Taking the current situation of the economy of different countries, there is a significant increase in the number of small businesses across the globe. And it’s mainly because small business entrepreneurs have independence in their business are independent of their bosses and take decisions independently. The freedom that comes with freelance small business is very much enjoyed by the people of the twenty-first century. The small businesses, through their innovations, help the local economy and contribute to the success of society. While compared with large companies, small and freelance businesses have their advantages. The flexibility it has and the ability to maintain a close relationship with every customer makes small businesses more helpful than large-scale businesses.
The interaction between businesses and customers makes a greater impact on the comprehensive performance and productivity of the business. Freelance small businesses deliver their products and services to the customers of their region. This helps them in knowing the customers well and can maintain a relationship with them. Delivering products by understanding the needs of customers makes a tremendous impact on the success of the business.
With all these advantages, small businesses still have to compete with large and medium scale businesses. Multi companies go along with the flow of technology and use modern business strategies and products to enhance their business. Most large-scale businesses use ERP software to run their business. So You must wonder how something that helps the large businesses be useful in dealing with business and be helpful in small scale and freelancing business? Well, ERP software can be equally beneficial to many businesses regardless of their size.
What is an ERP?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a key tool that manages every task of the business, from planning, accounting, invoicing, human resources, and much more. ERP brings all these functions together under a single database. Business processes are tied together, and the data may flow between them in the ERP system. It safely stores all the data of your business and also eliminates duplicate data from the system.
The main feature of ERP is that with ERP you will not need several standalone databases to track and operate the functions of your business.
Odoo ERP
Odoo is a leading open source Enterprise Resource Planning software. It comprises integrated modules that aim to efficiently and effectively communicate with each other to exchange data. Odoo ERP is customizable, which makes it stand out from all other ERPs. Developers have the access to the code and can change the modules according to the organization. In this way, we can meet the specific demand of the user. Odoo has two versions: Odoo Community and Odoo Enterprise. Odoo Community is free software and Odoo Enterprise is paid software.
Odoo ERP for Freelance Small Business
Small freelance businesses, unlike large enterprises, need constant attention, and the operations must be tracked always. Productivity and success rate to be kept high continuous overlooking on the functions of the company is demanded in small business. As the small enterprises are being run by individuals, they should require tools that will help them control and examine the data of the business. Odoo ERP is the perfect software for small enterprises then. Its modular structure allows small enterprises to choose the modules that are necessary for the enterprise.
Let us look at how Odoo ERP is used in freelance small businesses.
Financial and Accounting management
Unlike large businesses, small enterprises should always keep track of the ledgers and journals. The financial commitment is larger in freelance small enterprises. Mostly in small enterprises, personal funds and investments are the major funds. So it is very important to know the flow of money in the enterprise. Odoo ERP is the best tool for financial and accounting management. Odoo has modules dedicated to managing the finance and accounting operations of the enterprise. The Odoo Finance module can control customer invoices, vendor bills, miscellaneous operations, bank transactions, salaries, expenses, and much more. With simple clicks, the cash flow of the business can be tracked and overlooked. You can have a look at the following screenshot where the home dashboard of the Odoo Accounting module is described, providing insight on all the financial management operations regarding the company operations.
Customer Relation Management (CRM)
In small businesses, target customers are mainly from the local region. So it is important to manage a good relationship with the customers. Contacts must be maintained regularly. Using the CRM, Odoo allows you to follow up and track customers. Client information, transaction history, contact numbers, email addresses, conversations with the customer, and much more are stored in CRM. This results in better team collaborations, eventually leading to a successful business. Another feature CRM provides is superior customer service. Through CRM, a close relation and constant conversation with the customer can be maintained. This results in the retention of existing clients and, as the customers are mostly from the local region, they will recommend the enterprise to others. With constant communication and relationships, you can know more about the demands and requirements of the customer. Through this, the marketing strategy can be enhanced. Which will escalate the sales of the company. The following screenshot depicts the overview dashboard of the Odoo CRM, providing you with clear-cut information on the various operational aspects regarding customer relationship management.
Planning
They mostly run small freelance businesses by an individual or two. All the major functions are the responsibility of the person handling the business. This can get hectic without proper planning. Small businesses, unlike other scale businesses, do not have many employees to plan resources and future projects. Odoo ERP, with its planning module, helps plan and scheduling the works of the enterprise. Schedules of different roles, employees, and projects can be developed and we can omit the contradictions in schedules. A lot of time can be saved through the planning process and the activities can be scheduled to save time too. Have a look at the planning module window where the scheduling aspects regarding company functioning can be configured for the respective employees.
Integration
Odoo ERP allows the integration of modules, which enables you to combine modules and use them. Different operations can be managed efficiently by taking data from different modules. This will cause automation of the workflow. You will track and control the workflow, guaranteeing the growth of the business. The data management will get automated with integration. For example, the sales module and accounting module can be integrated, and the invoice entered in sales will be automatically recorded in accounting.
Centralized Data
What can be more helpful in a small freelance business if it safely stored all the data of the company in a single place? Odoo ERP maintains centralized data and allows the user to get access to the data. This will reduce the stress and time spent to collect data from different sources and departments can be saved. We can reduce the effort of gathering and managing documents through the centralization of data.
Customizability
Odoo ERP comprises over 30000 modules and small businesses do not require all the modules to run their company. Odoo ERP allows you to customize the software according to the needs of the company. By gathering the company and analyzing the gap between company needs and Odoo features, Odoo partners will develop the software which will be tailored according to the needs of the company. The completed and tested modules will be delivered to the company, which will help you in attaining productivity.
User Friendly
Odoo ERP is very user-friendly and small business owners do not need to have any training program to use it. Odoo ERP interface can be quickly understood just by viewing itself. Any employee can make use of the software and does not even require formal education to operate the system. Being user-friendly, we will do the work at a great pace.
Digitalization
With the ongoing situation, interaction with the employees every time is unsafe. Through Odoo ERP you can have contactless delivery and payment by connecting with online payment. This will reduce the risk of contact and save time. Through digitalization, they can turn operations paperless, thus making a step towards the betterment of the environment. Through Odoo ERP, you can manage their employees from anywhere. With a timesheet, we can track the working hours and their productivity from wherever. The company marketing can also be digitalized and as small businesses have particular target customers and clients, SMS marketing, social media marketing, and e-based marketing can be effectively done.
Cost-Effective
Small businesses often have a limited budget, and because of this, most of the small business owners hesitate to invest in Odoo ERP. But compared to other proprietary software, Odoo charges less implementation and further services charge. The community version of Odoo doesn’t even charge any license fees. Odoo partners will help you in customizing the software according to the demands of the business at low costs.
Increases 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 a single application. In small freelance businesses, the owner does the manager's role itself and having a single application to control, manage and track the operations of the business saves time as well as increases productivity. The Project management module of the Odoo platform is a productivity improvement tool for you where you can define the distinctive projects of operation. The following screenshot summarizes the Project module of the Odoo platform, where the different projects of operation can be defined.
All these features of Odoo ERP prove Odoo is the best option for small-scale businesses. With advanced features and operational tools, the workload of the small business owner is reduced and the work can be taken forward according to the specific parameters of the business. Even a company with 5- 6 employees can well use and increase their productivity with Odoo ERP. By consulting a perfect Odoo partner, the implementation and customization of the software according to the parameters of the company can be easily done.