Can your small business afford ERP - Can you afford not too?

Small companies often face a dilemma in deciding how to invest for the greatest return. In pure start up mode, business must invest in an operational foundation that will directly build the business.

Management by walking around is common, reporting is adhoc, supported by manual processes and spreadsheets, decision making is driven by gut feel rather than data and hard facts. These methods maybe effective in early phases, neglecting to invest in appropriate enterprise business systems can significantly hinder continued growth and profitability.

Many stumble along with a combination of spreadsheets and disparate applications thinking an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is beyond their reach.

In reality though rather than assuming they can’t afford it small and growing business should ask instead “Can we afford not to invest in ERP”?