When it comes to manufacturing, efficiency and speed are the top requirements to meet demands. The best way to increase the speed and efficiency of your operations is a cloud based manufacturing software that has individualized solutions based on the size of the business. A common misconception when it comes to an ERP for manufacturing is that it’s only useful and suitable for big businesses. On the contrary, due to the rise in business manufacturing software platforms in the recent decade, it is easy to find one suitable for any business size. The main caveat is to find a small business manufacturing software that is adjustable and flexible to accommodate the size of your business.
Benefits of a Small Business Manufacturing Software
According to Netsuite, “Manufacturing companies are the most likely adopters of ERP,” and the number one out of any other user. Additionally, “Manufacturers represented the largest portion at 47% of companies looking to purchase ERP software.” There’s no doubt that manufacturing companies benefit from the use of business manufacturing software. The tools used to achieve success and efficiency are compiled in a single cloud-based system that all employees have easy access to, including through multiple devices at once.. This reduces human error, organizes important information that could otherwise be easily misplaced or lost, and creates an easier way to connect with clients. Here are more ways business management software for manufacturers can benefit your small business:
Better Organization
One easily recognizable benefit of using a small business manufacturing software is better organization of documents, data, and other information. Previously, it was manageable for smaller businesses to withstand information being placed in several different places. Now, by effectively usingERP software, businesses don’t have to ‘get by’ with disjointed data organization. On top of this new trend, it is difficult to grow your small manufacturing business by only using things such as a paper-based system, Excel, or having too many folders to keep track of. Employees are more likely to learn fast and be more efficient when the technological environment they’re surrounded in is up to date.
Imagine this: a new employee starts their first day of training only to be bombarded with information they need to memorize on the placement of important documents that are located in several places. One is in an overstocked file cabinet on the bottom drawer, one is in a folder on the computer amongst dozens of others, and the other is sent through multiple emails. Additionally, it is more difficult to communicate with clients through email that might be sent to spam, lost in the inbox, or on the phone when they assume your call is one of the spam calls we’re all too familiar with. . With a small business manufacturing software, it is easier to keep track of information and stay more organized.
Save Time
By using a small business manufacturing software, you are eliminating extra time spent training employees who are less likely to retain too much information in a short period of time. This extra training costs money (both directly and indirectly) over time, so it’s difficult to handle the long term strain that puts on a small business’s budget. Instead, training employees through a single, unified manufacturing software enables better retention as a result of the easy-to-follow structure and the nature of everything always being in one place.
Efficient Communication
People underestimate the necessity of what a seamless, integrated manufacturing system can do for communication. For both clients and employees, it is an integral part of growing a business to scale. When many manufacturers produce similar products for a similar target audience, it becomes difficult to differentiate yourself in the free market. By using a small business manufacturing software, it becomes easier for your business to stand out when you have a better system of communication with clients. Additionally, a seamless system and ease of usability can increase productivity and create more positive experiences across the board.
Accuracy
When too much trust is placed in human ability, it is easy to lose information or ignore tools necessary for growth. Without the right tools, a business can stagnate, or worse, deteriorate. Inaccuracy when counting inventory, managing logistics, or just the general flow of information can occur when the right systems are not in place. To avoid debilitating errors, tools such as inventory control, operations dashboards, integrated accounting tools, and document storage interfaces are all tools found within a small business manufacturing software that will help with accuracy and placement of information.
The Takeaway
The best small business manufacturing software will be customizable to meet your business needs and size. Important features that include aiding in inventory management, reporting, logistics, and distribution to grow your small business.
Does your growing business need business management software? What makes a good ERP software for small and medium sized businesses? What are the benefits of an ERP software for your small business? These are the questions that need to be answered in order to help you make the best decision for your small business.
It’s understandable to question the necessity of an ERP for your small business. Many business owners are still stuck on the fact that ERP systems used to only be feasible and practical for Fortune 500 sized companies. However, this is no longer the case. But before making any big decisions, it’s important to consider the following: How much can a business management software benefit your small business?
