Help Me With Save Sign in ERP

With different size distributors and different products they carry, there are certain solutions that work best for one distributor over the other.Large Distributors - They are likely using an enterprise-class version of the popular ERP systems you’ve heard of: SAP, Oracle Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage or another.These systems are really meant to handle the whole overview of your system, across multiple business units, many warehouses, trucks etc. While there may be smaller systems that do certain parts of that supply & distribution chain better, the small and medium distributors may find it a bit overwhelming.Medium Wholesale Distributors - These distributors may also be using some of the enterprise-class ERP systems, however, they may find the best alternative by going with a smaller, more specialized system that may focus more on routing, or field-sales orders, or specific packaging requests etc. This is where you will want to take a further look into what functions the smaller ERP wholesale distribution systems are out there.Some options here to include in your search Fishbowl Inventory, NebuCore, Distribution Hub, Systum, Sage and Quickbooks.These options are mostly going to be focused more specifically on inventory systems and getting your product to various channels. This may be the case for you or you may end up needing something more like Distribution Hub which is focused on distributors with customer delivery routes as the primary channel, B2B ordering portal as the secondary channel, and B2C as the third primary channel.Small Distributor Software - If you are a smaller distributor, which is still quite large by modern day standards, can get away with using a variety of systems, though you may find that the features/value request just don’t match up.For small distributors, independent brands, or one-off wholesalers, you should consider whether you will need routing & sales capabilities, as well as what other channels you are already using that may allow you to keep track of inventory as they are.Fortunately, you can use this channel with something like Shopify, and still, connect an out-of-box small/medium sized distribution software like Distribution Hub which will enable you to connect the two and share the value of both without the cost of a larger wholesale distribution system.The systems you’ll be looking at range from Quickbooks to CBOS, as well as some of the office suites contained in smaller versions of the mainstream software. For small businesses running fleet distribution, Distribution Hub will be a good solution to look into.Here’re a few things you want to keep in mind to see what it is that will serve you best:Multiple types of locations - You may need to handle different warehouses, stores, trucks, or storage facilities. Make sure the system you are running is capable of setting up the type of resources you need.Vendor Management- A pretty standard method of keeping track of who you are purchasing from. Some software will enable you to auto-submit new orders to vendors, or connect directly to a EDIEmployee Management - Know which employees are assigned to which location, trucks, employees and beyond is critical to maintaining responsibilities and efficiency across the organization. Keeping tabs on employees with reports, logs and alerts make it easy to detect anomalies or pick up on possible human error.Routing for Salesman and Drivers - You want salesman quickly being able to visit (or call) customers, give relevant information, present & print invoices, collect payments and settle account balances. You will also likely need to assign custom pricing to certain customers. Drivers will need to know which products to scan to which customers along the route, as well as gathering proof of delivery and have the option to collect payment on delivery.CRM - You need a way to track customers, invoices, standard orders and conversations. This information can help you keep customers, increase order value, and in the case of intelligent software, automatically update customers about what they should order.Products and Inventory, Picking and Packing - From checking in new product to placing it in the correct warehouse location, to scanning items into a truck for order fulfillment, you need to know where products are. Knowing quantity on hand, in-transit, or ordered all the while being able to accurately pick and track inventory is fully a job for your distribution software.That should help you discover what will be necessary for running your wholesale ERP. Keep in mind not all solutions are made alike and some are simply better for certain circumstances than others.For a modern, mobile wholesale distribution system which incorporates all the essential components with intelligence to handle even medium and large wholesalers, check out Distribution Hub, which started out as a customized solution for the largest coffee distributor in the Northeast.Email a specialist@getdhub.com for specific questions.

