SAP Business One is a business management system (commonly known as “ERP” or Enterprise Resource Planning). It’s aimed at SMEs to help make business run smoother and reduce profit loss.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 problems SMEs have when they don’t use SAP Business One:

1. Long waits for figures

When you use multiple spreadsheets or documents across your business, it probably means people are having to manually input figures multiple times. When this information is being passed manually between departments, there is usually someone waiting for something important.

When someone is waiting for information, it means your business is losing profit. They are not being as productive as they would be if they had access to that information immediately, in real-time.

That’s exactly what SAP Business One can do.

For example, Jane in purchasing needs an up-to-date stock report from Alex in the warehouse. That information is manually put into a document and passed to Jane, who must manually input that information again into her system to help her make an informed decision on purchasing. By the time that’s done, the situation has changed and the figures are out of date.

With SAP Business One, there is no need for multiple documents or any time wasted. Alex just keeps inventory updated on the system – and Jane can see it in real-time.

2. Spending ages compiling reports

Let’s face it – extracting the right data and compiling reports is a chore when you are using multiple documents. While spreadsheets may always have a place in organising information, it’s impossible to create reports from multiple sources without manual intervention. It can also require some pretty hard core Excel wizardry.

Not with SAP Business One. Timely and accurate reports on any aspect of your business can be created at the click of a button. The data needed is already in the system. Stock reports? Easy. Financials? Done. Project status? Sorted. Sales figures? No problem.

3. Piles of paper records

You would be surprised how many SMEs still print and store paper records. SAP Business One eliminates the need for paper records and fully digitises your business. It can be hosted both on-premise and in the cloud with advanced built-in data security and firewalls.

4. Duplicated data

Duplicated data means that time has been wasted. It can also mean mistakes are more easily made – and the process of cleaning up figures can be even more time wasted. SAP Business One eliminates the risk of duplicated data and compiles all information in one, real-time system.

5. Mistakes with figures

While SAP Business One won’t completely eliminate human error, it will reduce data errors. Mistakes are easy to spot and flag when all information is in one place. Once it’s spotted and corrected once, it won’t need again.

6. Too much stock or wastage

Imagine being a just-in-time business (JIT), where everything runs so efficiently that goods are received from suppliers just as you need them. JIT is the ultimate efficiency goal – when you can reduce your inventory holding costs and increase inventory turnover.

The efficiency effects of SAP Business One can help you achieve a JIT management process. It requires careful planning and real-time information, allowing you to gain faster return on investment – resulting in higher profit margins.

7. Customers chasing orders or poor customer retention

Great products will only get you so far. If you are not looking after your customers and providing the best service from start to finish, they will go elsewhere. If you find it difficult to keep hold of customers, then you are losing out on huge growth potential.

SAP Business One has an in-built CRM. You can oversee the entire sales process and customer lifecycle more effectively – from first contact to final sale, after-sales and support. When you track and nurture the customer cycle, you are more likely to retain them.

With this ERP, not only are you keeping on top of production and finances, you are putting the customer at the centre of your business.

The CRM features are extensive, including sales and opportunity management, marketing campaign management, contact management, service management and reporting and analytics on customer pipeline.

8. No single source of truth (multiple, costly systems)

Multiple software packages, documents and reporting tools are costly and time consuming to manage. Without seamless integration, you will be wasting precious time and profit.

By now you will have realised that SAP Business One has everything you need to manage your business and nurture those all-important profit metrics. There is no need for separate and costly software packages for each department.

SAP Business One integrates accounting, finance, sales and CRM, stock and distribution, manufacturing, purchasing and project management – with add-ons modules available for specific industry needs.

9. Struggle to make fast, informed decisions

Changes in the market can have huge consequences if you are not able to make informed and timely decisions to minimise impact. Much like point one in this article, when you have to wait for information, extract it, compile it and analyse it – you will be wasting precious time if you are doing this manually. The situation is even worse if there are mistakes or duplicate data.

SAP Business One gives you all the information and analytics capability to be able to make fast decisions.

10. Low staff morale, high stress and sleepless nights

A recent study by SAP found that 50% of procurement staff say they have sleepless nights over shortages and supply chain issues. Struggling to gain the right information or see the full picture of a business can be a stressful situation, especially when decisions are needed.

SAP Business One offers full visibility across all departments and helps ease congestion of information - or misinformation - so that everyone can get on with their jobs more efficiently. 

When you are a changing SME, your systems and processes easily become a hindrance to productivity and efficiency. With an ERP system like SAP Business One, it can scale exactly as and when you need it. If you have no ability to be able to change and scale your current ways of working, then it’s likely all the above problems will hit your business.

Start with the basic implementation and as your business grows or changes, SAP Business One expands to manage more employees, more stock, more customers, and more data. 

Book a free diagnosis and demo and see how SAP Business One can transform your business.