A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
For a lot of us, the Star Wars saga is the greatest film experience there is. From the first time we saw it as kids, to taking our own children to see the later installments. It’s a story that speaks to all generations and transcends both age and gender. Bar a few regrettable cartoonish characters and bit of brother and sister pashing – Star Wars it’s perfect as it is.
Watching it now though, you can’t help but wonder if things might have turned out differently if some better business processes had been implemented. So the Xero team has put together a few scenarios where things may have played out better if the Star Wars team had’ve used a cloud accounting platform.
1. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”
So here’s the situation: Han Solo botches a smuggling job for Jabba the Hutt, he ends up with a price on his head and for years, Bounty Hunters are scouring the galaxy looking for Han.
How much is all this debt recovery costing Jabba? All those Bounty Hunters contracted. All of those space travel costs, from one end of the galaxy to the other. Not to mention the destruction of property and loss of life.
Surely there must be a better, more efficient solution? As it so happens, there is.
Jabba could have sent Han Solo an Online Invoice using Xero and with Invoice Reminders, it would have saved that awkward conversation at the canteen table (where Han DEFINITELY shot first). Jabba could’ve seen that Han had received and opened the invoice and Han could have paid it online, as soon as he received those Galactic credits after returning Princess Leia to the Rebel Base. No nasty Bounty Hunters, no carbonite freezing. Life would’ve been so much simpler.
2. “But he asked the impossible…”
After the spectacular destruction of the Death Star — a planet-destroying, superweapon and space station — The Empire decided to construct something bigger, badder and indestructible (spoiler alert: it got destroyed). They gave the updated version the inspired name of “Death Star 2” – or “the second Death Star”.
Moff Jejarrod may have been the Project Manager, but The Emperor was a tough boss. He set unrealistic deadlines and sent in scary middle management in the form of Darth Vader for unscheduled site visits.
Had the Empire used Workflow Max to track job costs and manage contractors, they may have delivered Death Star 2 on time and on budget. Then The Emperor could have chilled on the micro-management and checked out how everything was going at a glance and in real time, using Xero’s Performance Dashboard. No torture by force lightning or choking. No HR violations. Everyone wins.
3. “That’s no moon…”
While we’re on the subject, the plans to the Death Star fell into the wrong hands not once, but twice! Did the Empire not learn the first time that there must be a better, more secure way to store and send these? Perhaps if they had emailed the plans to the Xero Files Library, it would have stayed out of the hands of those pesky Bothan Spies. Xero’s recent 2 Step Authentication feature would have also added that extra layer of security, to stop R2D2 accessing vital information.
4. “These are not the droids you’re looking for”
The Jawas are a race of Desert scavengers, eking out a living selling the bits of scrap space junk and wandering droids they find in the dunes of Tatooine. They are a small business and a basic inventory system could have saved them a lot of trouble (ie. possibly not getting massacred by Stormtroopers). Furthermore, if the Stormtroopers had invited users into the Jawas Xero organisation, Global Search would have helped them confirm that those were most definitely the droids they were looking for.
5. How do you know you can trust the Bounty Hunter you’re hiring?
You never have to set foot in a wretched hive of scum and villainy again, with the Xero Add-On Marketplace and Partner Directory. Find a trusted Partner in a Galaxy closest to you and see how other users have rated them.