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Transparency & Planning Security: ERP Systems for SMEs

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Introducing digital technology into your own company is anything but trivial and poses a challenge for many companies. The introduction of an ERP system, i.e. a software solution for enterprise resource planning, requires a lot of preparatory work before the actual digitalisation of processes and workflows can begin.

But first: why an ERP system? An ERP system bundles real-time data from all departments in one system and thus provides a comprehensive overview. This makes it much easier to plan, control and monitor relevant business processes in a focussed manner. Trends and patterns in these processes and among stakeholders are recognised and potential problems are visualised at an early stage. This up-to-the-minute transparency across all areas of the company enables company managers to make the right decisions at the right time on the basis of solid data. Read more

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Transparency: Management Based on Facts and Figures

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Transparency is one of the key factors in successfully managing a company. This applies equally to economically good and economically challenging times. The only difference is that a lack of transparency in economically challenging situations makes corporate management significantly more difficult and its absence can have far-reaching consequences. When company management acts on the basis of facts and figures, it creates a foundation for a future-proof organization. Ultimately, management based on facts and figures is an elementary component of good corporate governance.

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The Challenge of Company Succession: Successful Generational Change in SMEs

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According to a recent study by KfW Research, around 560,000 companies will be facing management and ownership succession by the end of 2026. However, a third of these companies are planning to leave the market without a successor. And this high figure is not surprising. Succession has become a major challenge in many medium-sized companies.

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Compliance in SMEs – Achieving the Objectives Pragmatically

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A frequent experience in our customer projects is that our medium-sized customers react to the topic of compliance with the critical question: “And who is going to do that? Of course, a medium-sized company does not have the same resources as a group of companies, where a compliance department with several members deals with the topic. Nevertheless, the same legal framework conditions apply to SMEs and group companies.

Multiple crises, international interdependencies, challenging political developments. The risks for companies tend to increase.  The business world is increasingly difficult to assess, more dynamic and more complex. Compliance has become an important basis for SMEs to safeguard the company, protect it from potential risks and thus create a foundation for the long-term success of the company. Good compliance can protect the company in the best possible way and indicate emerging crises and problems at an early stage. For effective implementation of compliance management, it is particularly important in medium-sized companies to use resources wisely and to sensitise everyone in the company to the issue. All too often, compliance is still perceived as a secondary task and the risks that actually exist are massively underestimated.

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A Homogeneous IT Landscape Tailored to the Company: ERP Systems in SMEs

Planning, controlling, monitoring – ERP systems are becoming increasingly important in the course of digitalisation in medium-sized companies. ERP solutions are at the heart of the digital transformation in the company and have an impact on all business processes. At the same time, ERP transformation projects present companies with numerous challenges.

ERP – what does that even mean? Behind the acronym is “Enterprise Resource Planning”, which can be translated as “operational resource planning”. ERP stands for software that is used in companies to digitalise all relevant business processes from A to Z and thus to manage and control the multitude of business transactions. Be it in logistics, sales or purchasing. Here, the right preselection, the professional system check and the correct configuration are decisive for the success and profitability of the ERP systems.

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The Power of Online Reputation: How Rating Portals Influence SMEs

In recent years, rating portals have become increasingly important for a company’s image – especially as an employer. How employees, former employees and applicants have rated a company as an employer has become an indispensable source of information for potential applicants. The ratings can be submitted anonymously and free of charge and can be accessed worldwide and permanently. Rating portals thus create enormous market transparency and have a considerable influence on whether and how a company is perceived as an attractive employer. The ratings of one’s own company on the various online platforms have a strong signal effect in the environment of potential applicants and customers. Read more

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Consolidated Financial Statements for SMEs: A Focused Look at your Group of Companies

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Do you have a majority shareholding in other companies? Are there economic interdependencies between parent companies and subsidiaries? Then your group of companies has reached a level of complexity where it is worth considering consolidated financial statements for the group of companies. Viewing all the companies in the group as one company (consolidation) shows the economic situation at a glance. This makes it easier to control the group of companies. In many cases, banks or investors demand more comprehensive reporting in the form of consolidated financial statements when the group of companies reaches a certain level of complexity, since individual observations are time-consuming and can lead to incorrect assessments without detailed information. And if a group of companies reaches a certain size, § 290 ff. of the German Commercial Code (HGB) applies. German Commercial Code (HGB), the obligation to prepare consolidated financial statements applies.

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Digitalisation in Africa and the business opportunities for SMEs: Our guest article in the magazine “AfrikaContact”

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The African continent is in a constant economic upswing and digitisation is advancing in leaps and bounds. This can be a real springboard for small and medium-sized enterprises that are thinking about internationalising their business, further developing their international locations and expanding their networks. In our guest article, which appeared in the 1/2023 issue of the BVMW foreign trade magazine “AfrikaContact”, we discuss the various aspects, advantages and opportunities that Africa’s digital transformation offers German SMEs. Be it online trade, supply chain management or the qualification and further training of skilled workers – the conditions for SMEs have improved significantly in recent years and are better today than ever before. We are convinced that now is the right time for many SMEs pursuing internationalisation plans to look into Africa. Read more

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A Review – this is how our Event & Dialogue “Robust, Adaptable, Strong: Resilience Management in Practice” went

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Resilience was the topic of our Event & Dialogue, which we held at our Nuremberg location in April 2023. Together with our cooperation partner stg Die Mitar-beiterBerater, we looked at resilience from different angles with our guests. Read more

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THE MAK`ED TEAM at the Côte D`Ivoir

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From Florida to Germany to THE MAK`ED TEAM, from there to the Côte D`Ivoir – and back to Florida: this was the varied itinerary of our consultant Jennifer Augustin in April 2023. Our Africa expert travelled to the Ivory Coast for THE MAK`ED TEAM in order to further expand our local network. The Republic of Côte D’Ivoir is economically extremely attractive and an interesting location for medium-sized companies: It provides access to a region with 110 million people and has around 29 million inhabitants itself. With annual economic growth of 8% since 2012, it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. And many other African countries, especially in West Africa, are also experiencing economic upswings. That is why we are convinced that internationally active medium-sized companies should take a closer look at the continent. There is a lot to be said for it: Africa is young, has many valuable raw materials and offers SMEs a wide range of opportunities. Let’s take a closer look at the economic strengths of the Ivory Coast:  

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