How To Make The Smart Choice
There are many areas of ERP software that your small business will find useful. Whether it’s in the form of customer portals, accounting, ease of implementation, or sales, the outcome of your success with small business ERP software will vary depending on how well you choose the right ERP software and how well it is implemented into your business.
Thanks to the increasing popularity and demand for business management software, there are many more options for small business software than most people initially realize. In recent years, there has been significant growth in ERP software to fit the needs and sizes of any business, which is why an ERP software might just be the best solution for your small business as opposed to piecing together many different software solutions for different features.
However, it’s not just just about the quantity of services provided by a small business software but rather, whether it fits your business needs and/or is moldable enough to fit those needs.
Costs and Considerations
Every business is unique, so the cost of a small business software matters in terms of what features a business can afford to pay for. However, among the best small business ERP options, accounting, centralized document management, customer/vendor management portals, mobile compatibility, CRM and sales, and inventory management are some of the things to look for in how an ERP software can fit with your business needs and with the best small business ERPs, can be included with one, low monthly cost.
The Benefits of Small Business Software
A Single, Streamlined System
The best thing about small business software is that it’s a single streamlined system. This is useful for a variety of reasons: better organization, faster updates and access to information, saving time and money, better data security, and better communication. It erases the needs for too much manual work that can divert your focus when you should be focusing on important factors that grow your business.
Flexibility Of Use
The great thing about a small business software is that it provides flexible solutions to issues such as needing information outside of the office, accessing information on a multitude of technological devices, erasing the need for messy papers that can easily get lost beneath the rising piles. Additionally, it is easier to share information through a system where everyone has permissioned access.. No matter what products or services your business provides, there is no doubt that all businesses benefit from using a cloud-based business management system.
Better Customer Service
It’s not an exaggeration to say that good customer service might be the only thing that a lot of customers look for when deciding between one business or another. With the best business management software, the ease of access to customer information, including purchases, questions, requests, etc, are all easy to access with a centralized database. According to The Harvard Business Review, “…customers who had the best past experiences spend 140% more compared to those who had the poorest past experience.” Once again, customer service is often the distinguishing feature from one business to another.
Ensure A Smooth Transition With Your Small Business Software
In order for your employees to use the new small business software properly, sufficient training must be provided. This way, you and your employees are using the full benefits that come with ERP software. Being aware of your team and providing them resources to train through the new changes will build teamwork, confidence, and allow for full and better uses of the resources provided by a small business software.
The Takeaway
While it takes careful planning and consideration to jump into purchasing and implementing a small business software, being aware of the diverse and various ERP software systems to choose from can ease those worries. Keep in mind, choosing the right software to fit the needs and budget of your business and being aware of the costs to maintain success in the long-term is key.
Everywhere you look, new small businesses are springing up. In this extremely competitive environment, incredibly talented entrepreneurs who are offering everything from phone repair to dog walking to proofreading to artificial nails are attempting to get the ‘business’ side of their business off the ground. No matter how big or small your company is, you should now realize how critical good management is to small businesses of any variety. This is not a simple task, as there are numerous aspects of running a business, each of which—if neglected even slightly—can have disastrous consequences.
Small business owners that are looking beyond 2022 will find a wealth of options for management software that make big promises. In this article, you’ll learn about the most important features of any small business management software of the future.
Scheduling
For small businesses with rotating shifts and flexible service hours, this is a must-have feature. Hiring a receptionist is an option for most businesses, but if the software you use is optimized for data input and organization, you’ll save time and avoid mistakes by allowing everyone to have access to all pertinent schedules. Perhaps it would be better to invest in small business management software to perform this task than to risk the typical errors that go along with manual data entry. This leads us to the next element:
Payroll
The scheduling and payroll functions of small business management software must be trustworthy and precise. What if your company was overpaying its employees by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, or worse, was facing a lawsuit for underpaying its employees? Thus many successful companies create paystubs and documentation and to have better records and less stressful paperwork. Paycheck disbursement is another important function of your small business management software. Paper checks are becoming obsolete. The most popular ways of distributing funds are direct deposit and money transfer services like PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo. The future of small business management software is already here, and it knows how to ensure all your company’s Ts are crossed, and I’s are dotted.