There are so many things I wasted my time on when I started my company. Some of them were silly, and some of them were downright stupid.Let me start with the most controversial thing I shouldn’t of wasted my time on, and that was hiring a Vice President of Sales. Not only did I have a founder VP of Sales not work out, I repeated my mistake TWICE more!Now why is hiring a VP of Sales a waste of your time early on? Your company is likely not ready for a world class VP of Sales yet because you’re company is just not going to be far enough along to recruit a world class VP of Sales.So just don’t bother wasting your time on spending any time recruiting a VP of Sales until you have a repeatable sales process and your probably at least past $1M/Year in revenue.But the madness of things you can waste your time on doesn’t stop with hiring a VP of Sales. There’s a long list of things you might think are important, but aren’t. Here’s the rest of my list:A. Wasting time worrying about equity ownership percentages and dilutionThis maybe another controversial one, but stop wasting your time worrying about how much equity you own. There’s no market for your equity, so today it’s worth nothing.The only way to make it worth something is for you and your team to kick ass. So stop wasting your time or doing the math on what your equity is worth. It’s a waste of time.And while we’re on the subject of equity, stop wasting your time….B. Worrying about keeping control of the voting rightsYes, you want to own the majority of the company if you can, but it’s not going to help you stay CEO unless you do a great job. The reason is that until you are cash flow positive you need investors.And, even if you own more than 50% of the company, the investors can demand you resign if you’re not doing a good job because they can withhold funding. Look at what happen at Uber if you’re in doubt.One more money related thing you should stop wasting time on is…C. Wasting time worrying about your exitWasting time worrying about your exit is a close second to wasting time worrying about your ownership percentages. How your company gets liquid should be the furthest thing from your mind at this early stage.Repeat after me, your company’s exit will take care of itself if you execute. So focus on your team executing flawlessly and you wont have to worry about the exit.Let’s move onto the silly things we can waste time worrying about like…D. Don’t waste your time on a press release announcing you’ve been fundedThe PR you get will not do you any good because the shelf life, or the boost to your web traffic, will be gone in a couple of days.It’s better to save your money on other important things.What else. What else. Don’t waste your time spending money on…E. SchwagSpending money on schwag is a pet peeve of mine. Show me one company where spending money on schwag produced a positive ROI.I dare you.Schwag is a waste of money. Allegedly, schwag is one of those things you’re supposed to provide your new employees to look cool and build esprit de corps.Schwag will not make you look cool. Schwag will not help your culture. Hiring a great team and helping that great team execute will do more than any schwag will ever do. (For more on schwag, read: http://www.brettjfox.com/is-givi.../)Here’s another thing you shouldn’t waste your time on…F. Fancy desks and office furnitureWe got our first set of 20 cubicles for $100. We got our next 20 cubicles for free. Be frugal.You can get really nice office furniture for pennies on the dollar by buying the full cost furniture of the failed startups that came before you.Our cubicles didn’t match. So what. The cubicles were nice and everyone was happy.More importantly, you set a tone of frugality for the rest of the company.Speaking of really crazy things to waste your time on, I give you…G. Sick policiesYes, don’t waste your time on crazy sick policies because you’re worried about your employees abusing the sick policy. You’ve got a bigger problem if your employees are abusing the sick policy because that means you’ve got the wrong employees.Instead, you might try the sick policy that worked so well for me. Just tell your employees that they should stay home when they’re sick, and they should go to work when they’re healthy.That’s it. That’s all you need to do because an employee that abuses your sick policy will no longer be an employee.There are more crazy things you can waste your time on like…H. Buying things you don’t yet needI already talked about not buying expensive furniture. But, in the same thought process, just don’t software or hardware you don’t absolutely have to have.For example, two of my cofounders were pushing me to spend $300,000 on an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system when we could use Excel and Quickbooks to do the same thing. Yes, the ERP system would have made life easier, but not $300,000 easier. We passed.It’s the same frugal thought process I spoke about earlier. Plus, you never know exactly how much runway you’re going to need.And don’t waste your time and money on…I. Hiring people you don’t yet needYour team is likely to be your biggest resource when you’re starting out. And, if you’re not careful, you can find yourself burning a lot more runway than you want if you hire way above your plan.Hire the people you need, not the people you’d like to have. The one thing you never want to do is lay good people off because you hired them ahead of plan. The pain you will cause these people will be on your conscience forever.Speaking of hiring people you don’t need, stop wasting your time…J. Hiring a COOOf all the things you don’t need when you’re starting out (and you will likely never need), don’t waste your time recruiting a COO. Startups don’t need a COO because you, the CEO, need to be hands on to run your company.The COO title is all about the ego of the COO. There is no need for a COO for many, many years. Your money can be used on much better things than a COO.And, stop wasting your time…K. Trying to save your cofounder that isn’t working outI was talking to a CEO yesterday about his company. He was wondering how to save his cofounder who was “burnt out.” I told him not to waste his time trying to save his cofounder.Startups are hard. And many founders don’t understand how truly hard they are. I’ve learned that trying to save someone from quitting is usually a fools errand.Instead, focus on finding a replacement for your cofounder and negotiating a fair settlement for your departing cofounder. (For more on how to handle a cofounder leaving, read: What Are The Eleven Steps You Can Take When A Co-Founder Quits? - Brett J. Fox)And don’t waste your time…L. On recreating the wheelIt’s normal for you to have your own spin on how to be a CEO. That’s normal. But don’t fall into the trap of changing everything.Save your creativity for the product you’re bringing to market. There are perfectly good ways of doing things like the sick policy I mentioned above that you can just