Small business ERP can replace point technology solutions and help you improve your business performance

Every hour in your business, you and your team are busy managing multiple activities like serving prospects and customers, following up leads, managing the sales paper trail, booking time to projects and tracking stock. Every thing you do in your business has some financial impact so you’ve got to keep your accounts accurate, keep a watchful eye on what cash is being generated and used….and predict your sales and cash flow. Every customer purchase, every item you buy and every job or project you do generates a trail of paperwork.

And from the minute you follow up a lead to the minute your business receives the cash, you have to track and monitor detailed information about every activity in these processes. You and your team need round the clock access to all of this data from anywhere. And you, your managers and team leaders need an end to end and complete view of every key activity and the ability to quickly drill down on any balance or task to view, comprehend and track what is happening where, when and why it’s happening and if these activities are being managed efficiently.

Small business ERP benefits

What gets tracked gets refined so it’s essential the activities in every key process in your organisation can be tracked and measured as they happen so you and your team can take advantage of opportunities, identify and address issues before they become tragedies and manage your company’s processes effectively.

To do all of this and always have a concise view you don’t need bookkeeping software, you don’t need a customer relationship management system, you don’t need a time capture system, an employee expenses tracking system or a stock control system. You need one system that has all of this joined together and lets you connect everyone in your business where ever they they want to work. A unified system  that gives a concise view of your business, so you consistently understand what’s going on and lets you manage your organisation in the way that works best for you and your team.

You need small business ERP

Companies need efficient process, the focus of leadership and structure that can stretch to enable the company to grow safely as a massive 55% of businesses don’t make it to their fifth birthday. The commentators offer shallow explanations as to why this happens. I consistently see three key reasons why this tragedy occurs so often and to so many individuals with different backgrounds, education and knowledge.

The primary reason is lack of market understanding.

Refusal to look at the water ahead. For example Individuals have the idea, create the product and then expect the market to come and purchase. In this connected age there is no excuse for lack of investigation prior to spending any time and cash on creating a product until you have robust evidence there is a market.

The number two reason is lack of comprehension of fundamental facts about business.

A significant proportion of people starting a business know their trade, how to deliver a service or make a product, but not how to run a business.  Being able to understand and follow the numbers in the profit and loss or the balance sheet is an essential skill. The basic knowledge of accounting is rarely imparted coherently by the business publications, online resources and experts with the knowledge such as accountants and bookkeepers. Vendors such as Sage software and Intuit aggressively fool business managers with their messaging that their systems are the cure for all ills.

Small business accounting software isnt a complete answer.

Until recently ERP software solutions and packages were the privilege of corporations who had deduced that the back and front office systems need to be fused together to give a complete picture of the business. One software developer NetSuite had the foresight to see the opening in the market and started offering its small business ERP software. NetSuite pricing has since increased and put their solution out of the financial reach of small businesses.

The third reason companies don’t survive is because of a dirth of process and procedures that put in place the vital disciplines and continuity a business must have to work efficiently.