On review sites and forums you regularly read stories about ERP projects that overran, got more expensive or simply never ran smoothly. Strikingly, it's rarely down to the software. The same seven pitfalls come back time and again, with Odoo just as much as with other packages. If you know them, you can avoid them. So here they are: the seven classics, each with a recognisable example and the solution.
Before the start: choices that make or break the project
1. Too much customisation in phase one
A trading company wants Odoo to work exactly like the old system, including that one screen that was built that way back in 2011. Result: months of development work before anyone uses it, and every piece of customisation makes later upgrades more expensive.
The solution: start with standard Odoo and adapt your processes where you can. Customisation only for things that genuinely set your business apart, and only in phase two, once everyone knows the standard process.
2. No process owner
"The sales department will decide for itself how the quotation flow works." Three opinions later, the project grinds to a halt. Without someone to make the call, every configuration choice becomes a meeting.
The solution: appoint one owner per process who decides, and one project lead with a mandate. Not the busiest person, but the one who really understands the process.
During the project: data, testing and training
3. Not cleaning up data before migration
Anyone who transfers their old customer database one-to-one also migrates the 400 duplicate contacts, products that haven't sold since 2018 and addresses without a postcode. Odoo then gets the blame for "dirty data".
The solution: clean up your data before the migration. Deduplicate customers, archive dead products, fill in mandatory fields. Tedious work, but cheaper than repairing it afterwards.
4. Training overslaan
The system is up, the manual has been emailed, and six weeks later the warehouse is still working with paper lists "because that's faster". Software nobody understands gets bypassed.
The solution: train per role, with real company data, shortly before go-live. And schedule a follow-up session after two weeks, because that's when the real questions come.
5. Not using a test environment
Making changes directly in production goes fine, until it doesn't — in the middle of the invoicing run, for instance. Fixing it then takes more time than all the testing put together.
The solution: use a staging environment (on Odoo.sh you get one as standard) and test every change there first with a recent copy of your data.
Around go-live: pace and discipline
6. Going live with everything at once
CRM, sales, inventory, accounting, website and manufacturing all on one Monday morning: that's not a go-live, that's a stress test for your entire business. Every problem amplifies the next.
The solution: go live in phases. Start with CRM and sales, for example, then logistics, then accounting at the start of a new quarter. Each phase provides lessons for the next.
7. Scope creep
"While we're at it, that integration with the webshop can go in too." Ten small extras later, the budget is spent and the deadline has passed, without anyone having taken a single big decision.
The solution: work with a clear phase structure and a wish list for later. New ideas are welcome, but they get a place in phase two, not in the current sprint.
Praktische tip
Walk through these seven points with your team before the start of your project and give each one a colour: green (sorted), orange (needs attention), red (risk). Anything orange or red deserves a concrete agreement before you begin. That takes an afternoon and saves months.
Want an implementation without these pitfalls? Contact DAADit Group, we'll gladly help you work out a realistic approach.