Pricing guide
How much does digitalizing a small company cost?
Three levels of digitalization, three different budgets — plus EU funding that can cover a serious share.
A workshop with 8 employees keeping orders in a notebook and invoices in a spreadsheet does not need the same digitalization as a distributor running three warehouses, which is why sensible budgets are discussed in levels rather than as one lump sum. The first level is online presence: a brochure website, a business listing, possibly online booking or a quote request form — an indicative €1,000–5,000. The second level covers internal processes: electronic invoicing, a simple CRM for customers, basic stock management — realistically €5,000–25,000 depending on how many systems you connect. The third level is full integration of the flows, where orders, stock, invoicing and accounting talk to one another: from €25,000 upward. The good news, which few quotes state loudly, is that the EU funding programmes dedicated to SME digitalization can cover a substantial share of these sums, and for a small company that changes the calculation entirely. Below you will find what each level contains and where it is worth starting.
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Key takeaways
Level 1 — online presence: €1,000–5,000
A brochure website, a business listing, a contact or booking form. For many small companies this is the only level that is genuinely urgent.
Level 2 — internal processes: €5,000–25,000
Electronic invoicing, a simple CRM, stock management, job tracking. This is where the notebooks, the parallel spreadsheets and the knowledge held in one person's head disappear.
Level 3 — integrated flows: over €25,000
Orders, stock, invoicing and reporting connected into a single flow. It only makes sense once the workload means level 2 no longer suffices.
EU funding reduces the real invoice
Digitalization programmes for SMEs finance websites, ERP, CRM, equipment and training — the support rate can turn an impossible budget into an accessible one.
Where to start so the money is not wasted
The classic mistake is jumping straight to level 3 on the grounds that if you are doing it at all you may as well do everything. A small company gets the best ratio between investment and effect from the level that solves its biggest pain: if you lose customers because nobody finds you online, start with the website; if you lose hours on invoices and quotes, start with the internal processes. Digitalization done in the wrong order produces software nobody uses.
A simple prioritisation criterion: count the hours per week lost on each manual activity and multiply them by the hourly cost of the person doing them. The activity with the biggest total gets digitalized first. Done honestly, that calculation often shows an investment of €5,000–10,000 paying for itself within the first year — and it also tells you when NOT to bother: if the total is small, keep the spreadsheet.
How EU funding enters the calculation
The programmes dedicated to SME digitalization usually cover exactly the components from levels 1 and 2: website, online store, ERP, CRM, electronic signature, IT equipment and staff training. For a small company the support can cover a substantial part of the project, provided you respect the eligible expenditure rules and the indicators you committed to.
The trap is letting the funding dictate the project: companies that bought complex ERP systems purely because they were eligible ended up with unused licences once the monitoring period expired. The healthy order is the reverse — first define which problems you are solving, then check which part of the solution fits the programme. That way funding accelerates digitalization instead of distorting it.
Frequently asked questions
What should a company with 5–10 employees allocate for digitalization?
For most companies of that size, an indicative budget of €5,000–15,000 covers the online presence plus digitalizing the painful processes — invoicing, customer records, quoting. Larger sums only make sense when the volume of operations justifies integrated flows.
Can I digitalize the company gradually, in pieces?
Yes, and it is usually recommended: start with the level that hurts most, measure the effect, then extend. The technical condition is that every tool you choose can export its data and offers an API, so that two years from now you are not left with systems that cannot talk to each other.
What share of the costs can digitalization funding cover?
It depends on the programme and the individual call, but support for SMEs is generally substantial — enough to reduce your own contribution significantly. Always check the guide of the active call for the exact rate, the ceilings and the list of eligible expenditure before you build your budget.
Does digitalization mean I must abandon spreadsheets?
No. Spreadsheets remain perfectly good for one-off analysis and small volumes. The problem appears when the same file is filled in by several people, tracks money or stock and becomes the single source of truth — that is where a system with access rights and an audit trail prevents costly errors.
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Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247