Introduction: ERP Software for Small Business

Many companies, especially those who start an online business, start off small with a few employees, minimal technology, and informal processes and procedures. This is only normal. However, what happens to those companies that start small in the first year, but grow exponentially in the second, third or fourth year? Can they still handle all customer inquiries and orders, all the while maintaining the delivery date?

What our team has seen all too often is the following:

• Business owners do not have the full picture of what is going on at their company; making their decision-making process slow, inaccurate and dependent on key managers
• These key managers hold a lot of data and information about the company (in their mind); if they are absent, on vacation or on a leave, chaos ensues
• Employees work in Excel and Word to document everything; employees from different departments can sometimes be working with different information and not in real-time (lack of visible accurate and real-time data)
• A lot of processes that can be automated are done manually; this requires a lot of people’s time and effort
• Employees are working overtime and at 100% capacity just to complete customer orders and requests

Read: E-commerce Integration with business systems – outperform the competition

ERP Software Solution Benefits for Your Business

If things don’t change quickly, the more these companies grow, the more limitations and problems these business owners will face. So, what should they do to get better prepared for more growth and success at the company? Implement a fully integrated ERP Management Suite.

This isn’t to say that everything will be perfect afterwards, but:

• Business processes will be streamlined & automated
• Employees will have more time on their hands to focus on more important tasks
• Data quality will be improved
• Data will be in real-time and easily accessible
• Decision-making will be faster and more accurate (improved reporting)
• And lastly, large orders will be handled on time, leaving customers happy and loyal to the company’s brand.

Useful reading: E-commerce integration: How to integrate Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, with ERP/CRM systems

Success Factor in ERP Implementation

Typically, in small and mid-size businesses, the management team has a high level of involvement and interaction with employees. They can easily be seen and heard by staff throughout the day. Therefore, during any major change that occurs in an SME, like an ERP implementation project, it is essential to have a management team that is unified in their support of the project. If not, user resistance can arise which can quickly make an ERP implementation fail. If executives share their support and continuously encourage their staff to be open to new processes and procedures with an upgraded system, employees are less likely to resist.

Useful reading: 6 Ways to Achieve an Easy Software Implementation

ERP Implementation Project

During ERP implementation, it is also beneficial if periodically managers can alleviate staff from their regular day-to-day responsibilities to test the system and get the proper user training required. This will help reduce the stress and anxiety in the office. Management’s power during an ERP implementation project extends more than simply making the financial decisions; they have the power to change the mood of the entire office.

All in all, employees will have a better experience during an ERP implementation when there’s the right support and encouragement coming from top management.