The system after the spreadsheet, built for how you work
CRM for small businesses
The best CRM for a small business is usually the one that matches its process: contacts, a pipeline in your own words, follow ups that run themselves, quotes and invoices, and the three reports you actually look at. Built in three to four weeks for a fixed price, hosted on your own account.
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Retainer: the small businesses edition, in your browser
One of twelve industry systems we build from, each with its own screens, workflow and vocabulary. Retainer carries retainers, MRR and renewals on a 12 month strip, plus the pipeline, inbox with SMS and email, quotes the customer accepts online, schedule, editable automation flows, reports and a phone view. Sample data in your browser only. Your build carries your own stages, fields and rules.
Use Expand in the demo toolbar for a full screen view, press Escape to close it, or open the small businesses demo on its own page.
Who this is for
Built for small businesses
Businesses with 2 to 20 people in any industry who track customers in a spreadsheet or an inbox, have tried a free CRM and abandoned it, and want something simple that fits rather than something powerful that does not. Also startups past the point where a startup CRM template holds, and firms searching for client management software for small business without a per seat bill attached.
Only the screens you need
We build the contact, pipeline and task views around your process and leave out everything else. A new staff member learns it in an afternoon.
Follow ups that happen
Quotes not answered in three days, enquiries not contacted within an hour and customers not heard from in six months all trigger a reminder or a message.
Quotes and invoices with accounting sync
Line items from your price list, tax handled, sent by email with a payment link and synced to Xero or QuickBooks.
Three reports, live
Pipeline value, revenue this month against last and where enquiries come from. If you need a fourth later, we add it.
Pipeline
The stages work moves through
A starting point we adjust to your process in the first design week. Each stage can require fields, trigger messages and create tasks.
- New contact
- Enquiry
- Quote sent
- Won
- In progress
- Invoiced
- Paid
- Repeat
Records
What the system keeps track of
Real record types with the fields your team uses, related to each other so one screen shows the whole picture.
Integrations
Connected to the tools you already run
Two way where both sides edit the data, one way where they do not, monitored for twelve months as part of the build.
- Xero or QuickBooks
- Gmail or Outlook
- Google Calendar
- Stripe
- Website contact form
- SMS
Questions we get asked
How much does a small business CRM cost to build?
A small business CRM with contacts, one pipeline, follow up automation, quotes and invoices and accounting sync is 4,900 US dollars fixed, delivered in three to four weeks. There are no per-user fees afterwards; optional hosting and support is 290 dollars a month or you host it yourself.
Is custom really cheaper than a free or cheap CRM?
Not on day one. A free CRM costs nothing until you need the features that are paid, and by year two a team of eight on a mid tier plan is often paying 4,000 to 8,000 dollars a year for something they fight with. A build costs about one year of that and then belongs to you.
What if we need more later?
The system is built to grow: new record types, pipelines, integrations and reports are added as small fixed price jobs or under the care plan's included hours. Most small business clients add one or two things in the first year and then leave it alone because it works.
How quickly can we be using it?
You see a working version within ten days and use it with real data from week two, so by the time the build is finished your team already knows it. Import of your spreadsheet or old CRM is included, and training is a recorded one hour session.
Is a custom CRM worth it for a solopreneur?
Usually not at the start. A solopreneur with one pipeline is often well served by a spreadsheet or a free tier. A custom build earns its price when the work has a shape generic tools handle badly, such as bookings, repeat services or memberships, or when a second person joins and needs the same records.
Tell us how your small businesses business works. We will quote the CRM that fits it.
A 30 minute written brief from you, a fixed price and a two page scope from us within two business days. No call required, no obligation.