by Andy Shaw

Doug Kazda. Owner, president, CEO, CFO, general manager, salesman, inventory clerk, and Home Hardware franchise holder. Like many other small business entrepreneurs, Doug Kazda has to wear a lot of hats. Doing all those jobs and working the long hours needed at his Home Hardware store in Richmond, Ontario, doesn't leave Doug with many minutes to spare. Yet the must-do's of accounting and inventory control are tremendous time-hogs. And, as much as they might help him, those fancy accounting software systems can be just too costly. That's why, after careful consideration, Doug selected the Point-of-Sale and Inventory Control accounting package from Vigilant Business Solutions.

"There were two hardware stores in our family. We sold the one where we had our old accounting package, so I was left at the other store with a set of empty terminals," explains Doug.

At first, Doug considered installing the Unix-based system they had used previously. He also considered buying the in-house accounting package offered by Home Hardware itself. But in the end, he decided that what would be best for him, his 3,000 square foot store, his three employees, and all their collective customers would be Vigilant.

"It does just about everything else the other systems do, but it was a lot less expensive than the other two," says Doug. "One of the real advantages Vigilant has over the Unix system we had is that it works in real-time. The Unix system worked on a batch system. So it wasn't until the end of the day, that its day-end program would kick in and update everything with all the day's entry in one batch. But with Vigilant as soon as a sale is made at the cash register you know exactly where you stand."

And with Vigilant, adds Doug, it is certainly not difficult to understand where you stand.

"Even though I've used a PC before, I really am quite a computer illiterate," admits Doug.

"Nonetheless, I have a pretty good understanding of how Vigilant works and what it is telling me."

That's because, year after year through 16 steady years of development and refinement, Vigilant's creators have worked hard at keeping things simple, especially for hard-pressed franchise store operators like Doug.

"We have at least 50 users of Vigilant who are franchise holders of one sort or another," says
Vigilant vice president Jane Giggal, "and we have been able to automate a lot of their processes for them. Indeed, they are becoming the bulk of our business."

In all, Vigilant software is at work in over 11,000 small and medium sized businesses around the world. But some of the most satisfied clients are the more than 20 Home Hardware franchisees, due quite possibly to the particularly unique features that Vigilant offers to the stores.

Vigilant clients also exist among other well-known franchise chains including Pro
Hardware, Mailboxes Etc., and Metal Supermarkets. All face the tedious and time-consuming yet crucial job of managing their inventories. And that is where Vigilant shines.

"What we do is write a series of little programs, add-ons as we call them, for each chain," explains Giggal. "In effect, these add-ons act as an interface between, let's say Home Hardware warehousing system's file types, and Vigilant's."

For owners like Doug Kazda more apparent benefits of Vigilant are seen when alerts appear on-screen to indicate low levels of a stocked item. Doug can then generate a purchase order within Vigilant and wing it on its way to Home Hardware's central warehouse - without a shred of paper being printed. When the warehouse has fulfilled the order, a file comes back to Doug's store indicating what is being shipped, its cost, and other invoicing details.

"Our Vigilant interface picks that file up and sucks it back into the store's network in a readable form," says Giggal. "Then our software automatically sets up an accounts payable invoice."

Kazda himself has added a new layer of sophistication by doing inventory checks with a Palm Pilot.

"By adding some third party software, Doug can use the Palm Pilot to scan the shelf labels and bring the Palm Pilot back to its cradle," explains Giggal. "That information too is drawn into Vigilant and eliminates having to type in all those stock taking quantities."

In short, Vigilant is enabling Doug Kazda and his store to capitalize on the efficiencies of business-to-business commerce with no extra investment.

"Vigilant allows me as an individual owner to handle just about everything," concludes Doug. "I don't have an office manager yet I can even do our financial statements."

Vigilant is also helping Doug grow his business. "I am trying to build up the contractor side of our business and Vigilant helps me with that because it can handle charge accounts and then do my accounts receivable."

Doug Kazda is not alone among Home Hardware franchise holders in his appreciation of Vigilant, according to David Mains, an experienced Vigilant solutions provider working out of Kitchener, Ontario.

"I think what the Home Hardware users like most about Vigilant are three things," says Mains. "One, is its ease of use. Once a transaction is done at the sales counter the accounting is done. There is nothing else the owner has to do to get it to his financial statement.

"Two, is inventory tracking. It's very appealing to have both an accurate inventory count at your fingertips and Vigilant's automatic stock ordering at work for you. Finally, it's the ability to do customized pricing for commercial and major customers. They don't have to seek the owner out to get the price, it just pops right up at the till."

For the busy Doug Kazda though there was one other personal advantage he'll never forget.
With about five months of Vigilant use under his belt, he finally found the time to get married and go on a honeymoon.

Andy Shaw is a freelance writer, broadcaster and international journalist with articles in many business and technical publications.