As a custom software development company, we have mainly focused in medium and medium-large enterprises, because small businesses, in Mexico at least, don’t have the budget to have a software solution developed specifically for them.

In the past I have had requests by some friends who own small businesses to develop an application that would manage most parts of their business (sales, accounting, finances, production and inventory, etc.) and wanting to pay under $5,000 USD for it. I would tell them that the best solution for them would be to find some shrink-wrapped solution.

Recently one of my big client asked for something similar for a small subsidiary of them. Basically, what they are asking for is an ERP. This client is in the process of implementing SAP, but since this is a separate, independent business, it won’t get SAP.

So, instead of developing something that covered all of that, I started looking for an ERP that I could implement for them. For some time already, I have had the idea of finding a nice, little, inexpensive ERP that could be suitable for small businesses, so that Intelectix could sell and implement it in companies in Mexico. This opportunity only made me work on it.

In the last week or so I have spent a lot of time searching the web for a suitable ERP. What I would like most are these features:

  • Aimed at small business. I do not need something very complex, but I would like all the basic functionality (CRM, sales, invoicing, accounting, inventory, production, warehouses, asset management, etc).
  • Desktop application for Windows (instead of web based), because it’s easier to use and faster response
  • Relatively inexpensive. A small business cannot afford to pay $20K USD just for five user licenses, plus implementation and training costs
  • Extensible through plugins, and preferably .NET-based, so we can use our development expertise to enhance and tailor it to our specific clients’ needs

One of my first findings was Interprise Suite, but after a little digging in the web, I found some comments by customers of them saying that the product promised a lot but it was not yet ready for prime time, and also that the company behind lacked reliability.

I also found along those lines Darwin Productions’s Evolution ERP, which also seemed nice but once I installed the demo, was a bit slow and the screens very convulted. I still need to give it a better try, but it doesn’t seem straightforward to use.

I haven’t reviewed open source alternatives yet, but a quick look at OpenERP.com seems promising.

One thing that is very important is that the software is rock solid. I will be selling it to my clients and if it does not work well, it is my company that will get all the complaints.

So, can anyone suggest a nice ERP for small businesses?