Accounting
Your small business management software should also allow you to keep tabs on your company’s financial flow. Client payments are essential to the survival of your business. Checking the books at the end of each day will provide you peace of mind that your business isn’t slipping behind or, conversely, allow you to celebrate its success. By having accounting features directly embedded into a business management system, it’s possible to maintain a system of checks and balances so that executives, managers, and other relevant parties can keep tabs on profits and cash flow.
Transactions
Payment processing is an integral part of running a business and should not be confused with accounting. Your consumers will certainly pay using credit or debit cards due to their convenience, but they may also pay with cash. The future of small business management software will lie in its ability to seamlessly handle payments, allowing you to keep the sales flowing without interrupting business operations. Being able to keep track of all of the invoices and payments received, no matter the method, is crucial.
Increased clarity over bank reconciliation, inventory management, and expense tracking is another key component of small business management software. Being able to know when items are in and out of stock so that stock levels can be properly maintained will go a long way to helping a small business shore up its financial transparency.
Communication
Your next choice in small business management software should also include an easy-to-use method of conveying information to your employees. A number of services provide encrypted message boards where you and your coworkers can freely exchange sensitive information that can be tracked and monitored. Whether it’s internal messaging about a project or ask, or a customer asking a question about their product or service, it’s important to have a reliable method of communication baked into the software that your business uses to run its day-to-day operations.
The Takeaway
To sum everything up, when looking for small business management software, you should verify that it has these bare-bones capabilities. Finding software that performs multiple, or perhaps all, of these tasks will make life much easier for your company.
It’s hard to understate the benefits of accounting software, especially for a small business. After all, accounting is a crucial aspect to all businesses—all it takes is one misplaced decimal or mistake to throw off all of your finances. But there is more to small business accounting software than just preventing errors. For one, your financial data is more secure with small business accounting software. Compared to alternative data management, cloud based storage—like the kind that accounting softwares use—is far better at protecting your data from unauthorized personnel.
Small business accounting software also allows for better communication between your business and customers or vendors with the inclusion of customer portals. For a small business, this is great news. Forbes considers maintaining high levels of customer service to be one of the main factors in success. Customers and vendors can also view invoices, bills and make payments from their integrated portals.
At the end of the day, small business accounting software makes the whole process of accounting simpler. Small business accounting software can generate financial reports in seconds so that your business can prepare for tax season, easily view profitability metrics, and make quick decisions when necessary, all while saving time and cutting back on excess labor.
Additionally, small business accounting software makes the process of accounting less complicated due to its ability to centralize and sync data. Meaning, that information is always up to date across all departments in your growing business. This is also why small business accounting software doesn’t just benefit your accounting department, but the rest of your business as well.
Accounting and Human Resources
One of the best examples of how small business accounting software helps your company outside of the accounting department is with regards to human resources. For your employees to be fairly paid and happy in their respective roles, your human resource department needs to keep track of lots of moving parts. Between the salary each employee earns, how many hours worked, time-off taken, breaks, overtime, and even benefits, the human resources department has a lot of data to keep track of. This is data that the accounting department also needs access to in order to make sure that the books are properly aligned at the end of each month or quarter.. Given the ability to centralize data that small business accounting software provides, the human resources department and accounting department are afforded joint and easy access to the data that they both need. Businesses need to have a certified accountant to have successful data management and use several software providers.
Accounting and Purchase Ordering
Centralized data in small business accounting software once again shows its utility when it comes to purchase orders and stock. The main duty of accounting is to manage your business’s expenses and at one point or another, your company will have to purchase supplies in order to keep running. When your data is in sync and communication is facilitated between your departments, it becomes easier to make sure that your expenses and receipts match. This kind of environment also lends itself to transparency between departments which in turn leads to smoother operations overall.
