There’s one thing that just about everyone can agree on when discussing cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software – it helps small businesses compete against bigger organizations.

Understanding whether your small business needs an ERP is the first step. If you’ve done due diligence on enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, you already understand the efficiency and cost savings they can bring to any business. Small business owners are increasingly adopting these sophisticated platforms because they’ve become less cost prohibitive under the newer cloud-driven software as a service (SaaS) subscription models.

One of the questions we’re asked by small to mid-sized business clients is why they should consider investing in enterprise resource planning software. The chief question seems to stem from the idea that ERP software is overkill for such the small company. But here’s the rub; small businesses often teeter on the edge of insolvency; Small Business Trends says more than 50% of all small companies fail in their first four years. We believe any software that helps these ventures achieve competitive advantage during this treacherous time is a necessity.

One of the biggest technology mistakes with small business is when they pick their software “in the now.” What we mean is that they look for software to handle HR, payroll, billing, sales, or other operational functions based upon criteria tied to what they need today. In this, there is a failure to see the vision of scalability that could, and should, come with business growth.

The result is that they end up with a piecemeal of legacy platforms. The effect on the ground is that this patchwork of technology creates more work for staff, and many times the software isn’t able to flex with business growth.