“We want to make this product as big as possible, as fast as possible.”
For Thomas Johansson, CEO of functional sports drink startup iQ Fuel, speed and impact are how the success of his company is measured. Talking from his home in Stockholm, Johansson describes how iQ Fuel has “exploded” onto the crowded energy drinks market in Sweden.
“Everything has happened so fast,” says Johansson, reflecting on the development of the company. “And when things go that fast, it is crucial that you have the right technology behind you.”
iQ Fuel’s disruptive, fast-moving business model relies heavily on its dedicated field sales teams who travel around Sweden having conversations with stakeholders interested in stocking and selling their drinks.
“When you work like we do, you need a system to connect everybody,” says Johansson. “Like an umbrella.”
“We need to be able to connect our storage facilities with our sales team members in the field and with us in the office. With the solution we’ve implemented, we all have secure access to real-time data from across our whole company, we can all work together and see everything that everybody is doing. It’s perfect for our industry,” says Johansson.
Critical to the success of this infrastructure is the cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP system and the Dynamics 365 Sales Professional CRM system it integrates with.
The integrated ERP and CRM system helps iQ Fuel manage their core business processes such as finances, HR, and supply chain. “It allows us to harness data from multiple sources across the business,” says Johansson. “So we have insight into everything from the number of drinks we’ve sold through specific resellers, to the number of customers that visit particular stores.
“We now have the full overview of our business,” he adds. “From activities of the sales team to the details of our resellers and stores—day by day, hour by hour. And we have control over it at every moment we need it.
“Ultimately, it helps us make better decisions,” he concludes.