On the side of purchase ordering, small business accounting software can also help with keeping track of stock. A central feature of accounting software is its ability to track accounts, and when combined with inventory management, means that your company has a better sense of how much inventory there is in addition to what items are most in need of restocking. Your management will always know how much it will cost to restock your inventory, whether your small business currently has the funds to do so, and how the budget can be rearranged in order to meet your inventory needs.
The Takeaway
Accounting software is certainly beneficial for your accounting department but its benefits and advantages are much more farther reaching. For your entire business, small business accounting software offers increased security, enhanced customer service, and most importantly, centralized data that can be accessed at any time by anyone in your company. Afterall, it doesn’t do you or your company well if the accounting department exists in its own silo. Small business accounting software contributes to all of the departments in your small business, human resources and the c-suite being just a few examples.
Business expense is a touchy subject. It’s not always easy to know how much to spend, or even what to spend it on—especially when it comes to new technologies. Ultimately, when it comes to business management technology, the true financial risk comes from sitting on the sidelines.
The Aberdeen Group reports that small businesses that implement ERP, CRM, and other business management technologies reduce operational costs by 23%, administrative costs by 22%, and increase on-time deliveries by 24%.
Overall, 95% of businesses surveyed achieved major improvements after utilizing interconnected module ERP software.
Despite many small business executives being aware of the positive financial impact that utilizing business management solutions can have, it’s common to still be wary about actually diving in head first and implementing these solutions.
Some common questions that small business owners ask themselves about business management technology would be:
“How do I know what technology can support the unique components of my business?”
“With so many different solutions on the market, how do I parse through them?”
“Will the perceived discomfort of implementing this technology be worth it?”
“Is my business big enough to warrant the use of a business management software solution?”
Answers to these questions are never immediate or obvious. It takes time to research, analyze, and find the best fit for your company—but first, you need a plan:
How To Know When It’s Time To Invest In Software
1. When Scheduling Is Going Awry
Businesses use all kinds of apps for scheduling. Google provides handy calendars, and many people simply use the calendar built-in on their phones. And yes, physical calendars hanging on the wall still exist, too.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with these types of calendars, it becomes an issue when they become out of sync. Some employees work remotely, some are constantly in the field, and others simply don’t adhere to the conventional 9-5.
Having to constantly ask “Are you free to meet at ___?” becomes an inefficient and unproductive use of time when multiplied across an entire organization every single day. This doesn’t take into account the importance of scheduling meetings with customers and others outside of your company.
It’s important to have a single, accurate, universal calendar that you and all of your employees can access from anywhere. It should contain all of the various tasks, milestones, and time-off considerations needed to have a streamlined workday free of confusion and schedule conflicts.
2. When Remote Work Becomes Challenging
Since 2020, remote work has evolved to change the way businesses operate. Many employees report higher levels of productivity, reduced stress, and financial freedom when they’re able to do their jobs from home—or, really, anywhere that isn’t the office.
While remote work has by and large been a benefit for businesses that have been able to make such a transition, it hasn’t come without proper planning and management.
HR departments need to adjust their practices, project management strategies have to adapt to geographically scattered employees, and customer relationships need to be maintained in new ways—the list goes on. At the heart of the way that these new norms come to be is the technology used to facilitate them.
3. When You Spend Too Much Time On Tedious Tasks
Mundane tasks are often important tasks but that doesn’t mean you should be spending a disproportionately large amount of time on them. Put another way, there are often smarter ways to tackle these kinds of tasks.
Automation is one of the key benefits of business management software. Tracking inventory, managing employee certifications, accounting, and even market campaigns are some of the areas where software can benefit your business.
