ERP is the word owners hear when their spreadsheets stop coping. Sometimes a ready ERP suite is exactly right. Sometimes it is a large, rigid system bought to solve a problem that needed something smaller and connected. Here is a fair way to tell which you are facing. No brand names; both options have good products.
What an ERP suite gives you
A ready ERP suite is a set of modules built to work together: accounting, inventory, purchase, sales, HR, often manufacturing. You get a mature product, a vendor that keeps it current with regulations, and a large user base. In return you adopt its way of working, pay per user or per module, and usually need an implementation partner and someone inside the business to run it.
What connected custom software gives you
Connected custom software is built around how your business already works, and connects to the tools you keep, such as accounting. It covers exactly what you need, in your trade's words, and adds customer facing pieces, a website and an app, on the same record. You do not adopt someone else's process. In return you depend on the studio that builds and runs it, which is why ownership terms and data export matter.
Ten questions to decide
- Team size. Under ten people, both may be more than you need. Above fifty, a suite's breadth starts to pay.
- Unusual workflows. If your trade has rules a suite bends around, such as karigar wastage or connector payout grids, custom fits better.
- Existing tools. If you want to keep your accounting software, connected custom software keeps it; many suites expect to replace it.
- Who will run it. A suite needs an owner inside the business. If nobody has time, a system run for you suits better.
- Per seat cost. Count the users in three years, not today. The per seat arithmetic.
- Customer facing apps. Suites rarely give your customers an app with your name on it. Custom does.
- Reporting needs. If the reports you run the business on are not on the suite's menu, you will pay for customisation.
- Languages. Check which languages your team needs on screen.
- Phone use. If the owner and the field team live on their phones, test the suite's phone experience early.
- Budget shape. A suite is usually a large up front implementation plus yearly licences. A monthly plan spreads it.
Total cost over three years, both ways
For a suite, add the licences for every user you expect in three years, the implementation partner, the yearly support, and the customisations you will need. For connected custom software on a monthly plan, multiply the monthly price by thirty six. From ₹9,999 to ₹49,999 a month plus GST for teams of up to 25, set by what you need and your team size. Compare the two totals, and compare what each includes: hosting, changes, customer apps, and what leaving costs.
When we would tell you not to choose us
If your business matches a suite's modules closely, has an internal owner for the software, and needs depth in one area such as manufacturing planning, buy the suite and we will say so on the call. If you need billing and stock at one branch and nothing else, a packaged product is cheaper still. See also custom software or SaaS: when each wins.
Questions to ask any vendor, suite or studio
- What will this cost each month in year three, with the users we expect then?
- Who sets it up, who runs it day to day, and what does that cost?
- Which of our current tools does it replace, and which does it connect to?
- What does a change cost after launch, and how long does it take?
- Can our customers have an app with our name that reads the same data?
- How do we get our data out, in what format, and at what cost?
A worked example
Consider a 20 person distributor with a billing tool, a spreadsheet for stock and retailers ordering by phone. A suite would replace the billing tool and the spreadsheet with its modules, charge per user, and need an implementation partner and someone inside to run it. A connected system would keep the accounting software, replace the spreadsheet with stock on one record, add a retailer ordering app, and be run for the distributor every month. Which is better depends on the answers above, not on the label. On a SamaStack plan, a team of 20 is priced inside ₹9,999 to ₹49,999 a month plus GST, set by what it needs.
What an implementation really involves
Whichever way you go, moving a business onto one system takes the same work: deciding how each process should run, cleaning the data you bring across, training the people who will use it, and running old and new side by side for a short while. With a suite, an implementation partner usually does this and bills separately. With a system run for you, it is part of the build. Ask who does each of the four, and what it costs, before you compare prices.
Questions people ask
Will a connected system work with our accountant?
Yes. Accounting usually stays where your accountant expects it, and the connected system sends the invoices, payments and GST data across, so month end does not need anything retyped. We check which accounting software you use before quoting.
Do small businesses need an ERP?
Many do not. A business with one location, standard flows and a handful of users is usually better served by one or two good tools. The need grows with branches, stock across locations, and the number of people who must see the same numbers.
Is custom software harder to maintain than an ERP?
It can be, if nobody runs it. That is why a system run for you every month, with hosting, upkeep and changes included, removes the maintenance burden from the business.
Can we start small and grow into a full system?
Yes. Most businesses start with the piece that hurts most, such as billing and stock, and add the rest on the same record when they need it.
Your numbers
Get your exact price in 48 hours.
From ₹9,999 to ₹49,999 a month plus GST for teams of up to 25, set by what you need and your team size. Tell us what you run, and the exact number comes in writing.