How Much Should Business Management Software Cost?
Like explaining Bitcoin to your elderly relatives, transitioning your company or new business into the digital world can be confusing and frustrating. It can also be expensive depending on a number of variables, like what kind of software your enterprise needs and, of course, how much it costs.
The options when choosing business management software can feel overwhelming. Long gone are the days when all you needed was a basic version of QuickBooks and an overly-caffeinated office manager named Helen. Your business is unique and your business management software should match. The problem is, different developers offer a plethora of products on the market and prices differ wildly. On one end of the spectrum are single apps with one feature, but that hardly covers the vast majority of tasks your business is trying to accomplish. On the other end, you have complex ERP systems with multiple applications covering both vertical and horizontal integrations for processes and industries. It may seem like I used a technical jargon generator to create that last sentence, but I assure you it’s a real thing. In terms of prices there are cheap ones for few bucks or even freebies or freemiums. Alternatively, you could opt for premium products that could cost you several tens of thousands of your hard-earned dollars.
The first step is to assess what it is you need. Actually, the first step is to put on your thinking cap which, if it’s anything like mine, has two large, black coffees strapped to either side with straws that lead directly to my mouth. Now we can get back to your needs. Usually, every business should have some basic accounting, HR, CRM and project management software, but if you are a small business owner or self-employed you might not need the whole set. Most business software companies provide either minimal accounting software or a huge suite of services, leaving small business owners with a difficult choice between cheap software that doesn’t meet your needs or software that can cost you an arm and a leg and includes services that you may never get to use. That’s like going to a car dealership where the only options are a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport and a bike.
Some pretty trustworthy and familiar companies offer free software, but these programs are usually light on services or features, meaning that you might need a lot of different apps to manage the full scope of what you are trying to accomplish. This can cause your phone or desktop to become so cluttered with programs that it begins to look like a mosaic created by a blind chimp. Additionally, the cost of business software programs can quickly add up when it takes a number of different programs to meet your business requirements. So even if you can get by picking a number of cheap alternatives without much else, you’ve almost reached the price of that big expensive suite. Maybe you can sell that monkey art to make up the difference.
The size and complexity of these software packages also means that businesses will need to invest in hardware and implementation that can keep up to date with them, as well as pay a price again when the software updates. Then there’s the issue of making sure that different packages are compatible with one another if you don’t buy a single integrated package from the same software provider. All in all, this is what those of us in the biz refer to as a “bad idea.”
With business management software from kpi.com, you are in control – choose the applications, select users and fit to your budget how much you want to pay with a customizable flexible price plan. The smartly bundled plans allow different sizes of small and medium businesses to apply volume discounts. Unlike the NBA, we look out for the little guys. We believe any company could benefit from paying only $10 per month per app for full user licence and $1 per month per app for limited user licence. Pay upfront for a year and drop hundreds of dollars from your bill on top of other discounts we offer. One less thing to worry about!
If you subscribe for at least one of our applications we give you document management and business intelligence apps for free. There are no hidden costs and all updates are downloaded free of charge. And if that wasn’t enough, all our customers are eligible for free customer support. Our software has very intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, reducing the valuable time and efforts required for setting up, implementation and training that can cost a lot of money with other products.
No matter what kind of business you’re running, you’re going to run into some high costs, but business management software doesn’t need to be one of them. And with the money you save, you can finally convince your boss to bring back donut Thursdays. You’re welcome.