reuse.Oh, and don’t waste your time on…M. 409AsSpending money on a 409A to get a valuation of your company is a waste of money. Why? You’ll find that 409A valuations are just not very accurate.Worse yet, you want your common stock to be valued low when you’re starting out. And the 409A valuation you just wasted your money on might come back with a higher valuation than you want. Now your employees are pissed because it’s going to cost more to exercise their stock.Just set the value of your common stock at a normal value like $0.12 per share. You’ll save yourself a lot of angst by doing so.I’ll tell you something else that will save you a lot of angst…N. Wasting time worrying about what your competitors are doingHow many times have we read a question in Quora about someone wondering if they change strategies because a “better funded competitor” has entered their space?You’re going to have competition. In fact, you should be worried if you don’t have competition because it could be a sign you’re on the wrong path.So stop wasting your time worrying about competition. Now, I’m not saying you should ignore your competitors. I am saying, don’t obsess about your competitors.And finally, don’t waste your time on…O. Evading problemsFace your problems dead on. For example, I knew one of my cofounders (Randy, not his real name) wasn’t going to work out.I knew for months I was going to have to fire Randy. But I hoped things would get better.Of course things didn’t get better. And I finally fired Randy.The team was relieved when I did fire Randy. They said, “What took you so long.”So there you have it. My list of sixteen things you shouldn’t waste your time on when you’re starting your company. Try avoiding as many of these mistakes as you can.For more, read: Why You Shouldn't Follow The Lean Startup Methodology? - Brett J. Fox

I'm a serial entrepreneur and have started/ran/sold approximately 20 businesses over the past 45 years.Some of my businesses made millions, some of them broke even. But - I never lost a dime on a single one.I'll spare you all the gory personal details, but here's what I've learned from all my endeavors.Since you asked what entrepreneurs should NEVER do, I'll format my punch-list accordingly. These are not in any particular order of importance.1- NEVER start a business without a business plan. Yikes! Everyone hates writing business plans. Why? Because people want to think that their idea is frigging amazing and ingenious. But, writing a business plan can peel the skin right off your baby before you even give birth. {Unthinkable! Right?)Yep - your idea just might be stupid. It's true. Hollywood producers aren't the only ones spending tons of money making stupid products that no one likes.We used to play “Yellow Pages Death Pool” every year. We'd get the brand new phone book and place bets on which new local businesses would be dead in a year or less.It was so easy to single them out. Really? How? You could easily tell just by their amateurish haphazard display ads who was going to die before the ink was dry.Plus all the “I'm going to chase my dream” businesses. Like, kitten petting services - and underwater horoscope consulting. And the 900th carpet cleaning service in your neighborhood. “We'll Beat Any Price! Call Us Last!”People who never would have started those businesses had they put pen to paper and did their research…ran the numbers…applied the eyes of the devils advocate to their impulse.You can always tell the businesses that were started by drinking buddies, or bitter single moms. Grill Repairs, and Holistic Healers Essential Oil shops owned by a puka-beaded woman named Kristal Moon. Six months later all their shops have been renamed to “FOR RENT”.2- Never use friends or family as business associates unless they possess the skills and talents critical to your success. It's OK to let them help you set up your office, but don't let your ditzy sister handle your books just because she's ‘really sweet and needs a job’. Because if your endeavor does grow legs you'll eventually need to fire her. Thanksgiving dinners will never be the same after that.3- Never forget to plan for success. Believe it or not, being an “overnight hit sensation” can run you into the gutter faster than struggling to build a client base. True story: I know a guy who invented a very clever little product. He spent a year perfecting his launch. He struck gold. He got over one million orders in his first few months. He had 500 units on hand, and three people working in his home garage. It took him six months to find a fulfillment vendor, but his customers had long since canceled their orders. He went broke, ruined his reputation and his company name became synonymous with vaporware. He hit the jackpot, and it destroyed him.4-Never jump on the tail end of a trend /fad. Because by the time you get your act together all the retailers are dumping their inventory to make room for the new trend/fad.5- Never play it too safe. I've watched a plethora of “me-too” clone services fade in and back out without a trace. Example: Starbucks opens three shops less than a mile from your house. You think “Hmmm…this coffee fad seems to be a fantastic way to get rich quick”.So you open a coffee shop across from the three Starbucks. Lesson: Don't add additional weight to an already over-saturated market. If you don't have the creativity to come up with your own fairly unique concept - buy a franchise.6- Never design your own marketing collateral. A copy of Microsoft Publisher and a few snazzy fonts is only going to reveal what a rank amateur you are. IOW - unless you truly know how to build logos and branding elements, hire a professional. Nothing says “clueless” more than a logo made entirely of upper case script fonts. Or your last name in a neon font over top of the Adidas boomerang. (Shoot me now).7- Never do your own TV /Radio Commercials. (see #6). Did you ever see that jackass car dealer that looks like an alcoholic pedophile and throws a handful of cash at the screen as he screams “…SO COME ON DOWN AND SEE ME FOR G-I-A-N-T S-A-V-I-N-G-S! “ (throws cash at camera)Of course you've seen him! We all have. Every town on earth has a Crazy Eddie. And we all think he's a giant douche bag. And his radio commercials are even worse.Don't be that guy. Please.8- Never be too proud/stubborn/stupid to cut your losses and jump ship if it ain't working. Your family will forgive you, especially if you don't burn the kids college money on your way down. There's a huge difference between tenacity and stupidity. If your mobile rubber band repair service is bleeding faster than Jeffery Dahmers roommates- GTFO!Because - you should have done a business plan first.PS: So, what makes me such a friggin expert? I'm covered in scars from #2 #3 and #7. I'm an expert at learning things the hard way.Especially #2.So…if you ever find my cold lifeless body in a ditch someday, you should definitely bring my brother and my oldest son in for questioning immediately.

