How to Create Your Own ERP System: A Complete Guide

The demand for ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems is soaring high with the rising number of enterprises around the world. According to a recent market report, the global ERP market is forecast to grow to $117.9 billion by 2030 from its benchmark of $43.72 billion in 2020. While the high growth rate signifies the increasing opportunity in this sector, it also explains the craze for building ERP systems in recent years.

You too can build ERP from scratch to leverage this growth scope. But to start with that you will need an in-depth idea of how to create your own ERP and what to look for in an ERP system. Statistics say that the failure rate of ERP projects is nearly 7% and you need to plan and get off on the right foot to become successful.

If you are wondering about how to build an ERP from scratch or develop an ERP or ERP database model, then read on to get a clear idea. In this blog, we will guide you through how to create your own ERP system, what to look for in an ERP system, and more.

What Is an ERP System?

An ERP system is defined as a system or software that is built with the technologies to help an enterprise plan, manage, and integrate its various business processes. ERP systems are highly popular among businesses from diverse sectors as they help automate and streamline core business processes and associated tasks.

Some of the popular ERP systems are Netsuite, Epicor, and SYSPRO. Be it executing daily business resources planning & management, or completing daily repetitive tasks on time - an ERP system simplifies these all easily. Not only that, it ensures reduced risks of errors and higher efficiency of various core enterprise activities.

See More: Statement of Work (SOW) Document in Software Development: All You Need to Know

Why Should You Develop an ERP System?

There are innumerable reasons why you should develop ERP. And here we have listed the top reasons to build ERP from scratch.

Growing Demand

If you have plans to develop a product and start your own business, then building an ERP must be on your list. One of the prime reasons behind it is - the growing demand for ERP tools & systems. Starting from SaaS to e-commerce - ERP systems are widely adopted across a broad range of sectors owing to their fast & efficient solutions.

To give you a glimpse, 88% of the organizations claim that opting for ERP systems helped them succeed, while 50% of the companies are about to adopt or upgrade ERP systems very soon. So, this is the time to grab the new opportunities by creating your ERP system and ERP database model.

Lucrative Future

The market for ERP systems is expanding exponentially both in terms of value and volume. As stated in a recent market report, the global ERP systems market is set to grow at 10% CAGR through 2030.

As the requirement for high operational efficiency, transparency in core business activities, and streamlining multiple enterprise planning & resource management tends to spike higher, the market is subject to further growth shortly. And to utilize the low-hanging opportunities and grow your business, now is the best time to develop ERP, or build ERP from scratch.

High ROI

Building an ERP system is not too complex or requires a lot of time and investment, provided you follow the right steps. It just requires a one-time investment and procedure and gives you a high ROI (Return On Investment). Most ERP customers use the products on a long-term basis. As a result, you get higher recurring revenue as well as better customer lifecycle value. These all together help your business grow faster.

Opportunity to Upsell & Cross-Sell

Most ERP systems come with various exclusive features/solutions that are available with higher subscriptions/packages. This in turn helps you upsell your products/solutions to your existing customers. At the same time, many of the users that are mainly enterprises are often inclined to take additional solutions which makes cross-selling easier for the businesses.

See More: What makes Python the Ultimate Choice for Start-ups?

Steps to Build ERP From Scratch

So, how to create your own ERP? Building an ERP system is not an overnight task. But following the proper steps will make it no less than a cakewalk for you. Here we will guide you through the steps to building ERP from scratch.

Define Your Expectations

Before you develop ERP, you need a transparent, realistic, and proper plan. The first step is to be clear about your expectations of the product. We all know the basic functions of ERP systems but still, various ERP systems are different from one another. In this phase of your plan, you need to be specific about the product features, solutions, and core functionalities. You may compare and go through the existing ERP systems to come up with more specific and better ideas.

Also, you may need to decide on which type of enterprises you are going to target or whether you will start with small or big enterprises as your target audience. It is recommended to consult IT experts or industry stakeholders to make realistic and competitive business goals and expectations in this phase.

Plan Your ERP System Design

Once you have a crystal clear idea of what you want your ERP system to be like, now it’s time to plan the system design. You must be specific in this phase about the features/solutions you want from the system and design it accordingly.

