced Business | After MYOB Advanced Business |
|---|---|
Inadequate reporting Lack of stock visibility Health & safety compliance issues Currency transaction problems | Live financial and warehouse data Stock easy to check and move In-depth reporting instantly available Regulatory compliance handled smoothly Foreign currency costs transparent Plenty of room to grow |
