This January, we sat down with Kris Hiiemaa to discuss his plans for the upcoming year. Kris is a founder and current CEO of ERPLY Point of Sale, Inc. During our interview with him, we touched on company expansion, advise for new startups, and his day to day life as the head of a worldwide company.
Where do you see the company by the end of 2017?
Upping functionality. The full team knowledge base of all the features in ERPLY. Advertise our website applications, add-ons, and expansions that we have available. Bring functionality out of testing and give new features to the customer. Our development has been building some new automation tools and functionality that will make life easier for everyone.
You mentioned new features and functionality. What new features for 2017 you can tell us about?
Automation and machine learning through data that are gathered. [ERPLY will become] a money making a robot. Less work for the user. We’re constantly updating ERPLY, be sure to check out the release notes
for new features throughout the year.
ERPLY has been expanding quickly, where do you see growth happening next for the ERPLY offices?
Grow faster, retain current customers, show them our features. No point in building a better product if no one is going to use it. Customers are our largest focus, and we will be building relationships with our current customers and in turn expanding to new ones. We hope to have a word of mouth from happy customers be our biggest advertiser. When a customer is happy with our product, they will recommend it to who they know.
Being the CEO, you must have a lot on your plate. What’s the average day in the life? How do you manage your time?
Bring the kids to school, all day meetings. 7 am to 11 pm. No helicopter rides or limos, I drive my kids to school in the morning and have a hands-on approach in meetings all day. Our company is in multiple time zones, so I’m always busy. Life of the CEO in one word is uncertainty.
Are there any tips or tricks you wish you had known when first starting ERPLY? What would be your best advice to new startups in any field?
Life changes fast, the more growth the better, but with more growth comes more problems. Be prepared to learn. Improve as much as you can just by trying. It’s nothing special. Better judgment to see outcomes. Not rocket science, the goal is to try to solve any problem that’s created. Choose the right people. Partners that share your views. Priorities always changing, be prepared to adapt.