Expanding a startup often presents challenges that may not be apparent during the early stages. Many founders we’ve collaborated with at TechlyCodes began their journey using simple tools like spreadsheets and basic accounting programs. While these solutions are effective in the initial phases, there inevitably comes a point when your startup surpasses their capabilities.

At the right time, the implementation of the right ERP system in a startup could be the force that makes the start up struggle in growth or emerge as a success. We have heard of startups changing their businesses using NetSuite, but timing is key. Early adoption and you are spending excessive amounts of money on a capability that you are not yet in need of. Wait too late, and the inefficiency in operations may actually make you fail to achieve your next milestone of growth.

It is not a question as to whether your startup will ever require such a strong ERP system, but when it is the right time to do so. We will discuss the five signs that show that your start-up is ready to take the leap to NetSuite ERP.

Understanding NetSuite’s Value for Growing Startups

Before getting into the warning signs, it is important to explain why NetSuite is especially useful as an ERP system among startups. NetSuite has scalable configurations that can expand as needed as opposed to enterprise-oriented solutions that require large groups and complicated infrastructure.

Recent startup growth study discovered that businesses with the installed right-sized ERP solutions boosted their business efficiency by 35% and lowered the manual entry of data by more than 65 percent. These aren’t merely productivity upsides – they have a direct bearing on how well you can scale without raising the number of people in a commensurate way.

Critical Sign #1: Your Financial Data Lives in Multiple Systems

Do you remember the time, when it was so easy to keep a record of your finances by updating only one spreadsheet? The days fly away in a startup. When your team has to balance financial information on more than one platform – say, QuickBooks to track financial data, a different CRM to handle customer data, spreadsheets to manage inventory, and another system to handle e-commerce – you are experiencing the telltale sign that an ERP system like NetSuite has become necessary.

This detached method poses a number of anguishing problems:

• Manual time spent in transfer of data between systems.
• End of month reconciliation nightmares.
• Redundancies that contribute to expensive mistakes.
• Late reporting of financial results that interferes with decision making.

NetSuite unites accounting, inventory, order management, and customer information into a single, coherent system, making NetSuite the single source of financial truth in startups. This integration is not simply convenient, but it is also transformative to teams that are drowning in cross-system reconciliations.

Critical Sign #2: You’ve Outgrown Your Accounting Software

Easier programs such as QuickBooks are fine at the beginning, but there are limits to these programs that make them problematic as you grow. You have probably outgrown your current solution when you are experiencing:

• Poor report execution.
• Poor multi-user access that creates a bottleneck.
• Weak financial governance audit trails.
• Absence of automation of routine procedures.
• Poor support of more than one entity or currency.

These constraints are not bugs in the software – they are merely indications that your startup has grown beyond the use case of these types of tools. It is using a bicycle to carry your whole team when you have expanded 3 to 30.

The financial features of NetSuite are particularly aimed at helping startups to develop across several growth stages. The platform includes multi entity accounting, sophisticated Revenue recognition and full financial reporting that can easily grow as your business becomes more complex.

In evaluating the ROI of switching to an ERP system, as opposed to basic accounting, in a start-up, assume the following: The average finance department worker takes 15-20 hours per week on inefficient manual processes that are automated in NetSuite. That would be about 26,000 dollars a year of recoverable productivity per member of the finance team at an average salary of 70,000.

Critical Sign #3: Your Reporting Takes Days Instead of Minutes

You could have spent several hours back in the early days trying to compile a financial report to give to your investors. So, when it seems like solving a jigsaw puzzle, with parts scattered both across departments and systems, to compile the appropriate reports, you are witnessing a definite indication that you require a more resilient ERP system to launch upsstarts.

The following is the usual appearance of this nightmare in reporting:

• Ever-slightly out-of-date financial data.
• Reporting which involves a lot of handwork in spreadsheets.
• Conflicting numbers that are reported by various departments.
• The most important metrics, which cannot be followed in a real-time.
• Preparation of investor or board meetings that cause all-hands crises.

The results are not just disappointing. Reporting behind the curve means you are essentially running your business by looking in the rear view mirror. Important decisions are either postponed or made without all the information.

NetSuite turns reporting into an ongoing resource by making reporting:

• Live role specific dashboards.
• Automated reporting timetables to the stakeholder.
• Ability to drill-down to investigate anomalies.
• Unified measures of all business functions.
• IT-free self service reporting tools.

Critical Sign #4: You’re Expanding Into New Markets or Products

Growth does not simply imply doing more of the same – it can frequently require a move into new markets, the introduction of new product lines or sales channels. These exciting innovations put complexity into things that simple systems cannot effectively cope with.

