How a small company's owner impacts an ERP implementation, for better or worse

(This article is adapted from Gloria's new book Rapid Implementation, an expert guide for small business owners who need to support a successful, low-cost ERP implementation or upgrade. - Ed.)

If you own a small business, then you are the most important person in your company's ERP project. Of all the deadly sins of software implementation, you as the owner and leader have the opportunity to commit or avoid more of them than anyone else in your organization. Your support may begin with a kickoff meeting when you gather your employees to tell them about the implementation project and how it needs their cooperation, but it must go much farther.

During any ERP implementation project, you can count on an unrelated issue arising in your business.  But when that next emergency strikes, you need to avoid the temptation to pull the implementation team away from their work for "just a few hours" to put out the fire. Consider the use of temps, interns, and summer help. Your cost for this temporary work force is lower because you can avoid paying benefits. Bring in retired workers or summer interns who are frequently glad to help for a period of time at lower rates.

Avoid the temptation of asking your accounting staff to work overtime hours to complete the implementation. In my experience, it's the rare person that can increase their work by five or ten hours a week for more than two weeks. They burn out, make major mistakes, and frequently quit right after you've paid for expensive training.

If you don't have the resources to backfill your staff or avoid overtime, implement in stages, not a Big ...