4. When Growth Is Imminent
While you don’t have a crystal ball to tell you exactly when your new customers will roll in, there are ways to know when growth is on the horizon. The cumulative effect of the work you and your employees have been doing for years eventually pays off. Sometimes it takes months, other times it takes years. But if you don’t properly plan for the success coming your way, you’ll be behind the curve when it comes time to manage a higher volume of business.
As the old adage goes, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Look at business management software in the same light—invest in an ERP for the company you want to grow into, not for the company you are at this very moment.
5. When Your Decisions Are Solely Gut-Based
Many small business owners rely on their intuition to make decisions. Entrepreneurship is full of success stories that come from decisions based on “gut feel.” While this can be effective when a business is just starting and has no data to pull from, it’s a whole different ball game when it comes to making decisions once years and years of data is available.
For example, take Walmart. Not a small business, obviously, but every business starts somewhere. In Walmart’s early days, they were suffering setbacks by selling products at such a low cost that it wasn’t profitable. To paraphrase Sam Walton’s gut instinct, “If I offer the lowest prices, I’ll eventually generate the highest volume.” Obviously, this paid off.
Flash forward to today. Do you think that the executives at Walmart are making their decisions based on gut instinct alone? While they certainly rely on human intelligence, they more importantly rely on swathes of customer data, sales figures, production trends, material costs, and countless other data points.
While you won’t necessarily have billions of dollars to throw into an R&D department, you do have the option to utilize business management software to help guide you to better, more data-driven decisions.
6. When You Need To Pay More Attention To Customer Relationships
Reaching potential customers is hard, conversions are even harder, and retaining a regular customer base is the hardest of all. It’s easy to get excited about customers arriving en masse. But in reality, is your sales and administrative staff logistically prepared to handle a large influx of customers?
One of the biggest benefits that business management software can offer a growing company is the ability to automate parts of the sales funnel. The human touch is still crucially important to the process, make no mistake—that’s exactly why it’s crucial to adopt automation technology.
Automating email campaigns, customer surveys, and the inputting of sales data within your system will allow the people within your business to direct more human attention to the people deciding to purchase your product or service, not to the back-office work done behind the scenes.
7. When You Need Data Redundancy
With many staff members across all industries routinely working remotely, data security has taken on an increased level of importance. Hopefully, even if your business’ files are stored on a local hard drive, you have some sort of data protection and/or backups in place.
If this isn’t the case, or your backups are located on scattered flash drives and external hard drives, it may be time to invest in the cloud-powered data redundancy technology that business management software offers.
Cloud storage is the safest way to back up your most precious data and documents. Decentralized across multiple servers and protected by world-class encryption technology, your data will be actively protected by security professionals.
In a 2021 study led by IBM, the average cost of a small business data breach for companies with less than 500 employees was $2.8 million dollars. Needless to say, this is a cost small businesses simply cannot afford.
8. When Your Employees Are Burnt Out
Work-related stress is going to happen with or without business management software. That’s just a fact of life. Meeting project deadlines and landing a big customer may always be stress-inducing events, but the methods by which those goals are accomplished don’t always have to be stressful.
Issues like missing documents, faulty financial data, and communication breakdowns don’t have to add stress to an already stressful professional workload. If your employees have voiced any of these concerns—or if you’ve felt them personally—take that as a sign to explore some business management software solutions.
9. When Compliance Measures Take On Increased Importance
Whether it’s meeting OSHA requirements, getting documents ready for tax season, or just maintaining general legal compliance throughout your operations, it’s financially and fiscally prudent to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to keeping things organized.
Having trouble locating this data, let alone losing it outright, can cost you and your business in both the short and long term.
If your business is able to keep this data centralized and easily accessible to all necessary parties, you’ll be able to find information and make updates quickly without having to delay any contracts, miss tax deadlines, or lose any customers.
10. When You’re Spending Too Much On Technology
There will always be some costs that will be unavoidable. Computers eventually get old, cables eventually fray, and interns eventually spill a pot of coffee all over the keyboard. It happens.