I’m on my third startup. This is what I’ve picked up:Don’t idolize your product. It’s not about building the best product. Yes, what you’re building will be beautiful but form won’t convince anyone to fork up money without function. It’s gotta speak for itself. It’s about solving a problem that needs solving. Don’t solve a problem nobody runs into.Pitch decks are simple. Don’t spend inordinate number of hours “designing” your pitch deck. If those 10 slides doesn’t just roll off your tongue, stop and think more about the startup. Write your slides on paper. Don’t sit and stare at the deck. The toughest part of the deck is the projection slide (it’s really hard to bullshit properly). If you’re stuck too long something’s amiss and it’s not the accuracy of your tagline.Don’t dry run your startup. You need experience in at least 60% of the business. If you aren’t versed in more than half yourself, you won’t get it off the ground.Don’t fly solo. You need to start out with a Co-Founder(s) at minimum. See number 3 above.Don’t waste money on fake feelings. Hoodies and tees with your corporate logo on it should come after a big round.Don’t stealth-mode. Worst thing you can do. Speak to lots of people, validate your product. Nobody is waiting to steal your idea. Chances are, your idea is already being built by a competitor and they are likely ahead. The more you validate, the more ammo you’ve got to beat them.Don’t build a better version of the competition. Lots of people get this part wrong. Most of the thinking here will be self-serving. You’re not better because you offer something the other guy isn’t. You are in their rear looking at them so how can you possibly think you’re ahead?Don’t lose focus. Before you build a feature track it out. Make sure it ties into the main vision and has clear short-term gains. Everything you build needs to move the needle just one position. You and your team are not the needle. It’s customers. Never build anything for “the future expectation” of your product. Watch your scope but keep your eye on the target.Don’t go big. This isn’t Vegas. Going big is a huge gamble. Build the most atomic version of your product first and make it hum. Vision is important, but you can only build Pyramids by moving a single block at a time. If it’s ugly ask if it works. Once it works, then ask if it works well. Only when it works well ask if ugly is holding you back.

In today’s spoiled for choice IT world, there are various ERP solutions available in the market suited for varied kinds of industries. According to me, one of the most comprehensive ERP solutions could be PanERP from ASSYST International, Cochin; which is developed on the latest technologies utilizing and imbibing the robust capabilities of Elastic Search, HDFS technologies with RESTful SOA. It seems to cater to whole host of industries including Distribution, Food & Agri-sector, Oil & Gas, Retail sector and more.Why I feel this could be the best ERP is due to the fact that even though it is an end-to-end integrated solution with modules specific for purchase, inventory, finance, HRM, Sales & Marketing, Production, etc with BI analytics capability and MIS & reporting functionalities built on it. All the more, it is a loosely coupled, modular product which works on any database at the back-end. I.e., it can operate on any RDBMS such as Oracle DB, MS SQL, MySQL or even on NoSQL databases for that matter. Being a modular solution, PanERP customers should be able to pick and choose any of the independent modules as per requirement without depending or implementing other modules making it a very cost effective value proposition to its clients.Also, it seems to provide mobility to the users by providing range of information that can be accessed through tablets and mobile devices which could help users in making decisions quick and smart.Thus, overall I believe PanERP will definitely be one among the very competent, state-of-the-art ERP solutions available today for varied industries such as Agribusiness, Oil&Gas, Distribution, Retail sector & more, globally.Hope this helps!P.S: As most of the IT companies operate globally and can deliver ERP solutions anywhere on the globe, the physical location of the company doesn't really matter whether they are based in India or even abroad. That being said, ASSYST is an IT company headquartered in Virginia, US and has global delivery office in Cochin, India.

