SMEs need to ditch spreadsheets – there IS an affordable alternative

UK small businesses are ‘driving with the brake on’ by persisting with inefficient, error-prone spreadsheets – and contrary to what most business owners believe, ‘starter business systems’ can solve these problems at a price small businesses can afford.

Businesses typically start using spreadsheets because they are free, easy to use and good for storing data. But once the team expands, spreadsheets quickly become messy, time-consuming, poor at analysing data, and impossible to integrate with other software tools.

Most business owners assume that any solution is just unaffordable and out of reach. It’s true that well-known systems such as WorkDay, SAP and Oracle are expensive and designed for large organisations – not to mention highly disruptive to install, configure and learn.

But bespoke management systems are now far more affordable than ever before.

A business system for under £10,000, with results delivered in just 3 months

At Decent Group we provide starter business systems for an investment of under £10,000 for a team of less than 10. They quickly pay for themselves through the efficiencies they deliver. And they are proven, road-tested solutions – they’re not a risk.

In fact the risk comes when you pick a particular predefined solution, such as WorkDay. Then you really are trapped in a system. With a bespoke solution you can always add to it and take it in any direction you want.

Unlike ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) solutions requiring monthly payments that continue forever – where you lose access to your data if you stop paying – our business systems are one-off investments. They are quick to develop, instant to start using, and affordable for small businesses.

The difference a business system makes

As soon as your business switches to using a software system to manage your data, you gain a series of benefits that drive efficiencies and profitability:

• One single source of truth that everyone can agree on
• Robust system that can’t be accidentally broken
• Key metrics and data visualised intuitively
• Data flows into your other business software
• Easy mobile access
• Instant scalability
• Secure data

It’s important that SMEs start using the best tools that digital technology can offer them. Given weak productivity growth in the UK in recent years, small-scale bespoke business systems are clearly a key solution for our small and medium-sized businesses going forward.