While the best business solutions in the past were limited to large enterprises, today’s small businesses have a wide range of solutions from which they can benefit, including ERP. Cloud-based and scalable ERP solutions can give SMBs the technological edge they need without a lot of the upfront costs and ongoing maintenance. Finding the right ERP for your small business, however, requires some prep work. If you’re looking for ERP tips for small businesses, these are the five tips we think you can’t do without.
Run an audit of all your existing technologies
What solutions are you currently using? Where are they serving you well and how are they letting you down? Uncover where room for improvement and gaps exist. This includes vetting your hardware, as well. What devices do your employees have on hand for working and collaborating remotely? Make sure you have a clear sense of what you have and what you are going to need.
Generate a needs assessment
Once you clarify the blanks, you need to fill in with your new ERP solution, create a list of requirements that including everything you will want to see in the new system. Loop it in with your business’ overall strategic plan, so your ERP can serve it well, and you can prioritize requirements based on how relevant they are to your strategic plan. This, too, is the point at which you will want to investigate ERP consultants so that you can move forward as efficiently as possible.
Ask for demos
Once you shortlist ERP vendors, ask them to create demos that will walk you through their recommended ERP solution. Before the demo, be sure to communicate your requirements for the software to the vendor. They should use this information to build a demo specific to your needs and situation.
Involve your employees in the process from start to finish
Your employees and their feedback are key ingredients in finding and implementing the right ERP. Make sure that you have a group of employees involved in the ERP selection process from day one. Don’t limit yourself to the C-suite either, as you will want the input of stakeholders at every level in your business.
Start smaller and scale up as needed
Don’t feel you must get everything in your ERP from the beginning. You can start small and scale up when working with the right solution and the right ERP partner. The best ERPs scale to your needs. This, too, is a great way to manage costs—after all, you don’t want to pay for anything you don’t use, right?
With these ERP tips for small businesses, plus the library of others found on our LinkedIn page and YouTube channel, you can find and implement the right ERP. Have you gone through the ERP implementation process at your company? Tell us all about your experience and let us in on your own ERP tips for small businesses in the comments below.
