Small Business ERP – The Integrated Business Software Solution

As discussed in previous blogs, it can be a real hassle to run your business with multiple systems rather than one integrated business software solution.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software was specifically designed to be just such a solution—it can run your entire business from one platform, keeping track of and coordinating:

• Sales and marketing
• Order processing
• Purchasing and inventory
• Production management
• Shipping and receiving
• Finance and accounting

With all the advantages of ERP software, why aren’t more small and medium businesses using it? The answer is simple: most ERP systems are expensive, complicated, overkill for smaller, simpler businesses, and, most important, are often too generic for vertical industries such as the decorated apparel business.

However, a growing business (i.e., anything beyond a mom-and-pop operation) still generates a ton of information. All that data is often spread over multiple specialized cloud applications (such as cloud-based CRMs), spreadsheets, generic accounting software (Quickbooks), and even paper documents.

This cobbled-together arrangement might work fine for up to a five-man shop, but in a growing business, it far too often allows orders, customers, and finances to slip through the cracks, resulting in lost or delayed business and many headaches.

So an ideal solution would be an ERP system for small businesses that can: (1) Be simple yet powerful, (2) Handle all your company’s data (sales, orders, purchasing, production, and accounting) in one place, (3) Allow you to analyze trends to spot untapped market opportunities, (4) Have just the right balance of power and cost-effectiveness to justify the investment, (5) Fit perfectly with your vertical industry.

As that last point says, the key issue to making an ERP system work for small businesses is how well suited it is for your vertical market. If it’s already customized to your industry’s unique requirements, it will make all the difference. Large businesses may have the budget for customization and integration with legacy systems…but the little guy does not. So their mission is critical to find an ERP that is already close to a perfect fit for how your industry works…preferably coded by people who have actually worked in the industry and have spent years perfecting the system based on feedback from customers just like you.

If you’re in the decorated apparel, screen/digital printing, or trophy industry, ShopWorks has developed the perfect small business ERP solution: OnSite. And these folks have deep industry experience…they’ve worked in the decorated apparel industry for years and have served the industry for years more. Read ShopWorks’ and OnSite’s story to learn about their integrated business technology solutions.

OnSite was made to be the central information hub of your business, fulfilling all the company data needs described above. It’s built on the flexible, powerful FileMaker Pro platform, and it comes either as client-based (self-hosted) software or in the cloud, depending on your needs. Our small business ERP software is made specifically for your industry, with all the quirks and special needs fully accounted for. Call us at 800-526-6702 with any questions you have about our integrated software solutions.

Interested? Schedule an OnSite demo to see if our integrated small business ERP software is right for you!

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