5 Signs you need an ERP

Ekwani Consulting
  
 

If you’ve never had an ERP before, knowing when to get one or when you need one might feel like nothing more than a shot in the dark. However, as ERP implementers, we’ve studied businesses and business owners long enough to know and identify pretty quickly when their businesses are just going through the throes of business and when they’re crying out for an ERP.

 
Believe it or not, your business and your life often wave huge specific red flags when things aren’t working anymore, and they need an upgrade. And in this blog, we will share with you the top 5 signs we see that are usually the dead giveaway that its ERP time.
  

Surrounded by Spreadsheets

In the early days of your business, you most likely started everything under google or any tech that was available on your computer. Unfortunately, this means that when it comes to tracking your customers, monitoring your spending, or keeping an eye on inventory, it’s all being housed under spreadsheets that you’re jumping back and forth to.
  

Not only are these spreadsheets an inconvenient and inefficient way of tracking and staying on top of your business, but they also leave you open to error because you’re manually entering everything.

 

Human Error Happens Too Often

Speaking of errors, if it’s not just you running your business, that means there are multiple people entering data into your spreadsheets and trying to help you keep things moving along. And while we’re sure you’re employees are amazing, they’re also human, which means they’re prone to errors.

 

They’re prone to entering the wrong data, they’re prone to missing critical steps in the workflows, and they’re prone to forgetting to follow up with leads. They’re prone to doing a lot of things accidentally, which can hold your business back and significantly hurt other aspects of your growth (i.e., building a good reputation or making a profit.)

 

Departments Not Communicating With Each Other

If you ever make one decision or an update happens within your business, but the news doesn’t travel to another department effectively, this is another sign that it’s time for an ERP.
 

When you’re not in complete control of permissions and access that your workforce has to certain things or when you’re not able to stop specific workflows when needed, you’ve likely run into a few problems with things slipping through the cracks which is another problem that could be holding your business back from proper growth.

 

Unable to Make Confident Business Decisions

One of the biggest red flags your business is waving for you when it knows it’s time to get an ERP is when you find yourself completely confused and lost whenever it’s time to make confident decisions in your business.
  

If you’re ever unsure about financing, inventory, a customer in their journey, the status of an employee, or ANYTHING, this is a big flag. It’s a clear giveaway that you don’t know what’s going on within your business because you don’t have a clear overview of all departments or easy ways to access the information you need from all departments (or if it’s even entered correctly!)

No time on your plate

The last red flag your business waves, which appears both when you sit down to do work and when you try to turn off and live your life, is that you have no time on your plate.
  

If you find that you’re always “on” because you have to manually make sure everything in your business is moving onto the next step when it should or things are going out when they should, then your business is in a bottleneck that is draining you and keeping it from growing.

 

Is It Time?

Suppose you’ve found yourself surrounded by spreadsheets, correcting human errors, frustrated at lack of communication, or frustrated with yourself over a lack of confidence in your business decisions or the time off from your business to enjoy those decisions. In that case, the writing on the wall is clear.  
 

You need an ERP. While there are many on the market to choose from, you’ll find that many companies, from big to small, choose NetSuite.

 

If you’d like more information on how NetSuite might be the right choice for your business and how to get your business to put down the red flags, then make sure to reach out to us for more info!

Read On