Roxana Epure (NextUp): "Companies that do not digitize risk falling behind their competitors”

The digitization of Romanian companies is driven by the desire of entrepreneurs to reduce the effects of external unpredictability, given that frequent fiscal changes in the past have reduced the business environment's trust in state institutions, Roxana Epure, founder and Managing Partner of NextUp, a developer of ERP solutions for SMEs, said yesterday in a press conference.

Roxana Epure stated: "When you can't control the external environment, the solution is to have relevant indicators, at a click. Know, not believe. When you don't invest, you not only stagnate, but you lose opportunities. And during this time, your competitors are taking the right steps. We recommend that entrepreneurs in Romania create leverage by making educated decisions, based on numbers. To make multiple scenarios, starting from the possible tax changes that are circulating in the press. To build a possible solution for each scenario, a plan of action like in chess: if the external move X comes, I will do Y and so on. Only in this way can you keep up. In addition, the level of anxiety decreases, which is caused by the expectation of doing nothing, of waiting to see what happens. Luck does not belong to those who wait, but to those who prepare and act on time".

The advice of the NexUp founder comes against the backdrop of rising taxes, increased operational costs with bureaucracy and lack of fiscal predictability, factors that are driving more and more entrepreneurs to automate key processes: from accounting and invoicing, to inventory management, integration with ANAF and real-time tracking of cash flow. Thus, through business reports generated by an integrated IT system, entrepreneurs have total clarity about what works in the business, what does not work and where quick decisions are needed, educated decisions based on numbers, not intuition.

Ms. Roxana Epure offered the example of the NextUp user community, which in 2025 experienced a 300% increase in entrepreneurs who want to streamline their costs and who understood that equipping themselves with ERP software is a cost that they can quickly cover, by streamlining internal processes, by reducing the consumption of resources to fix mistakes and by automating administrative work that does not bring real added value to their companies.

Also, given the current volatile economic context, digitization with the right software is no longer just a competitive advantage, but an essential condition for business survival and development. That is why entrepreneurs who had outdated or completely manual systems in their companies have rethought their way of working and are looking for ERP solutions adapted to their specific needs.

"We see an increased interest from entrepreneurs in digitalization. They realize that they can no longer afford to spend with mistakes, to delay or make decisions blindly, to have operational costs with bureaucracy. They want to see in real time what expenses they have, who are the overdue customers, how the goods are moving, where money is being lost and especially where to intervene in time to avoid decreases, to avoid missing opportunities. Intelligent software such as ERP is no longer just for corporations; more recently, they are a necessity for SMEs. Digitalization is no longer a luxury, especially since equipping with such software can be done at whatever pace we want, both in terms of effort and costs. For better or worse, the ability to automate human tasks, without errors, is an added value. And when you decide based on numbers, you do business in an educated and preventive way. In 2025, companies that do not digitize risk falling behind their competitors," he added. Roxana Epure.

According to her, in the last year, more and more companies in trade, distribution, production or services have switched to integrated systems that allow them: to automate their workflows by reducing time lost on repetitive tasks; to have accurate and fast tax reporting, including integrations with ANAF; to track their receipts, payments, margin and stocks in real time; to make decisions based on numbers, not entrepreneurs' intuition.

However, the NextUp representative specified that the digitalization of the private environment must be doubled by the digitalization of the state. Given that more and more companies are making financial efforts to automate their activity and reduce exposure to errors or delays caused by bureaucracy, the relationship with state institutions remains cumbersome, bureaucratic and lacking digital coherence.

Roxana Epure, Managing Partner NextUp, stated: "The business environment also expects real digitalization from the state. For me, as a producer of integrated software for local businesses, it is essential to see that Romania maintains the direction of digitalization of public institutions. Our goal, of those who build ERP solutions and digital systems for companies should coincide with that of the state: to reduce the consumption of resources and time on paper, queues and redundant reporting. If both parties - the private and public sectors - pull in the same direction, Romania truly becomes an efficient place for business”.

A digitized administration would mean lower costs, shorter response times, fewer errors and a predictable business environment, based on collaboration and not on bottlenecks. In addition, companies could allocate the saved resources to investment, development and innovation, thus contributing to increasing the revenues collected by the state.

Roxana Epure mentioned that, even if companies cannot control taxes or government decisions, they can control the way they manage their resources and information, and in this aspect, digitization plays a decisive role.