Systems First.
Odoo Behind Them.
How to scale your business through effective systems
Download our free practical guide for owners, finance managers and operations leaders. Then join the M&J team live on Zoom and watch the ideas in it work inside Odoo.
- Free eBook guide Zimbabwe Edition 2026 · 40 pages · instant download
- Live webinar + Odoo demo Thursday, 22 October 2026
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CAT · Live on Zoom
Get the eBook + Reserve Your Seat
One short form. Your download starts on the next page, and your Zoom link follows by email.
Questions? +263 86 12 00 8884 WhatsApp us
The tools that got you here are starting to hold you back
If your business runs on a sales book, a few Excel files, a stock card and a busy WhatsApp group, you are not doing anything wrong. That's how most good businesses start. But at some point it begins to cost you.
- The stock sheet says 140 bags. The shelf has 52.
- WhatsApp has quietly become your order book.
- Month-end takes three weeks, and the numbers still feel wrong.
- Debtors live in a spreadsheet only one person understands.
- The ZiG price quoted on WhatsApp doesn't match the USD invoice.
- Fiscalised sales, VAT returns and the ledger never quite agree.
None of these is dramatic on its own. Added up, the example business in Chapter 1 loses an estimated USD 48,300 a year. The guide gives you the worksheet to work out your own figure.
Software is what you buy. A system is what you build.
Two businesses buy the same software in the same month. One is running month-end in days six months later. The other is back on spreadsheets. The software was identical. The difference was everything around it: the five pillars of a working system.
Foundation: an owner who leads the change and runs the business on its numbers.
Eight chapters, from understanding the problem to being ready to act
Built as a journey you can finish in an evening, with local examples for Zimbabwe: USD and ZiG pricing, ZIMRA fiscalisation, load-shedding, informal credit and family-run management.
- 01
The real cost of running a business on spreadsheets and WhatsApp
Put a dollar figure on the leaks you are already paying for.
- 02
Seven signs you have outgrown your current systems
A self-diagnosis you can score in ten minutes.
- 03
Why a software is not a system
The five things you must put in place for any software to work.
- 04
What an ERP actually is, and what it isn't
Plain-English definitions, six myths to ignore, and where Odoo fits.
- 05
Sales, stock, purchasing and accounting: how they connect
One transaction followed from quote to cash, and from reorder to payment.
- 06
How to choose the right system for your business size
Costs, scorecards, a 12-step demo script and the questions to ask any vendor.
- 07
What a typical implementation looks like, step by step
Seven phases, who does what, and ten reasons projects fail.
- 08
Your readiness checklist
A 37-point scored checklist and a 30-day action plan.
Read the guide. Then see it working in Odoo.
A free, one-hour session on Zoom with the M&J SERPA Africa team. We take the guide off the page and into a live Odoo system, so you can see what running a business on one connected platform actually looks like.
- 01
What disconnected tools really cost you
We walk through the hidden-cost worksheet from Chapter 1, so you leave with a number for your own business.
- 02
The five pillars of a working system
Why most failed ERP projects had good software and a missing pillar somewhere else.
- 03
Live in Odoo: one order, quote to cash
Quotation, delivery, ZIMRA-fiscalised invoice and payment reconciled in the bank, in USD and ZiG, with stock and the books updating on their own.
- 04
Your questions, answered live
Bring your score from the seven-signs test. We'll show how your process would look in Odoo.
Before you download
Is it really free?
Yes. The eBook and the webinar are both free, with no obligation.
I can't make it live. Should I still register?
Yes. Keep the webinar box ticked and we'll send you the recording after the session on 22 October.
Is the webinar a sales pitch?
No. It is a practical, business-level session built on the guide. The guide itself is honest about the hard parts of implementation, because that is where projects succeed or fail. If you want a next step afterwards, we offer a free readiness session, and that's optional.
Why a Zimbabwe edition?
Because the details matter: USD and ZiG pricing, ZIMRA fiscalisation, load-shedding, informal credit and family-run management. The examples, tax rules and worked figures are written for Zimbabwe, while the principles apply to any growing business.
Do I need to know Odoo or ERP already?
No. Both are written for owners, finance managers and operations leaders, in plain English. No technical background needed.
In Zambia? Get the Zambia Edition and register for the Zambia webinar →
Your business deserves a system, not just software.
Start with the guide today. Then join us live on Thursday, 22 October 2026 at 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CAT.
Download eBook + Register →