Running a business involves multiple islands of information running smoothly in order to ensure optimal functionality. The only issue with that is if one or more systems lag or fail, it would easily disrupt the entire business’ processes – resulting in the possibility of your company losing money or worse, losing its customers. To overcome this ERP system is the best option.

Usually there are systems in place to avoid this ordeal. Each system is monitored by the appropriate people (i.e. accounting would be managed and monitored by those in Accounting), however this isn’t always the best way to go about it. In this scenario, many things can go wrong. For example, not everyone who is impacted by the accounting department may have access to or know how to navigate the accounting system. In fact, there are a plethora of reasons why separate islands of information no longer work in this digital age. In this article, we’ll address the top five reasons across the board:

No Real Time Data

In the past, globalization wasn’t a factor. Companies normally did their business locally, and the competition wasn’t as fierce as it currently is. While small companies, with a low number of employees can get by without a fully automated system – mid-sized companies with on-shore and off-shore resources or companies with multiple locations simply cannot. These days, consolidated views and up-to-the-minute reporting can make the difference between a company thriving and barely surviving. Especially considering the recent pandemic. 

If your team members are having a hard time, take a look at the following: are your employees spending more time searching for data than analyzing it? Are your manual reports filled with errors and out-of-date information? Are your reports taking too long to run? Does your management team lack insight on how the business is performing overall?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may be time to incorporate ERP system into your business.

Manually Entered Data Across Systems

With multiple islands working together to operate a business, inputting the correct information is crucial to business success. Every little thing, from sales orders or order entry and invoicing is important. Not having a reliable system or leaving the job to team members may not be ideal. Especially since entering data manually is a time-consuming process wherein errors can occur due to the task being a repetitive one. Additionally, entering data manually and updating it manually can result in delays, and slow approval processes. Passing paperwork between departments can get confusing and all it takes is one mistake to throw everything off.

So if you find that your sales forecasting and budgeting processes rely on guesswork instead of facts, or that your company’s financial consolidation takes too long, your orders are paper-based or you face crises every month-end due to incomplete or incorrect data – you may need an ERP system.

Unhappy Customers

Your customers, next to your employees, are the most important people for your business. Ensuring their happiness is a top priority, or at least it should be. Consider the fact that even if you have an incredible product, the service surrounding it needs to be top-notch. The smallest inconveniences can run you the risk of losing customer loyalty. 

Let’s take customer information for example. If a customer’s information is spread out on multiple documents or platforms and each platform has incomplete data or out-dated data, you could be making mistakes such as repeating your request for certain information from a customer – which could leave them feeling confused or annoyed. Furthermore, having incorrect data due to manual entry error could result in you sending the bill or order to the wrong person – which would result in a monetary loss as well as an unhappy customer.

If you find your customers displeased with your services, even if your products and services are phenomenal, or you find that sales are being lost, take a look at your internal processes to find the issue at hand.

Adapting to Your Current Process

If your current business operations aren’t running smoothly because you find that you need to adapt the company to the current application as opposed to the other way around, you may need to rethink the system. This is not to imply that a standalone system cannot help a company grow – however, once a company has reached its potential with that system, overusing a system that cannot encompass the company’s growth is a futile system for the company.

Let’s take Quickbooks for example. Known for its accounting capabilities, it may be an ideal system for accounting firms. However, for a business that has its own accounting department in addition to several others – Quickbooks may not be enough. Even if we take a look at the financial part of a business. If your staff uses several different application to do their jobs (i.e. Quickbooks/Excel, etc.), or it’s too difficult to add new sales channels or there is a difficulty in adapting to changing business conditions – the system is the problem. Essentially, if you find that you are doing more accounting outside of the financial system than in it, it may be time for an ERP system.

Technology Over Results

Every time a company adds a new layer of business software, the underlying systems infrastructure becomes more complicated and inflexible. This is problematic because implementing anything new (hardware or software) in a business takes time, costs money and requires you to train your staff in order to optimize the new addition. 

If you find yourself or your team focused more so on the technology aspect over the results then it may be time to invest in a business management software. So you don’t have to stress over the tiny details, nor do you need to continuously update your software yourself.

Cloud-ERP System 

Fortunately, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is an excellent resource to incorporate into your business for several reasons other than its flexibility. Not only does a cloud-based ERP help manage day-to-day business activities across departments, it also integrates and automates business processes, providing valuable insight needed to make business-related decisions. It does this by pulling information from a central database which has archived data from multiple islands of information (i.e. accounting, finance, HR, marketing, etc.). 

Storing all the information on one database can help a company thrive – for example, it keeps the team “in the know” about the important aspects such as customer information, work in progress, key tasks, current orders, and such. It can also help in other aspects. Take the supply chain industry for example. An ERP system could automatically run a financial analysis and predict future stock needs to keep inventory at a healthy level. Additionally, ERP systems follow necessary compliance measures depending on where you reside – so you do not need to worry about whether you are following regulations; and instead, can focus on your business.

Those are just some of the many benefits of having an ERP software implemented within your business. However, it is important to bear in mind that just having an ERP system does not secure optimal business performance. There have been many instances where companies have incorporated an ERP without knowing how to implement or optimize the system.

Bista Solutions | Your ERP Partners

This is where the Bista Solutions comes in. From software selection, development, implementation, migration and support – it is your one-stop-shop for all enterprise business solutions. Operating and implementing ERPs since 2007, our team of highly skilled developers are subject-matter experts in Odoo, and NetSuite. Our team believes in full transparency and that is why we will never recommend a software solution that wouldn’t help your business succeed. 

Connect with us to learn more about potential ERPs and how we can help optimize your business processes! Our team has successfully implemented over 350 mid to large scale projects and hold a 95% repeat customer rate. So schedule your free consultation with Bista Solutions today!