What doesn’t have to happen is the large-scale purchasing of equipment such as servers and software on a routine basis. Sure, software upgrades always occur no matter the type of software you’re working with, but it doesn’t always have to come in the form of a massive expenditure.
Most business management software bills on a monthly basis, with software routinely being upgraded on a monthly or quarterly basis. When it comes to expensive servers, you can cut them out entirely. Powered by the cloud, the cost of maintaining servers falls on the service provider, not you.
Where To Find Reliable Information
Finding reliable information is one of the most challenging things about today’s hyper-digitalized society. When it comes to making big business decisions, it’s important to act off of smart and reliable information.
Beyond the basic subscription costs and features, it’s important to dig into some of the finer details about the software you select to manage your business operations. Onboarding, implementation, and training costs, customer support packages, and verified user testimonials are just some of the pieces of information to consider throughout your search.
Fortunately, there are trustworthy websites dedicated to helping businesses like yours make the smartest decisions possible. When it comes to your business, you can’t be too thorough.
G2
G2.com is an industry leader in all things software—they’ve compiled over 1.5 million authentic software reviews for ERPs, video conferencing solutions, eCommerce platforms, and much more.
Their goal is to help businesses make better decisions about technology. You can break down the pros and cons of each software listed on their site as well as compare prices and features between various software solutions.
One of the greatest advantages that G2 offers is the way that it displays its user reviews. Users are asked about the pros, cons, and overall “whys” for each respective software title, and users also list the type of business they represent, what industry they serve, and how many employees are in their organization.
For example, there could be lots of glowing reviews about a software solution that primarily services large-scale manufacturing companies. While this software is great, it may not be great for your business, which, for example, could be a small catering company with 20 employees. Knowing the specifics of the businesses behind the reviews makes all the difference.
Capterra
Capterra.com is another industry-leading software review website that has compiled over 1.5 million verified reviews in over 800 software categories.
Their mission is to list every software product on the market so that every business can adequately search for its perfect software match. Founded in 1999, they’ve always been one of the leading free resources for software reviews.
Capterra breaks down its user reviews into an intuitive format. It asks users about the pros and cons of each software product while gathering a 1 thru 5-star rating in 5 categories—overall rating, ease of use, customer service, features, and value for money. It also lists a “likelihood To recommend” category that’s based on a 1 thru 10 scale.
Another great feature that Capterra offers is the ability to see what software alternatives users considered before settling upon their final choice, and what software they had previously switched from. With so many solutions available, it’s very helpful to have this firsthand knowledge.
Custom Demos
When it comes to software, the best way to see if it’ll work for you is always to try it yourself. Fortunately, that doesn’t require diving headfirst into a contractual commitment.
Most reputable software companies will offer you a free, custom demo of their software. It’s important to know that certain specificities within your operations can be accounted for.
For example, accounting software that doesn’t offer the ability to translate financial metrics into Canadian dollars may not be a good fit for your manufacturing business that has several clients in Canada. Or, if your business works on government contracts, you’d want to make sure that certain data can not be viewed by certain users within the system.
Even if your business is a somewhat run-of-the-mill operation, getting a demo of the software is a great way to ensure that the user experience, onboarding processes, and data management tools are up to far for the requirements you set forth.
How To Pick The Right Fit For Your Business
So far we’ve covered when it’s time to start looking for business management software solutions and where to find the best information. Now, it’s time to explore how your business can pick the software that’s the “right fit.”
“Right fit” is a somewhat ambiguous term. It means different things for different businesses, even within the same industry. To put it another way, finding the right software fit is a lot like exploring the dating world.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, ask the right questions, and steer clear of red flags. It’s also important not to compromise what you want. Just like in the often chaotic, yet often wonderful world of dating, there are some general guidelines to keep in mind. But don’t forget, the right matches rarely fit inside of a broadly definable box—they require you to decide what you want and to make it happen.