First, you need to make a blueprint of your ERP system. You can come up with the system design outline by exploring the core components of the leading ERP systems. You don’t need to copy from any existing system but can just use them to generate your own unique system design idea. Here are some of the must-have features/solutions/components of an ERP system to consider in the designing phase.

ERP Database Model: It refers to a common database that helps organizations easily store, modify and access information related to various departments and their activities.

Data Analysis: Be it executing core enterprise tasks, or handling large sets of information - data is everywhere when it comes to an ERP system. And you must include this feature to build ERP from scratch.

Integration: Companies often need to connect ERP systems to other applications, tools, and third-party systems for information exchange or other purposes. So, simple and easy integration is a must-have feature to incorporate while designing your ERP system.

Unique UI/UX: UI and UX are closely interrelated. It is a no-brainer that a comprehensible, unique, and attractive UI is a must-have feature for any system. And your ERP system is not an expectation. Overall the UXD (UX Design) of your ERP system should be competitive which helps to optimize your end-user experience.

Financial Management: This is an important solution that helps organizations in financial asset management, report generation, spending decision making, and others. And no matter whether your ERP system is focused on the financial sector or not, you must include this feature during system design to develop ERP.

CRM: CRM or Customer Relationship Management is an important module to include when you build ERP from scratch. This streamlines customer data management, tracking, analysis, interactions, and other related activities.

HR: This module of an ERP system helps optimize HR activities, employee time, work allocation, and other related activities.

Automation: During this designing phase, you must focus on automation to ensure the ERP can automate various repetitive tasks related to different departments of an enterprise as well as can help avoid redundant activities, duplicate data, and others.

Choose the Right Tech Stack

After the designing phase comes the technical part - choosing the right tech stack to develop ERP. Though it is recommended to opt for professional services like hiring experts or third-party service providers to develop a competitive ERP system, even in that case you need some basic knowledge of the tech stacks to use.

The tech stack mainly depends on the target platform for your ERP system. For instance, to build ERP from scratch for desktop, one can use C++ or C# (Windows) or, Swift or Objective-C (macOS).

On the other hand, if you want to do web development for your ERP system, then some of the best choices are Bootstrap, JavaScript, Angular, and Node.JS. In either of the cases, you can have a consultation with the expert developers to confirm the tech stack to build ERP from scratch.

Integrate ERP Modules

No matter whether you are about to build ERP from scratch by yourself or going to hire expert professionals, you need to be aware of integrating various modules during the development phase. For instance, developers often prefer to use various services like G Suite, Office 365, and others as well as third-party APIs for data access, display, and other activities.

Test & Launch

Once the product is ready, you need to test it by running the modules and performing the respective tasks such as financial, HR, operational, and others. Also, it is recommended to first launch an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with minimal features, and test it before you launch the actual product. This will help in optimizing the ERP system efficiency as well as save you from wasting additional time and resources.

See More: Guide to Create an Online Marketplace Like Etsy

Cost to Build ERP From Scratch

Now that you know the steps to build ERP from scratch, the next question arises - what is the cost to develop ERP? Well, it mainly depends on the set of features you expect, the tech stack you use, whether you hire a technical team or freelancers or take third-party services, and other factors.

Also, the location of the developers, time to develop, and others play important roles in determining the cost to develop ERP. On average the total cost can be $10,000 to $3,00,000 - more or less. There is not any upper or lower cap to it, but you can consider choosing the developers from the regions with affordable prices like Asia - India, China, and others. For Indian developers, the perks are high - you get industry-grade expertise at much lower costs. However, it also depends on your ERP system features, ERP database model, and other related solutions.

See More: Top Technologies and Languages to Pick for Building Microservices Architecture

Takeaway

ERP systems are high on demand and trend as discussed above and new businesses are utilizing this opportunity more than ever. While the market value is high, the competition is getting stricter as well. To develop a quality ERP system, you need professional experience and a clear vision. The above guide will help you in this even if you are a beginner.

Be it an ERP system or other product - we, Third Rock Techkno have an industry-grade solution for everything. Web development to voice development - we provide an extensive solution for all types of product development with optimized product quality and strong market positioning. Check out our extensive portfolio and contact us to get started today.