As your company grows, your systems should keep up with you. Here are 5 warning signs that indicate your business is ready for an ERP solution.
As your small business grows, so do your operational complexities. If you started with basic accounting software, and are experiencing rapid growth, chances are you might have outgrown your existing systems.
As your financial and customer requirements increase, it can be challenging to keep up when disconnected processes and siloed data hold your business back. This is where an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution can help. A modern ERP solution will integrate all your business data and link a company’s financials, operations, commerce, reporting, manufacturing, and more under one unified platform.
So, when is the right time to switch to an ERP solution? Take a moment to think about all the processes that are essential to the running of your business and ask yourself some questions:
Is your business running as efficiently as it could?
Are you relying on guesswork instead of data to make business decisions?
Is your team drowning in repetitive admin and manual tasks?
When you’re bogged down in daily operations, it can be easy to ignore the signs of trouble ahead. In this article, we round up the top 5 warning signs that indicate your small business is ready for a modern ERP solution so you can continue to scale efficiently.
What is an ERP solution?
An ERP solution is comprehensive business management software integrating various core business functions into a single platform. After your processes, data, and systems are connected, you’ll have the visibility and adaptability you need to start optimizing your business operations.
Some of the key business functions that can be optimized using an ERP include:
Finance
Sales
Human Resources
E-commerce
Manufacturing
Supply Chain
Historically, ERP solutions required a massive investment of time, effort, and resources to implement, and some required complex customization to meet your unique business requirements. Nowadays most modern ERP solutions are cloud-based which allows for greater flexibility and ease in deployment and customization.
Modern cloud-based ERP solutions offer lower entry costs, improved security and privacy, and adaptability that enable your solution to meet the growing and changing needs of your business.
Learn more about modern cloud ERP solutions:
Signs That Your Business Needs an ERP Solution
If you’re struggling with your basic or legacy system, here are 5 signs that it’s the right time to make the move to an ERP solution:
1️⃣ You’re Dealing with Multiple, Disparate Systems and Applications
As your company evolves, you may find your employees using new systems or applications as the need arises. However, when different departments are all using disparate systems that don’t connect, this leads to duplicated data and efforts. For example, you find that your financial staff uses one system to record receivables and payables, while the sales team uses another to enter customer orders, and warehouse employees have yet another system to track shipping.
When organizations run operations through various disparate systems, it becomes challenging to scale efficiently as inaccurate or redundant data can result in errors and potentially damage your operations.
A dedicated ERP software solution resolves this by integrating all these different systems together and will help you manage your entire business from one platform, connecting data from all departments, such as sales, finances, inventory, and more. A centralized system also means you’re dealing with just one vendor and support team.
2️⃣ Your IT Processes Are Complicated and Costly
Another major downside of running a patchwork of disparate software systems across your business is that IT management becomes a burden, draining your resources and limiting strategic focus. Whether you outsource IT or have an in-house team, they will waste critical time and resources:
Monitoring and maintaining separate solutions through patches and upgrades
Customizing and integrating the separate solutions
Troubleshooting custom code or keeping any legacy systems updated
As a small or mid-sized business dealing with scarce resources and budgets, an increasingly complicated IT infrastructure is the last thing you need. An ERP solution will drastically simplify your IT requirements as it consolidates everything into one system, reducing workloads and costs.
Plus, selecting a cloud-based ERP solution further streamlines your IT environment as the hassle of upgrades, updates, and hosting falls to the software vendor. Cloud-based ERP solutions also give you the agility to easily scale your business and quickly respond to changing business needs.
3️⃣ You Are Unable to Access Key Financial Information Easily
When your business data is siloed across departments, you lack the visibility to see how your business is performing. Ask yourself these questions:
Do you have a clear idea about how your business is performing as a whole?
Are key performance indicators such as sales margins, order per date, or sales to date easily accessible?
Does it take more than a couple of hours each week to pull together financial reports from spreadsheets and different applications?
If accessing information and reporting on business performance has become a nightmare, it is a strong indicator that you need to switch to an ERP system. Accurate data is key for making critical business decisions and you should be able to generate this data with minimal manual input. The lack of clear financial visibility has a negative impact on your business, as it hinders your company’s capacity to streamline processes, uncover areas of potential growth, and respond efficiently to market shifts.
With a modern ERP system, your key business data is stored in one shared database with accurate, real-time information. This makes it easier to get a holistic view of business operations. With all the data at your fingertips, it allows business owners a 360-degree view of operations so they can make more informed business decisions.
4️⃣ Inefficient Manual Processes Are Slowing You Down
One of the most tell-tale signs that your business is ready for an ERP system is the proliferation of manual processes within your organization. Consider how often a process needs manual input and how much time your staff is spending on routine admin tasks such as:
Manual data entry
Cross-checking information
Re-entering incorrect data
Copying information to other systems and software
These repetitive processes are time-consuming and hinder productivity. There is also a margin of error involved in these tasks as simple data entry mistakes can build up to major discrepancies and impact your product or service.
If your business is heavily reliant on spreadsheets and paper-based invoices or sales orders, you’ll notice a significant improvement by switching to an ERP solution. With all your information in one place, an ERP solution will streamline and automate tasks and free up valuable time, allowing your staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
5️⃣ You Are Struggling to Meet Customer Demand
When businesses grow, it can be challenging to keep up with increased demand and customer satisfaction – especially if you’re bogged down with outdated systems that do not scale with your business.
Efficient inventory management is one of the challenges businesses face after a period of rapid growth, often running into difficulties managing and tracking their inventory and ensuring the right amount of product is at the right location at the right time. This is complicated to manage if you are still relying on manual processes and stand-alone applications to track sales, inventory, and process purchase orders.
An ERP solution will simplify inventory management for you by centralizing data and streamlining operations from the sales order to customer service. It will monitor and track whether you have the optimal amount of product for uninterrupted business – and even go a step further. With the emergence of AI and forecasting technology, modern cloud ERP solutions (like Dynamics 365 Business Central) can predict when and what to replenish with built-in intelligence, sales forecasts, and dynamically updated inventory levels.
Finally, a modern cloud ERP solution offers in-built scalability, providing a strong foundation to weather business challenges, and allow you to scale with ease without sacrificing quality or customer satisfaction.
Spotted these Signs? Let Us Help You Select the Right ERP Solution for Your Business
If you identify with some or all of these business pain points, it is a strong indication that it is time to make the move to an ERP solution. A consolidated ERP solution provides accurate and accessible data that enables visibility and efficiency in your day-to-day operations, streamlines processes and promotes collaboration. A modern ERP solution can be the advantage that your business needs to achieve growth, agility, and data-driven decision-making to get ahead of your competitors.
With 50+ combined years of industry knowledge and expertise in ERP selection, planning, and implementation, the team of experts at Kwixand Solutions is here to help navigate the ins and outs of your digital transformation journey. Register for a free ERP needs assessment with our team today to get started.
