What software do you use to run/operate your business tasks?

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CrispyUK

Free Member
Jul 3, 2008
150
33
  • #1
    I've been asked to look into a solution for the company a family member works for to replace some of their existing paper-based systems that are starting to creak.

    Originally I thought we'd get away with a clever spreadsheet but they've actually got much greater aspirations for the system and a requirement for multi-user access so we're into database territory.

    I was wondering what sort of systems are you using for the day to day running of your business - customer records, quote/enquiry records, logging jobs and tracking their progress, delivery notes and invoices, etc - and then reporting back some useful figures at the end of each month.

    I've got Access or FileMaker in my head at the minute but would be interested to know what other options are out there and people using? Also if anyone has clever systems set up with Filemaker I'd be interested to hear from you, as I'm not sure of it's capabilities.

    Cheers :)
     
    A

    AKhan

    Free Member
    Jul 28, 2010
    3
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    Manchester
  • #8
    We have been using salesforce for 4 years now, our entire business (prospecting, marketing campaigns, quoting, expenses, timesheets, customer services and more) are all done through saleforce.

    You can replicate your access databases, excel spreadsheets in salesforce which link into your customer records, giving a complete 360 degree view of your customers.
     
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    H

    Host Yorkshire

  • #13
    Hi

    one of the main ones I use on a daily basis is WHMCs. It's geared up for my kind of business and helps me manage lots of hosting accounts with WHM & Cpanel.

    Another one I have helped lots of clients with is V-Tiger which is a true open source CRM. It has proven to be very flexible with all types of business. Very customisable.

    Hope this helps

    Andrew
     
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    icomplete

    icomplete

    Free Member
    Nov 3, 2009
    45
    3
    Swindon
  • #15
    Hi there

    Many of our customers migrated from spreadsheets and outlook. We offer CRM, Group Calendaring and Task Management for small businesses - it is a centralised online system - highly visual and everyone in the team can have access to it - if you wish.

    If you would like an online demo go to icomplete.com/onlinedemo and we can give you a quick guided tour or if you would like to look at it yourself first sign up for FREE 30 day trial on our website icomplete.com

    If you have any questions please pm me.

    Kindest regards
    Claire
     
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    GlasscubesDOTcom

    GlasscubesDOTcom

    Free Member
    May 7, 2010
    11
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  • #16
    CrispyUK said:
    I was wondering what sort of systems are you using for the day to day running of your business - customer records, quote/enquiry records, logging jobs and tracking their progress, delivery notes and invoices, etc - and then reporting back some useful figures at the end of each month.


    Cheers :)
    Click to expand...

    Hi Crispy,

    to answer you questions from our perspective you can use Glasscubes for the above. It provides many things (including a CRM which can be configured in) but its main focus is around Workspaces where you can share files, edit docs online, track and assigned task (including progress vs estimated time), time reporting (export to excel for invoices) , calandar, free conferencing calls, SMS and email reminders, amongst other things.

    Above all it' super easy to use and is online so you, or anyone in your team, can access it from anywhere - all backed-up daily.

    Why not have a look and use it for yourself? - its FREE for the basic package http://www.glasscubes.com and checkout the video on the homepage to get a quick overview.

    cheers
     
    Last edited:
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    Carsie

    Carsie

    Free Member
    Mar 4, 2010
    187
    36
    Birdbrook
  • #22
    Morning Crispy,

    I see you've been bombarded with a plethora of IT solutions :D

    I'm always interested in business management sytems; its my specialism.

    Can I assume that because you have mentioned multiple database access required that the business has a reasonable level of turnover, say in excess of £500K? along with that can I assume that you have a budget to work to and the desired outcomes are defined?

    Before you can garner any modicum of sensible advise you need to understand a number of issues e.g what's the strategic focus of the business? what is it that actually makes the money? Is it production, is a sales driven business, does it buy and sell information? - these are the sort of question I would be asking first and then trying to understand the leverage and benefits you could get from automating them and adding Customer value.

    Then would come workflow routines and again with analysis of efficiency and effectiveness analysis.

    Finally what systems could be used to support the above, then and only then would I be looking to the market for best fit solutions.

