Choosing a CRM for your Startup (part 1/2)

A key challenge for startup founders is aligning their software with their changing business. It’s natural for a company to grow, especially a startup. If you’re using a traditional CRM, it can be difficult to keep it updated with your company’s needs, eventually making it ineffective.

The second option that often comes to mind is building a custom CRM, which can become very costly—even if you have developers in your organisation.

In this article, I want to explore all the options.

1. Working without a CRM.

2. Building a CRM from scratch.

3. Selecting a CRM (detailed in part two)

4. Adapting a spreadsheet solution (detailed in part two).

Working Without a CRM

First of all, don’t blame yourself if you’re in this situation. I’ve been there, and I often see this happening even in larger companies—so it’s quite normal.

The problem arises when you accept it as normal to build internal processes without a CRM. The cost of doing these processes manually, and the risk of errors if they're not followed, often exceeds the cost of a CRM.

If you don’t have a CRM, here’s what you can do:

• Create templates for recurring activities, such as hiring documents, contracts, and billing.

• Document the steps for using these templates in a centralised place like Notion. This makes onboarding much easier than keeping all this information in your head or relying on your colleagues’ memories.

• Think in terms of procedures and ensure you have only one source of truth for your data (e.g., contract numbers or invoice numbers). Avoid using two different tools for the same task, like invoicing. It will confuse your organization.

• Consider spending some time and money to consult an expert. They can help prepare your organisation for the next step: implementing a CRM.

• The disadvantages of not having a CRM are clear, and you can decide which of these three methods is best for your business.

Building a CRM from scratch

I’ve often heard clients say, “I can’t work with standard software because I have special requirements.”

While this is true—every company has its own needs—it’s also true that you can adapt those needs to fit a standard CRM rather than building one from scratch.

Processes are created by humans, and more often than you might think, a specific task can be accomplished in more than one way.

Frequently, processes are only relevant for a specific use case or a particular moment in time. We should constantly ask ourselves whether the reasons for working in a certain way still make sense. Otherwise, we risk becoming like the monkeys in a famous experiment. They followed outdated practices without knowing why.

Building a CRM from scratch is rarely a good idea for most businesses. Let’s start with the disadvantages—because there are more than the advantages.

Disadvantages

• It’s hard to define what you need, especially as a startup. Take invoicing, for example. You may not know you need international VAT calculations until you do. Most billing services already have that feature.

• It’s difficult to keep the CRM updated with your company’s needs. Your developers’ time is limited, no matter how many there are.

• The cost of building your own CRM is enormous, even compared to implementing an expensive option like HubSpot or Salesforce.

• You have to manage your own updates. A SaaS solution constantly evolves. If you build your own CRM, you'll be responsible for all updates. This includes designing, managing, and building them.

• Your business focus will shift to building a CRM rather than using it. Key leaders should be focused on adoption, not development. Your recruiters should focus on attracting talent to use a CRM. They should not hire developers to build one.

Advantages

• You can fully customise your interface without worrying about limitations.

• You can implement any level of security you need. This is vital in sensitive fields as healthcare.

• You can adapt the software to your exact needs, rather than adapting your needs to the software. This is crucial in larger companies. It can be costlier to train people on the software than to adapt the software itself.

In the second part we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Selecting a CRM and Adapting a spreadsheet solution.