How Small Companies Can Compete With Large Enterprises- Part 1
2021-04-20
If Possible, Manage All Your Critical Business Processes On A Single Platform
2021-04-20
If Possible, Manage All Your Critical Business Processes On A Single Platform
I still find it remarkable how many small and mid-sized companies manage their business data and processes across multiple non-integrated solutions when there are cost effective solutions that allow you to do manage the vast majority of your business on a single application. Small businesses, especially businesses in China will have one system for managing orders, another for accounting, another for inventory and another for project management. The result is that many small businesses suffer from inefficiencies like data duplication, poor data visibility, and manual data management that large companies do not experience. Large enterprises on the other hand, will use Oracle or SAP to manage their entire operations on a single platform, and have done so since the 1990s!
In my opinion, the absolute priority of any small to mid-size business should be to find a technology platform that allows them to develop processes and controls for their entire business, not just one department. Historically, small companies have not been able to implement all in one solutions because the only options were hugely expensive on-premise systems. Nowadays there are more cost-effective cloud-based solutions that can help you consolidate business management on a single system.
Admittedly, some companies will have certain system requirements that cannot be satisfied by a single business management platform. In this case, the second best option is a collection of cloud-based systems that can easily be integrated with one another. But if you can map all your critical processes to a single application, you can increase the productivity of your company significantly. In my opinion are countless advantages to using all-in-one systems that can do global financials, CRM, project management, inventory, and other functions on a single platform. As someone who built a business over 10 years using NetSuite, a cloud-based technology platform to run our entire operations, I cannot imagine any other combination of IT systems that could have helped us grow as quickly and as painlessly as we did.
An all in one cloud system helped us compete with longer established multi-national competitors that were many times our size and win. Cloud ERP systems like NetSuite are undoubtedly an excellent way for small companies to become successful large companies.
