On the face of it, you have to wonder why we do it. Why we work all the long hours, often making a less than comfortable income, and dealing with seemingly endless problems in all different areas of the business. Handling internal staffing issues, supplier problems, customer complaints, government paperwork, and technology challenges—some days it never seems to stop!

Of course, we do it because we love it, because being a vital part of a small or mid-size business allows us to accomplish so much and to have such a significant influence on the performance of the business. Helping to realize a vision of a business we believe in gives us so much satisfaction that we are prepared to put up with everything else it entails. But we’re not crazy—if we could find a way to reduce the pressure and workload that comes with being part of a dynamic small or mid‑size business, we would likely embrace it. And if it helps the business grow, and makes our customers happier—that would be quite something.

However—while there are many technologies that profess to deliver these benefits, typically the solutions and systems available are too expensive, too complicated, or too poor a match to the specific requirements of our business for them to deliver salvation.

Well, not to raise your hopes unduly, I believe help is on the way. I too am a small business person, having bought and sold small businesses including an art gallery, a women’s clothing store, a computer retail store, a couple of software development companies, and several computer manufacturing companies. I have created new businesses, and purchased and revived other people’s businesses. I have held management positions in operations, technology, sales, and marketing. I have been the boss, and I have worked for bosses with a wide variety of skill sets. Perhaps like you, along the way I have made money, and sometimes lost it. But it has always been worth it to me—the tradeoff between the burden of responsibility, pressure, and stress for the relative freedom to pursue your own vision of how a business or a department should be operated.

This book is about being a part of a small or mid-size business. The principal constituencies within a Small or Mid-Size Business (SMB) addressed by this book include senior management (an owner, partner, shareholder, or manager), the Information Technology group (the CTO, or an IT manager, specialist, or advisor), the Sales department (Sales Manager or quota-bearing sales executive or representative), as well as the Administration (both, the managers of finance, and administration, as well as the rank and file employees). The objective of this book is to demonstrate and explain how to improve your business processes, business performance, and quality of life using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools created specifically for managing small and mid-size businesses.