The ROI Question Indian Business Owners Ask Most

"I understand automation is useful — but what does it actually cost me, and what do I actually get back?" It's the right question, and most automation vendors answer it with vague percentages or cherry-picked case studies. We prefer specific data.

Real Implementation Data

SME Manufacturing (50–200 employees)

Implementation cost: ₹4–8L (one-time) + ₹15,000–30,000/month running costs. Typical savings: ₹2–4L/month from reduced manual labour in inventory, production tracking, and procurement. Payback period: 3–5 months. 12-month ROI: 250–400%.

Distribution and Trading Companies

Implementation cost: ₹2–5L. Savings: ₹1.5–3L/month from order processing automation, dispatch coordination, and accounts receivable automation. Payback: 2–4 months. Common additional benefit: 15–20% reduction in receivables age, freeing significant working capital.

Professional Services (CA firms, law firms, consultancies)

Implementation cost: ₹1.5–3L. Time saved per professional: 6–10 hours/week on admin. At ₹3,000–5,000/hr billing rate, recovered time value: ₹72,000–2L/month per professional. Even at 50% conversion of recovered time to billable work: 8–15x ROI within 12 months.

Retail (Multi-location)

Implementation cost: ₹3–6L. Savings: inventory optimisation (4–8% reduction in excess stock), automated ordering (reducing stock-outs by 30%), and labour efficiency. Net monthly benefit: ₹1.5–3L for a ₹10Cr/year retailer. Payback: 3–5 months.

Digital Marketing Agencies

Implementation cost: ₹1–2.5L. Benefit: ability to handle 40–60% more client work with the same team. At ₹50,000 average client monthly retainer, this represents ₹2–4L additional revenue capacity. Payback: under 60 days.

What Determines Your ROI

Three factors dominate: volume of repetitive work (higher volume = better automation ROI), current labour cost in that work, and the quality of your existing data. We assess all three before committing to any ROI projection.

Our Guarantee Approach

For implementations above ₹5L, MNB Research offers milestone-linked payment tied to demonstrable outcomes — not project completion. We only get fully paid when you get results.