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Being a small business owner, you would be facing unique challenges on a daily bases. Starting from managing operational expenses to timely project deliveries, it becomes extremely difficult for you to manage everything single headedly. Apart from these managerial problems, you also need to put constant efforts to grow your business and outperform your promises to hold customers’ interests.
A simple CRM tool which helps you manage all your business activities without any hassle proves extremely helpful at this stage. Imagine what results you can achieve if your majority of time is spent on strategizing while everything else is taken care by the tool.
Yes, knowing the fact that you are a start-up and face all those common business problems, it is yet advisable to look out for a CRM software which can offer immense value to your business.
Having said that, let’s first understand what problems you might face during your initial stage of start-up and how can you manage them using a CRM system.

1. Money

Budget constraint can lead to many problems and reduces the scope of various business activities. Hence, bootstrapping (reinvesting profits into your business processes) is advisable over seeking funding from external sources. Moreover, at the initial stage your business needs are very specific and unique and need well planned budget allocation. e.g. you need more customers and cost effective marketing channels to market your products. Here, an affordable CRM tool can be helpful with following features.

• Zero installation fees
• Online software which is accessible 24*7
• Extremely easy to deploy and has minimum maintenance cost
• Easily customizable for your tailored sales and marketing needs

2. Time

The phrase ‘time is money’ holds true for every business. Being an owner, time management becomes crucial. You might have created a high level plan with assigned priorities to every task, but might be facing problems in execution. Though your plan is achievable and actionable, sometimes it becomes tedious task to delegate work to juniors and take regular follow-ups from them. CRM having various features like workflow management, setting up follow-up and reminders can prove very helpful.

3. Planning

You may face lack of vision, if you have not set your long term business objectives.  First of all you need to have a full proof business plan which helps you in setting up your long term vision.  Conduct in-depth market research and thorough competition analysis, identify your unique value proposition based on your target market and their needs and have strategic roadmap ready with you. Along with these activities, you must plan your sales and marketing objectives for couple of years.

You may face lack of vision, if you have not set your long term business objectives.  First of all you need to have a full proof business plan which helps you in setting up your long term vision.  Conduct in-depth market research and thorough competition analysis, identify your unique value proposition based on your target market and their needs and have strategic roadmap ready with you. Along with these activities, you must plan your sales and marketing objectives for couple of years.

4. Marketing

It is a myth that great marketing needs huge funds. If you have defined your buyer’s personas and identified right channels to reach them, you are likely to spend fewer amounts on your marketing campaigns and end up getting more customers. The key is to understand your customers and their needs first. And CRM software can be extremely useful in understanding the buying patterns of your customers. It facilitates easy tracking of customer’s details and offer amazing features to strengthen customer relationship. E.g. email campaigns from the software allow you to stay connected with your customers.

5. Innovation

If you want to stand out in fierce competition, look out for innovative ideas to solve your customer’s problems. Do not get accustomed to the path followed by everyone but think out of the box. Accept and implement change in your business processes and work culture to take your business to the next level. You should also explore the market and look out for innovative solutions available which can help you solve your business problems.