Accounting Needs Accounted For
We’ll start with accounting because, well, it’s always about the money. It’s certainly not the only facet of software that’s important, but it’s something that’s universal among all businesses. And quite frankly, some software solutions do it better than others.
Strong reporting functionality, connectivity to the cloud, and automation capabilities are some of the “must-have” boxes that need to be checked off for competitive, modern business management software.
It’s also important to have a system that can be easily accessed by your customers and vendors. This way customers can pay invoices online, vendors can submit purchase orders and submit bills, and a full record of all transaction history can be pulled up with a click.
In today’s professional environment, it pays to utilize the best technology available—businesses that use cloud accounting software acquire five times more customers than businesses that don’t. Five times! Not only do the automation capabilities that come along with cloud accounting software reduce costs and increase efficiency, but customers will also feel better about trusting a company that trusts the best software on the market.
Project and Task Management Is A Breeze
At the end of the day, what does your work boil down to? The small tasks and projects that comprise the larger work that you do year after year. As a business owner, your job is to keep the big picture in clear view while still maintaining a firm grasp of what needs to be done on a granular basis.
With the right project management software, you’ll be able to do just that. It’s more than just assigning tasks and responsibilities, it’s about assigning the right people to the right jobs, keeping customers in the loop, and managing changes on the fly.
The best way to manage projects is by utilizing a microscope that can adjust from a wide-ranging, zoomed-out point of view to a hyper-specific, zoomed-in view and everywhere in between. Obviously, this is a metaphor for being able to manage both the big picture and granular details (unless you’re a scientist or something, then you can take this literally.)
Right now, only 22% of businesses take advantage of project management software despite the fact that 77% of high-performing projects undertaken by businesses put project management software to use. Project management capabilities are one of the many ways that business management software can keep your business ahead of the curve.
Top Notch Customer Support
Even high-performing software is only as good as the people behind it. It’s a lot like the food service industry—a restaurant could have the tastiest menu in the world, but if your waiter screws up your order and brings out a cold plate of food, it’s hard to say that this restaurant delivers upon its potential.
Business management software falls under the same ideological umbrella. The system could be top-notch from a technical perspective, but if the customer service and implementation teams do not properly assist your business in unlocking its full value, then it isn’t likely to be the best fit.
Even in our tech-centric world, it still takes a proper human touch for a business to succeed using a business management software solution. Every business is unique—developing a relationship with the people behind the software to make sure that the software accommodates your needs is a crucial aspect of success.
All-in-all, customer service and support is crucial. 90% of Americans take customer service into account when deciding whether or not to do business with a company, and 89% of customers are more likely to make another purchase if they have a positive experience.
Wrapping Up
Making decisions—especially large financial decisions that affect your entire business—is never easy. There are so many variables to take into account. And once you’ve taken all of those variables into account, you’ll find even more to consider.
At the end of the day, it comes down to knowing what your business wants and needs and conducting a thorough research process to seek out solutions that accomplish your goals. Business management software is never a one-size-fits-all solution for every business, but with the right tools, you can find the one that fits you and your business.
No business is alike. Products, customers, strategies, and everything in between all vary to certain extents depending on your industry-specific needs and business ethos.
What all businesses have in common, however, is the environment in which they operate. The world is becoming increasingly digital, synchronized, and competitive. Enlisting the right all-in-one business management software for your business will help you stay ahead of the curve.
Here are the most crucial and consequential ways that all-in-one business management software can provide a tangible benefit to your business operations.
1. Automated Workflows
The benefits of workflow automation are wide-reaching. Not only will the processes that you’re automating be improved, but your productivity in other areas will increase as well.
If you’re spending less time manually entering, checking, and duplicating data sets because your all-in-one business management software is capable of automating that process, you’ll be able to focus more on creative, high-level tasks that require more human attention.
2. Eliminate The Need For Internal IT Expertise
Safeguarding your business against technical malfunctions and cyber threats starts with investing in the proper technology.
