Small to medium business generally found in the dilemma that how to invest in order to get the best return. In an early startup stage businesses generally, invest in the operational foundation that will directly build the business. “Management by wandering around” Decision-making is driven more by gut feel than data and hard facts. These methods may be effective in early phases of the business, but once past that crucial startup phase, neglecting to invest in appropriate enterprise business systems can significantly hinder continued growth and profitability. Many of the entrepreneurs stumble along with some combination of spreadsheets and disparate applications thinking an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is beyond their reach. It is often assumed that ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning solutions are a costly option only available for the giants in the industry, they can’t afford it.
The proliferation of technology & the internet has changed the myth in today’s business environment. Good ERP systems are getting cheaper and cheap ERP systems are getting better than ever. Admirable ERP is available at the economy price. Open Source Technology gifted great competitiveness in the market. One of the Open Source ERP Odoo, with 3.7 million-plus users and 19000 plus third-party Apps is wealthy contestant and giving the healthy fight to the Top ERP like SAP, Oracle, Netsuite etc. Odoo is one of the live examples that the internet & Open Sources Technology has pulled down the cost of building a robust ERP system by a big marginal.
Relying on Spreadsheet and disparate applications how much effective?
Think about the amount of time you and your subordinates spend each day searching for data that could and should be readily available and literally at your fingertips. Without full and immediate access you run the risk of delaying decisions or, perhaps worse, making decisions based on incomplete or incorrect data. Spreadsheets, the universal management tool, provide a familiar and convenient means of analyzing and manipulating data but offer no means of creating a detailed and accurate audit trail. Relying exclusively on paper or email trails to provide an auditable system of record is both time consuming and dangerous.
Let us explore How investment in the Odoo ERP worth to the small and medium scale business?
Simplify the Margins and Profitability analysis
If you are in durable good product-based business, determining Inventory accuracy and real margin analysis become very easy with Odoo Landed Cost. If your business is service or project-based, deliver accurate lead time projections are critical but anyhow if you not being able to provide an accurate estimate of costs quickly Odoo Project Management may prevent you from presenting timely estimates and quotes that ensure you can compete on price, yet only accept profitable business.
Price and Accessibility
First of all, prices have come down, making ERP more affordable than it has ever been. Odoo Community version is absolutely free of cost and for the Enterprise version, you have to only pay the app you needed. Not only has the price of entry come down, but the process of evaluating alternatives no longer needs to be as disruptive as it has been in years past. Online materials, Fouram, demos, and even OCA Contribution make it much easier to perform some preliminary requirements through your own research before you ever make contact with a software solution provider.
More Configurability, No or only required Customization
Odoo ERP come with more tailor-ability and configurability. Odoo has changed the definition that ERP Solutions may have required heavy customization to meet your needs. Today market has undergone major transformations that will help you transform your own business. In the past, you may have had to choose between adapting your business processes to match the functionality of the software, and adapting the software to conform to your current practices. Odoo user interfaces can be tailored to roles and individual preferences and business rules can be established to customize workflows and processes without ever having to muck around in the underlying software code. This is an important characteristic, even if you do not require any specific customization today. In a world where nothing is constant but change, plan on your business needs changing over time.
Hassle-free Deployment
Worried about having to build an IT staff? Maybe you don’t need to. Odoo has multiple options for deployment, as well as options for the ongoing care and feeding of an ERP solution. Odoo has all the option you want to such as software as a service (SaaS), on-demand, hosted, and cloud computing each has its own implications. Suggested option is Saas.
In a SaaS or an on-demand model, the software itself is neither licensed nor owned by the end user company. The software is delivered as a service and is paid for through a subscription for the service provided. Generally speaking few or no technical resources are required at your own site. Cloud terminology is often intermingled with SaaS, but a reference to the cloud simply refers to the operating environment and not how the software is bought or paid for. If you do not want to take any headache then you can also go with the Odoo Cloud option it’s free for unlimited users, as long as you do not install extra applications.