I'm Indonesian and I've spent four years living in Singapore, so the following is more of a personal answer rather than a general one. Disclaimer: the following is a personal opinion and should in no way taken as a generalisation. It is in no way an insult to Singaporeans -I am merely describing what I find and see whilst in Singapore for my studies. That said, I love Singapore, its people, and I am forever in debt to Singapore for what the country has given me, so I'm genuinely not "hating" on Singaporeans here :)Singaporeans walk really fast. Like really, really fast. Even when they don't need to (for example, when window shopping at a mall). However, this is just a first impression -after living there for a few years, I have adopted the practice as well. Now I get really annoyed when other people walk really slowly and block my way. Most Singaporeans have a kiasu mindset, whether they admit it or not. Kiasu means "fear of losing out". It's probably deeply entrenched in the culture so most Singaporeans do it unintentionally or rather unconsciously. When I first came to Singapore, I was really surprised how Singaporeans enjoy queuing for new products. When the first Llao Llao (a frozen yoghurt franchise) outlet opened, the queue almost stopped the entire mall from functioning. There were security guards who arranged the line so people wouldn't block the escalator. The queue was more than 3 hours long. For a frozen yoghurt worth S$6.95, mind you. The main reason is just to try so one wouldn't be like "what's that?" when another person talks about this "new thing" -literally, fear of losing out. Same goes with Honeycreme (a soft ice-cream franchise) and Krispy Kreme (a donut shop). And everytime there's a new seasonal Starbucks drink. The Singlish (Singaporean English) is another whole new thing. To Indonesians (or any foreigner, for that matter) it can be hard to understand Singaporeans when they use too much Singlish. Singlish includes a lot of Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) mixed with some Mandarin Chinese and English. Indonesians don't generally understand Hokkien unless your family is of Hokkien descent. This makes it really difficult to understand what Singaporeans are saying, especially their tone (for example, "lor", "lah", "mah" convey different tone when added at the end of a sentence). Singaporeans study a lot. Indonesians have a very laid back attitude and we have relatively easy exams. On the other hand, Singapore's education standard is top-notch so students have to constantly catch up. Before coming to Singapore, I've never studied unless exams were a week away. In Singapore, people study starting the first week of school. One thing I always get a mini culture shock on every time I land in Changi: to Indonesians, Singaporeans are really unfriendly/rude. In Indonesia, officers/staff/taxi drivers greet you, ask how your day was so far, offer to carry your luggage, and thank you even if you decide not to buy their products. Perhaps Indonesians are the "out-of-the-norm" here, but we're used to having a really friendly/respectful environment. If I had taken a Garuda Indonesia flight (where the stewardess greeted you, offered you blankets, asked if you need more water/tea and wished you a pleasant trip after landing), I would be in a tiny shock -or at least feel the "welcome to Singapore" ambiance -to find the cleaning lady in the Changi airport toilet basically ignoring my existence as I entered, and not replying "you're welcome" as I thanked her on my way out. It's just a bizarre feeling. Some Singaporeans can be a bit close-minded. Perhaps due to Singapore's "global city" mindset -many Singaporeans think their place is where everything is centered and therefore lack knowledge of the outside world. For example, many do not know other countries' political matter (even highly publicised ones, like the Donald Trump situation, the Panama Papers issue, etc). Many are very traditional too, perhaps due to racial harmony issues in the past so families feel the need to maintain their roots. This is a stark contrast to many Indonesians who are very very (sometimes too) open-minded and have a very "modernistic" view of the world. 

Quickbooks is much less complicated than SAP or Oracle. Quickbooks is made for small to mid-sized firms that do not require complex structures and transactions (i.e. multiple related entities; foreign currency transactions; integrated Journal Entry support and verification; parallel books for GAAP, IFRS and Management, ect.).That is the appeal of Quickbooks though. It is not complicated and therefore most people, even those that are not trained in Accounting, can pick it up and figure it out easily. The user interface in Quickbooks is intuitive and presented in a way that makes it easy to understand and navigate. Oracle and SAP, on the other hand, are not intuitive at all, an understanding of Quickbooks will not help much in knowing how to navigate SAP or Oracle. You will not know what function key does what in Oracle based in your use of Quickbooks.However, learning the basics on how to navigate around either Oracle or SAP won’t take long to pick up. You won’t be an SAP or Oracle expert in a few days (or even a few months), but you should be able to know how to move around the system and get the reports or screens that you need within that amount of time.