No business is unique—true cybersecurity and individual business success can’t be achieved with a “one-size-fits-all” approach. This is why you’ll require software that can mold to the contour of your business’s specific needs.
All of your employees should be operating, communicating, and sharing documents under the same umbrella of security. With a dedicated software support team ready to work toward your business’s specific goals and needs, you’ll be prepared for any technical malaise that comes your way.
3. Save Money (Not Just On Software)
One of the biggest benefits of all-in-one business software is the cost savings. The software savings are apparent—paying a predetermined monthly rate for a single software solution allows you to spend less on various other disconnected software solutions.
Outside of the actual software savings, you’ll save money via increased financial visibility, smarter data insights, and more streamlined supply chain management.
4. Scalability
Growth arrives quickly—it pays to be prepared ahead of time. Though your business may not be bringing in billions of dollars annually, your all-in-one business management software can function the same as the solutions that those companies use.
Over time, your customers, inventory, employees, revenue, and almost all other facets of your business grow. Developing the right processes from the beginning will pay dividends down the line—playing operational catchup as growth continues upward will inhibit financial progress.
All-in-one business management software provides SMEs with top-notch, industrial-grade security features: data redundancy, dual-factor authentication, testing environments, and cryptographic privacy. Look for a software solution that provides a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
6. Better Document Management
For businesses of all sizes, keeping paper records means something is going to get misplaced. And loss is only the tip of the iceberg: a typical office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper each year—it’s wasteful, time-consuming, and unnecessary.
Keep a centralized, unified document management system that can be accessed from anywhere. You’ll be able to find documents faster, secure them more easily, and generate custom reports about the data within your system. Not to mention, you’ll save plenty of money on ink and printer-related costs.
7. Smarter Business Decisions
The best business decisions are made from comprehensive, data-driven metrics. Gut instincts are valuable, but data-driven decisions reign supreme. By allowing technology to guide and assist you along your decision-making process, your business will reap tangible benefits.
You’ll be able to reduce spending costs, make faster decisions, and generate on-the-fly improvements based on real-time, accurate data. The best data comes in the form of custom dashboard reporting generated regarding up-to-date inventory levels, real-time customer/vendor transaction history, and the current job status of employees dispatched in the field.
Your employees are the lifeblood of your organization—it’s crucial to establish a pipeline of qualified talent no matter the industry you service. By incorporating this process into the software that handles the rest of your business’s processes, you’ll be able to make the most profitable hiring decisions.
Within your all-in-one business management software platform, you’ll be able to have a streamlined application tracking system by creating new job postings, adding interview notes, designing personality assessments, and storing all pertinent candidate documents.
9. Continuous and Custom Software Development
No business is unique—one of the most crucial tools that all-in-one business management software offers is the ability for businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. Not only is it important for businesses to have customizable interfaces based on specific industry needs, but it’s also just as important to incorporate a software solution that allows for custom, personalized development.
The best software solutions have active development teams that are constantly improving their product. Customers should be able to influence and provide feedback as to what improvements in functionality need to occur. Software personalization is becoming more and more commonplace these days.
10. Build Better Relationships with Customers/Vendors
Getting the most out of customer (and vendor) relationships requires a comprehensive system that supports your sales team to make sure they never miss an opportunity, all while assessing productivity and profitability.
All-in-one business management software offers features that can boost the effectiveness of your sales team such as sales funnel and marketing automation, full spectrum sales pipeline visibility dashboards, and feedback-garnering tools such as surveys.
Wrapping Up
No matter the industry that your business operates in—manufacturing, field services, or any other—your business can advance from incorporating these 10 benefits of all-in-one business management software.
Every business has a different number of employees, different products, and different methods at which they go about the core principles of business. But for all of the differences that businesses share, they share much more in common.
In fact, most businesses share commonalities throughout their maturation process in terms of the warning signs that it might be time for them to adopt an all-in-one software solution.
All-in-one business management software is developed to make your business better, in whatever way that you see fit.
