Implementation of ERP ideology in small businesses could be their path to growth. At some point in time it becomes inevitable for a company to implement an ERP solution. As the company grows, it becomes harder and harder for the management to control all the activities, employees, departments, branches etc., without a centralized information system which collects, stores and processes all the needed data for a certain decision to be made. Without such a software it could take much more time for the resolution of a simple problem and sometimes it is even impossible for a decision to be made.

Every small business manager would probably agree with all of this. And at this point in time arises the question: “Which would be the best ERP solution for our company?”. There are lots of different products on the market, offered by lots of different vendors. Every product has lots of features and is so complex, that this could be a really tough choice, especially if the decision maker knows little or nothing about ERP ideology and how it could help the company. Many business managers are not quite familiar with ERP systems. Some of them realize that these solutions can help their businesses, but don’t want to learn anything more. In this case, a successful implementation is really hard to be achieved. There are several key things, that could make the difference between successful and unsuccessful ERP project.

First of all, a manager should know what an ERP system is and what it does! Some refer to it as an accounting software, others think that this is an inventory management software, but they are wrong. In simple words ERP just helps to integrate all the information in an organization under one common system. The main purpose behind is simply the synchronization of the different business departments. This will make it possible for the manager to track all the company data from one single place and take the appropriate actions when needed. This is huge benefit, because the company becomes a complete system and every problem could be easily identified and solved from a central control point.

The second thing is that ERP implementation is a slow process and it could take up to 3 years for its completion. It could be even slower, if employees are not well prepared for it. They could even try to sabotage it, just because most of the people hate changes. It is good for the workers to participate actively in the process, because their feedback is really important. They would be the most active users of the system and it should fit them really well.

Third, by the time your company has a working ERP solution, much money and efforts would be invested. That is why the choice of the most appropriate vendor and product is really important. Management should take their time and analyze every short listed supplier very well. The shift to another ERP software could be really painful.