ERP System-Proven Benefits For Small Business 2019

Samantha Tham
5 min readAug 28, 2019

In today’s business landscape, no business is too small for enterprise resource planning (ERP) Solution. ERPsystem is no longer an option but a necessity for every business to get a pass in the industry 4.0.

It has been known as the backbone in today’s industries which comprises powerful and strategic business operation management tools that can be used to reconcile and automate day-to-day work processes.

As we are living in the age of superhighway, immediacy and accuracy are the mantras that run the marketer’s realm. In this intensely competitive environment, from marketing to sales to customer service — businesses hardly afford to make any decision that will cause a negative impact on the business tomorrow.

The way of solving problems by jumping from problem to problem and fixing one issue at a time should be replaced by selecting the right technology.

It’s a tedious work for small businesses to manage the process at work, come out with new ideas to propel to the next level and keep abreast of disruption across the industries. Now, with ERP system, it would help to grow your business and stay competitive in your industry.

Here are the five benefits that ERP will bring to your business.

1. Active Enabler for Business Process Integration

I’ll always remember, in my early days as an e-commerce sales coordinator when one of our Amazon top performance accounts got suspended — and none of my team members were able to explain why or take ownership of the problem.

Most of the time, the inventory was not being updated in real-time and caused a high refund rate. Last-minute changes on order details and discounts approvals were needed, but now knowing whom to chase meant on occasion sales slipped.

Due to a lack of transparency and accountability, when a deal missed, there was no way on how to avoid the same thing from happening in the future. It can be nigh on impossible to get a 360-degree view of how the business performance is when you run disparate systems and there can be a delay communication for managers knowing what’s going on until information is manually inputted.

By implementing ERP, it integrates all your company finance, human resource, supply chain management, e-commerce and so on under one centralized system. This allows every relevant data to be shared and accessed across the department. It eliminates the need of export or re-enters data. In a result, it reduces errors and provides a bigger picture of business operations.

2. Grow Your business with Strategic Planning

How many times were you trying to forecast revenue and growth rates for your business?

Forecast shapes strategies; it is the prelude to conduct your business and provide directions and advice for the future of the company. Undeniably, it is the foundation on which planning takes place and provides a clearer picture of business operations. The question is, what makes a good forecast? Key assumptions and metrics play the fundamental role when comes to it but without a reliable source, it would drive your business to the brink of failure.

Now, you don’t need a crystal ball to see the future of your business. Using the centralized ERP system, leaders can easily assess business performance and forecast if changes will be effective or not. With this robust system, it enables you to implement and execute business strategies that are good and sound.

You’re not going to get far without getting the right technology to plan out the framework of a strategic plan for your business. Things will change. Yet, having all the stored data in ERP system, getting the numbers laid out, and knowing how to use them will get you through in this digital transformation and gain the resources you need to succeed.

3. Works as a Productivity Booster

I believe as an employee one of the worst nightmares in the workplace is to do the same thing on the same schedule without any variation. Now, the repetitive task can now be easily automated instead of spending valuable man-hours on those tedious tasks by implementing an ERP system. The main thing is it can help to improve the accuracy of business operations meanwhile minimizing human errors due to the manual process. ERP software also allows business leaders to monitor KPIs of each division directly when they want to ask for updates.

Since every manual work has been replaced by ERP, employees can focus more on their core work and they have more time to spend on their tasks and projects. On top of that, all this information is recorded and compiled in the dashboard, businesses able to manage the entire business and churn out the information needed with just a few clicks on the mouse.

4. Agility is the Key to Competitive Advantage

One of the strongest parts of ERP system is its agility and scalability as it is able to provide reliable insights into what’s to come by providing us data and statistical models that accommodate the market needs and conditions that are imposed by buyers. For example, changes in SKU, inventory adjustment, return an order, cancellation of the order and changes in selling price can be easily maintained in an ERP system rather than spending too much of time performing manual and error-prone copying of data from one system to another.

The marketplace is becoming increasingly dynamic. Decisions are made at speed of light and demands of customers are ever-changing, real-time is winning the customer support race. With this robust technology, it helps your company to be responsive and nimble to the globally volatile world.

5. Untangle your Business’s Decision Making

It is the worst of time for decision-makers when there is uncertainty as to the up-to-the-date and validity data. They are often unable to answer what should be relatively trivial, though important, questions such as “How many units of gadget A did we sell in the UK last month”.

When these simple questions can’t be answered by a business leader, it’s crystal clear that they are unable to use data to make an efficient decision. If you are aware of the scenarios above that can cause a detrimental effect on your business, it’s utmost importance to get a reliable source in order to make a critical decision on time especially the battle of digital is getting fiercer than ever.

Real-time data provided by the ERP system can be extremely useful for all the departments to support the faster and smarter decision-making process. It allows one to see the dynamics of their business, anticipate market shifts and control business mechanisms before making a decision.

In order to stay at the forefront of today’s competition, businesses need to have actionable insights. No small business, no matter how new, should overlook this robust system.

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