Most ERP projects don't struggle because the software is bad. They struggle because of avoidable decisions made before and during setup. The same handful of mistakes come up again and again, and almost all of them are cheaper to prevent than to fix. Here are the five worth watching for. 1. Starting without clear goals "We need an ERP" is not a goal. Without a specific list of problems you want solved, such as stock errors, slow invoicing, or no view of the sales pipeline, every feature looks equally important and the project drifts. Write down the three to five outcomes that would make the project a success, and use them to decide what gets built first. 2. Trying to switch on everything at once The "big bang" approach is tempting: launch every module on the same day. It also puts the most pressure on your team at the worst moment. A calmer approach is to start with the one or two apps that solve your biggest pain, such as CRM for the sales pipeline or Inv...
Note: this case study is an anonymized example of a typical retail setup. Client details are kept private. Most growing retail businesses hit the same wall. Orders come in from the shop and the website, stock lives in one spreadsheet, invoices get typed by hand into another tool, and someone spends every Friday trying to make the numbers match. Here's how that kind of business can be turned around with Odoo. The situation before Odoo A small but fast-growing retail business was running on five disconnected tools: Customer enquiries tracked in email and a shared sheet Stock levels updated by hand after every sale Invoices re-typed from orders into a separate accounting tool Reorders decided by gut feeling and a quick look at the shelves Month-end reports built manually from three different files The result was familiar: overselling items that were already out of stock, late supplier orders, invoice typos, and a team spending hours on admin instead of customers...