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Judging from the current economic situation of various countries, the number of small businesses in the world has increased significantly. This is largely due to the independence of small businesses, which often make independent decisions. Today, people greatly enjoy the freedom that a small business brings. Small businesses help local economies and contribute to society through innovation. Freedom small companies have their advantages over large corporations. Its high flexibility and ability to maintain a close relationship with each client makes it possible for small businesses to have more potential than larger ones.
The interaction between a business and its customers can have a huge impact on the overall performance and productivity of the business. Freelance small businesses provide products and services to customers in their area. This helps companies get to know their customers well and stay in touch with them. Delivering products by understanding customer needs can have a huge impact on the success of the business.
With these advantages, small businesses still need to compete with large and medium-sized enterprises. Several companies have embraced technological trends and adopted modern business strategies and products to enhance their businesses. Most large businesses use ERP software to run their business. So you must be wondering how do large corporations handle business? And how can small-scale free enterprise learn from it? The answer is ERP software. It is equally beneficial to many businesses, regardless of size.
What is ERP?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a critical tool for managing every task in a business, including planning, accounting, invoicing, human resources, and more. ERP integrates all functions into one database, bundles business processes together, and data flows in the ERP system, it can securely store business data, and eliminate duplication of data in the system. The main advantage of ERP is that you no longer need multiple separate databases to track and operate your business.
Introduction to Odoo ERP
Odoo is the leading open source ERP software. It contains comprehensive modules designed to efficiently interconnect with each other to exchange data. Odoo ERP is customizable which makes it stand out from other ERPs. Developers have access to the code and can change modules according to their needs. In this way, we can meet the specific needs of users. Odoo is available in two editions: Odoo Community Edition and Odoo Enterprise Edition. Odoo Community Edition is free software and Odoo Enterprise Edition is paid software.
Odoo ERP - Growing Business
Unlike large corporations, growing businesses require constant attention and keep track of operations. High productivity and success rates need to be maintained in a growing business. Because growing businesses are run by individuals, they need tools that help control and inspect business data. Then, Odoo ERP is a good tool, its modular structure allows growing businesses to choose the modules needed by the business.
Let's see how Odoo ERP is used in a growing business
Financial and Accounting Management
Unlike larger businesses, growing businesses should always keep track of the books and have a greater financial commitment. For the vast majority of small businesses, personal money and investments are the primary sources of funding. Therefore, it is very important to understand the capital flow of the enterprise. Odoo ERP is the best tool for financial and accounting management. Odoo has modules dedicated to managing corporate finance and accounting operations. Odoo Finance module can control customer invoices, supplier bills, various businesses, bank transactions, salaries, expenses and many more. Cash flow can be tracked or ignored with a simple click. You can check out the screenshot below showing the home dashboard of the Odoo Accounting module, providing an outline of all financial management operations for the company's operations.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
In growing enterprises, the target customers are mainly from local sources. Therefore, it is very important to establish a good relationship with customers and need to keep in touch with them regularly. With the CRM module, you can follow up and track your customers. Customer information, transaction history, contact numbers, email addresses, conversations with customers, and more are all stored in CRM, which leads to better teamwork and ultimately business success. Another advantage of CRM is that it provides excellent customer service. Through CRM, you can keep in close contact with customers, which not only effectively retains existing customers, but also because customers are mainly from the local area, they will also recommend the company to others, forming word-of-mouth communication. Through continuous communication, you can better grasp the needs of customers. In this way, marketing strategies can be optimized, which will boost the company's sales. The following screenshots are an overview of Odoo CRM to provide you with clear information about all aspects of customer relationship management.
plan
They are mostly freelance small businesses run by one or a few people. All major functions are performed by the key personnel handling the business. Without proper planning, it can be frustrating. Unlike other businesses of a certain size, small businesses do not have many employees to plan resources and future projects. Odoo ERP with its planning module helps to plan and schedule the work of the business, it can make timetables for different roles, employees and projects. Planning can save a lot of time, you can view the planning module window, where you can configure various plans for the operation of the company for individual employees.
integration
Odoo ERP allows modular integration, which enables you to freely combine modules and use them. By acquiring data from different modules, it can be efficiently managed and manipulated. This forms the automation of workflow, and you can track and control workflow to ensure business growth. Data management will be automated through integration. For example, the sales and accounting modules can be integrated, and invoices entered in sales are automatically recorded in accounting.
centralized data
What good is it for a growing business if all of your company's data is stored securely in one place? Odoo ERP maintains centralized data and allows users to access data, which will reduce the experience and time spent collecting data from different sources and departments. We can reduce the effort of collecting and managing documents by centralizing data.
Customizability
Odoo ERP contains more than 30000 modules, small businesses don't need all modules to run their company. Odoo ERP allows you to customize the software according to your company's needs. By collecting and analyzing the differences between your company's needs and Odoo's functionality, Odoo developers tailor your Odoo to your company's needs. Completed and tested modules are delivered to the company, which will help the company increase its productivity.
easy to use
Odoo ERP is so user-friendly that small business owners don't need any training program to use it. The Odoo ERP interface is easy and quick to understand. Any employee can use the software and doesn't even need formal education to operate the system.
Digitizing
There is a certain level of insecurity in interacting with employees. With Odoo ERP, you can make contactless deliveries and payments through online payments, reducing exposure risk and saving time. Through digitalization, paperless operations are realized, thus taking a big step towards improving the environment. With Odoo ERP, you can manage your employees from anywhere. With Timesheet, you can track your working hours and their productivity anytime, anywhere. The marketing of the company can also be digitized as small businesses have specific target customers and customers and can effectively conduct SMS marketing, social media marketing and electronic marketing.
cost-effective
Typically, small business budgets are limited, so most small business owners are hesitant to invest in Odoo ERP. However, compared to other proprietary software, the implementation and service fees charged by Odoo are much cheaper. Odoo Community Edition doesn't even charge any licensing fees. Odoo developers will customize your personalized software according to your business needs at low cost.
increase productivity
Odoo ERP aims to increase the productivity of small businesses through its tools. We can easily manage the daily functions of the company through one application. In a freelance small business, it is common for the owner to assume the manager role, using a single application to control, manage and track the operations of the business to save time and increase productivity. The project management module of the Odoo platform is your productivity tool where you can define unique operational projects, the screenshot below shows this module.
All these features of Odoo ERP prove that Odoo is the best choice for small businesses. Lighten the workload for small business owners with advanced features and operational tools that allow you to work on a business-specific basis. Even companies with 5-6 employees can increase their productivity with Odoo ERP. Personalized software implementation and customization for your company can be easily done by consulting the Odoo developers.