The small business mantra seems to be, “doing more with less.” The responsibilities can feel endless as business owners are tasked with everything from managing operations to maintaining accurate reporting, all while taking care of customers and actually growing your business. At the same time, small business budgets can be glaringly limited, and resources are often scarce. Yet you still need to find a way to soldier on. While there’s a laundry list of pain points that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) have to deal with, let’s take a look at a few of them and how you can overcome these common challenges.
Not enough time
If there’s one pain point business owners know, it’s that there never seem to be enough hours in the day. You’re wearing multiple hats, filling a variety of roles and it’s likely you put in a 40-hour work week before Thursday is over. Many business owners accept this as simply the cost of doing business and are willing to take on that burden in order to enjoy the freedom and opportunities that come with owning your own company. As admirable as that is, it can create negative repercussions for your business. You can’t be in two places at once and there are only 24 hours in a day. So, if you’re spending too much time on one aspect of your business, other things are getting neglected. This makes it extremely important for small businesses to find ways to improve efficiency as much as possible. Any opportunity to automate time-consuming tasks could greatly reduce the demands on your time and help you improve your business in the short- and long-term.
Inventory management
Many SMBs struggle with inventory management because they are hesitant to invest in expensive software. Instead, they use workarounds like spreadsheets and other manual methods that hinder efficiency and increase the risk of errors. Not only that, but with limited visibility into inventory, you could end up missing out on business because you don’t have products in stock or waste money with perishable products that go bad sitting in-store or in warehouses. To reduce costs and maximize revenue, business owners need to explore systems to create greater efficiency in your inventory management practices. Better software can provide the data you need to devise better strategies and optimize your inventory.
Accounting challenges
Accurate and timely accounting practices are essential for maintaining strong cash flow, profitable margins and giving you the visibility you need to achieve long-term success. But many business owners find themselves with new accounting challenges when their business starts growing. It’s those growing pains, along with over-reliance on an entry-level accounting solution (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero) that give way to various accounting challenges, including:
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Managing accounts receivable/collections: Difficulty following up on unpaid invoices, seeing how far behind customers are with payment.
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Managing paperwork and reporting: Taking too much time gathering and analyzing relevant data to produce accurate reports.
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Month end reporting: Taking days and even weeks to complete month-end reporting because you’re poring over scattered data from multiple sources.
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Managing payroll: You might be completing this on time, but you’re definitely spending far too much time completing this bi-weekly task.
Solving common pain points
If you’re looking for a single solution that could resolve the top pain points for small to midsize business owners and help enable future growth for your company, look no further than Gravity Software® (Gravity). Our powerful cloud-based accounting software goes beyond accounting to help address multiple areas of your business, including:
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Greater efficiency – Gravity saves time by streamlining all of your operations and processes. Automate tasks and get reports faster so you can spend more time optimizing your business operations.
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Better inventory management – Gravity’s built-in inventory management module makes it easy to track products, giving you the insights you need to create effective inventory practices.
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Better, smarter accounting – Our robust set of accounting features give you the power to drill down into your financial data and uncover key insights for your business. Fast, easy reporting, intuitive dashboards, multi-entity capabilities and more give you better control of your business.
If your company is outgrowing QuickBooks or another entry-level accounting software, consider making the switch to Gravity. Our solution is the only accounting system built directly on the Microsoft Power Platform (aka Microsoft Dynamics 365), allowing you to merge your CRM and financial data. That means your customer data (contact information, preferred product or service, invoices, orders) is readily accessible by your sales, marketing and accounting teams for better collaboration and efficiency. This can help improve your customer experience while also streamlining your operations and reducing reporting time so weekly, quarterly, month-end and even payroll are completed in a matter of clicks, not days or weeks. With Gravity, you can overcome your most troublesome pain points and generate better results for your small or midsize business.
Want to see the benefits Gravity could bring to your business? Schedule an online demo today.
Gravity Software
Better. Smarter. Accounting.
