Here is a common question we get,

I am willing to purchase support and training from you, and I want to provide consulting and business process configuration as a service to my clients. But, since the product pricing is already advertised on the site, I cannot sell it as is (open source, and zero margins being a bottle neck). So I was thinking if I could white label / re-brand and sell it, and have a tie up with you for support, training and development.

If you are an organization whose core strength is sales, this sounds like a really good idea. Take an open source project, plaster your name on it, sell it at a higher price = Profit

But there is one little catch:

The customer will ultimately find out!

Yes, they do. Once we got an email from a poor user, telling us that they paid close to $40,000 for an ERP implementation and suddenly they came across our site and realized that this is the original product. The customer is now planning to sue the service provider.

ERPNext is already known as a serious open source ERP project. Close to 150 new organizations are trying out ERPNext every day, so the chance that someone will find out ultimately will keep on increasing. And this is not a very healthy sustainable strategy for any business.

So what should one do?

The great part about the industry is that ERPs require a lot of effort to implement and customize and this is where the eco-system can monetize. As a partner, if you have expertise in training, implementation, customization, development, you will always stand out based on your skills and quality.

Also being a part of a community will also help you, as more and more customers will come looking for ERPNext Implementers. With your own brand, you will have to work hard to get your name out and be known as a credible entity, but being an ERPNext partner will automatically open a lot of doors.

That is an awesome long-term strategy.