You are at a crossroad situation when you are:

• Difficulty in controlling various legal entities.
• Currency conversion headaches
• Various jurisdictional tax requirements.
• Different market pricing.
• Multifaceted inventory distribution at product line.

NetSuite was designed as a unified system to support multi-subsidiary operation with its OneWorld capability. This qualifies it as a perfect ERP system by startups with global ambitions. The platform allows you to:

• Operate several legal entities on one instance.
• Deal with multiple currencies, languages and tax systems.
• Standardize financial reporting of all operations.
• Have separated yet interlinked business units.
• Use various processes across product lines or markets.

Critical Sign #5: Your Customer Experience is Suffering

There is a direct relationship between your back-office functions and what experience you provide to customers. When the internal systems are unable to cope with the growth, the cracks start to appear and your customers can feel them.

Warning signs include:

• Errors or delays in shipping are becoming increasingly common.
• Having stockouts in your inventory that comes out of the blue.
• Incorrect billing or is late to pay.
• No visibility of customer service as far as orders or history are concerned.
• Lack of touchpoint connectedness.

These problems are not simply hiccups in operations – they directly affect your brand image and customer retention when your startup is trying to establish a solid base to grow in the future.

NetSuite resolves these issues by linking front office operations to the operations in the back office. All the data such as order information, availability of inventory, history of customers and financial information all co-exist in the same system and so, generate seamless experiences.

Is Your Startup Ready? Assessment Guide

It is important to time your NetSuite. Although the above five signs are good indicators to follow, here is a practical test that can help you decide whether your startup is actually ready to use this ERP system in startups:

Company Size Indicators:

• Revenue of nearly or over $1 million a year.
• Team size of 10-15+ employees
• Several departments which need to access the system.
• Over 25 percent annual growth rate.

Operational Readiness:

• Your business processes are well defined.
• It has systems transformation leadership buy-in.
• You are able to assign team members to implementation.
• The existing areas of pain are becoming more expensive than the investment.

Implementation Timeline Expectations:
In general, the implementation of NetSuite in most startups is as follows:

• Discovery and planning: 2-4 weeks
• System configuration: 4-8 weeks
• Data migration: 2-4 weeks
• Testing and training: 2-4 weeks
• Go-live/stabilization: 2-4 weeks.

It implies that you need to prepare a 3-6 months implementation process, depending on your complexity. When you are not in crisis mode, it is possible to start the process earlier and implement it more thoughtfully and less urgently.

Conclusion

That path between startup and an established company must always involve the need to change your systems and processes. Our five warning indicators: scattered financial information, old fashioned accounting software, time wasting reporting, business growth, and customer experience challenges are solid pointers that your startup is in need of a stronger and more powerful ERP tool such as NetSuite.

It is not simply a case of solving existing pain points through the implementation of NetSuite but rather the development of the operational base that will ensure your next few growth stages. The correct ERP system to start up with will not only address the current issues – it will also stop the problems that will arise in the future.

At TechlyCodes, we specialize in helping to implement NetSuite when the time is right and through the implementation process with minimal disturbances to their growth path. Our incremental methodology means that you will achieve value in the shortest time possible as we develop towards a complete solution.

Ready to assess if NetSuite is right for your startup? We’re here to help you make that determination with clarity and confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my startup too small for NetSuite?

NetSuite is most suitable where the startup had gone through product-market fit and was actively in scaling. Typically, the implementation of NetSuite will be of the greatest benefit to companies that have over 10 employees but less than 1 million revenue. With that said, fast startups occasionally do it earlier so it can be on the correct basis before operation challenges cause growth limitations.

How disruptive is the implementation process?

An implementation of NetSuite does not have to affect your day-to-day activities too much with proper planning. With team members working on the implementation, most startups are able to stick to business as usual. The trick here is that it should be done in stages and that the important functions should be done first. Key stakeholders usually spend 5-10 hours a week with our clients in implementation.

What alternatives should we consider before committing to NetSuite?

The next thing to consider is whether before rolling out a complete ERP system such as NetSuite intermediate solutions can address your needs. Alternatives such as more advanced accounting systems (Xero, QuickBooks Advanced), industry-specific solutions, or integrating your existing systems using integration platforms may address short-term pain points. But such strategies usually prove to be stepping stones, not long-term solutions to start-ups that are rapidly growing.

How do we prepare our team for the transition?

ERP implementation requires change management. Begin communicating effectively the reasons why the change is necessary and the benefits that each department will enjoy. Finding champions in individual teams who can assist in adoption. Provide adequate training and develop documentation. Above all, it is essential to celebrate the early wins and gain momentum and prove the worth of the new system.