First things, first. Let me describe my business and some of my CRM needs first in order to give some context to this series of posts.
I am currently a sole-proprietor. I have a brother who works with me while he is in grad school and hope to have him onboard full time when he graduates. My plan is to grow my company and have employees in several locations. So I do not have an immediate need to share data or worry about "scaling". I know from my experience in software development that by the time I get to the point where I need my software to scale, my company, needs, processes, and technology will have changed enough that scaling my current solution to a bigger size probably won't make sense anyway. I feel I have enough upgrade path options to be comfortable with bringing my historical data forward as I grow.
I have a service business. Even though I sell "products" that are a combination of goods and services, I don't carry inventory and therefore don't have any inventory related issues to consider.
I don't have tons of money to spend on software.
I need to be able to work anywhere, whether I'm connected to the Internet or not.
Although I can write\modify software, I want to do this as little as possible (preferably not at all).
I want to have data in as few places (applications) as possible.
I believe in systems, therefore I want to automate, track, and measure as much about my processes as is practical. For instance, I want to be able to track the results of a particular marketing campaign.
Creating and maintaining relationships is key to my company's success, therefore I need systems that support that goal without getting in the way or interfering with the relationship.
That's enough from me for now. I'm sure I will add more as this discussion continues. What are some of the characteristics and goals of your business that will influence the processes and tools that you select?