    Hope this helps your thoughts :)

    As ever- drop me line if you want some impartial advise, always glad to help
     
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    TargetNumberOne

    TargetNumberOne

    Free Member
    Nov 13, 2009
    39
    2
  • #24
    Hi Crispy,

    I use standard Microsoft software for most of my work. I recommend Microsoft's Business Contact Manager which integrates directly into Outlook and allows me to manage business contacts, sales leads and reports from Outlook.

    Think it was free when I downloaded it originally, not sure if that's still the case.

    Kind regards,
    Tony
     
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    O

    oxfordit

    Free Member
    Aug 2, 2010
    10
    1
    Oxfordshire, UK
  • #25
    We also use a custom built system that does everything we need and nothing more. We couldn't find a package anywhere that was flexible enough for our needs so we took the time to develop a system just for us.

    Being web based anyone of our team can login and use it from anywhere on any device at any time. You simply cant beat a custom built package!

    Rob.
     
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    scottdsmith

    scottdsmith

    Free Member
    Aug 4, 2010
    52
    10
  • #26
    A great piece of software I use, that on the face of it just seems like a to do list software, but when you get your head right under the hood can do so much more is task solutions and checklist (I'm not affiliated).

    Task anyone is the online version which you need, and pay per month and checklist is software that connects to it. Personally I wouldn't use this myself if I didnt use the checklist software to connect to the online version as it makes it so much better to use.

    http://www.tasksolutions.com

    HTH
     
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    J

    johnson 79

    Free Member
    Jul 12, 2010
    2
    0
  • #27
    [FONT=&quot]Systems Valley; UK based IT company helps businesses work more efficiently, productively and profitably. They provide Microsoft technology solutions and services.
    I would suggest you to learn more about this company and their wide array of products and services at systemsvalley.com
    [/FONT]
     
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    B

    blloyd

  • #29
    I'd like to throw junariCRM into the mix for your consideration.

    junariCRM is considerably cheaper than Salesforce.com or a custom development, whilst retaining the flexibility to meet your businesses processes (as opposed to expecting you to bend to meet it's way of working). junariCRM is available as a hosted, off-site service or can be installed locally within the business. Being web-based it is also accessible from anywhere at any time.

    Drop us a line if you want to discuss further or would like any assistance in your search. Oh, and as you would expect, we use junariCRM in-house for all of the functions you mentioned in your wishlist ;)
     
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    K

    kjmcculloch

  • #30
    I've been looking at the same thing recently and came across Amphis Customer Manager. It fitted my needs exactly. It's a fairly simple program but powerful too. Not sure if it would handle the multi user access, but it's about £100. The only slight downside is that it only works with MS Word 2003 or newer.

    Kris
     
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    akirk

    akirk

    Free Member
    Jul 1, 2010
    2,218
    576
    Cotswolds & Bristol, working internationally
  • #32
    mmm - personal view - don't use Access if you need to scale at all to more people - Access has limitations in terms of simlutaneous connections - look at grown up databases such as MySQL / MS SQL etc.

    We use our own system based on flarebox (our modular CMS / business system), very nice - auto invoices for us, VAT is one button press, etc. etc.

    again - as others have said - a lot depends on your needs / business / budget - it can make sense to have it written for you, or it can make sense to pull together off the shelf solutions which can be cheaper, but are often far less flexible.

    Alasdair
     
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    B

    benstege

  • #33
    Mostly web based software (unsurprisingly :): Email, CRM, Accounting & Invoicing (all linked) and file sharing. We do use MS Office occasionaly but try to do most with Google Docs. The website is mostly managed through the Wordpress CMS.
     
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    OpenSure

    OpenSure

    Free Member
    Apr 1, 2010
    156
    18
    Herefordshire
  • #35
    What a vast number of programs there are out there. Did you/they pick one Crispy? We'd love to know what you chose and why. It's worth bearing in mind that there's likely to be an open source package that will do the job which means, among other things, no purchase or licensing cost and often infinite scalability. If I've just spoken greek, drop us a line at heather at opensure dot net and we'd be happy to research it for you.
     
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    P

    pchealer

  • #36
    I'm surprised know one has mentioned http://www.freeagentcentral.com/ its great for small businesses and so easy to use. It integrates well with other systems like capsulecrm which it's self integrates with other systems well.

    capsulecrm is great I can get my virtual receptionist 'Banana Office' to enter a possible lead on my website and as soon as the contact gets added to capsulecrm it synchronize with my Google contacts and bang I have the customers details on my Android phone in seconds to phone!
    :)
     
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