Hey there,
Let me paint you a quick picture. You need to buy supplies for your business. You send an email, wait for a response, call someone to follow up, finally get a quote, then forward it to your boss for approval. Maybe the quote gets lost. Maybe someone else already bought it. Meanwhile, your project is delayed and everyone is frustrated.
Sound familiar?
Manual procurement isn’t just slow. It leads to duplicate spending, miscommunication, and poor vendor decisions. It hides spending in different corners of the company, which means you’re constantly reacting instead of planning.
Here’s the thing. Businesses that rely on spreadsheets and emails for procurement lose money without realizing it. It’s not intentional. It’s just that no one has a clear line of sight into the whole process.
So, what’s the fix? Start by asking: Where are we spending the most time and money in procurement? And where do we keep losing visibility?
The Cost of Slow Approvals and How to Fix It
Have you ever waited days to get a simple purchase approved? Or worse, had to redo work because an approval came too late?
Slow approvals quietly eat away at team productivity. Every time someone chases a signature, stalls a vendor, or delays a delivery, your operations take a hit.
Most teams don’t have a standardized workflow. Approvals live in email threads or messaging apps. No audit trail. No accountability. Just confusion and delays.
Here’s something to consider. What if every request had a clear, automated path? What if the right people were notified at the right time, with the right context, and could approve with one click?
It’s not just about speed. It’s about control and visibility.
When Vendor Chaos Becomes a Business Risk
Let’s talk vendors. Most businesses work with dozens of suppliers, and if you’re growing, that number only increases. But do you really know which vendors deliver best? Who overcharges? Who always delays?
Vendor relationships are often based on familiarity, not data. This leads to inconsistent pricing, missed SLAs, and poor quality.
Without a system to track vendor performance, compare offers, or review contract compliance, teams end up making emotional or rushed decisions.
Imagine knowing which suppliers to trust before your next order. Imagine having reports that show real vendor value over time.
That’s the kind of insight procurement teams need to be strategic.
No Visibility, No Control – Why You Can’t Manage What You Can’t See
One of the most common things we hear from operations leaders is this: “We know we’re overspending, we just don’t know where.”
When your spend data lives in separate silos – emails, spreadsheets, department heads’ heads – it’s almost impossible to make informed decisions.
That’s where visibility comes in. It’s not about micromanaging. It’s about empowering you with data. What are you spending on? Which team is responsible? Is this in line with the budget?
Without visibility, finance teams can’t forecast accurately. Procurement teams can’t negotiate better deals. And leadership can’t confidently report to stakeholders.
Start by centralizing your procurement data. Make it easy to search, filter, and report. Once you can see the big picture, cutting waste becomes second nature.
Let me know if you want to chat about what visibility could look like for your team. Book a Call Here
Why Everyone Approves Requests Differently and How to Fix It
Let’s be honest. Most teams don’t follow a standard approval process. One team uses email, another uses WhatsApp, someone prints a document and walks it to the boss’s desk. That inconsistency doesn’t just cause confusion, it creates risk.
When everyone handles approvals their own way, there’s no way to audit decisions or track delays. That can lead to missed budgets, late deliveries, and sometimes even duplicate purchases.
The fix? A consistent, well-defined workflow that adapts to your organization. Set up logic that routes requests to the right person based on amount, department, or urgency. Make it simple for managers to approve on the go.
With clarity comes speed. And speed means results.
More in our Part 2 coming soon.
Sam Femi
Yaraa.io – marketing@yaraa.io
Book a Demo, Let’s Chat.