When we started our two-person graphic and web business, we bought into using several web-based systems for handling client communications and managing projects. We were told everyone was doing it these days: electronic CRM and job trackers were essential, said our local business support group.

After just a couple of months when we’d climbed the initial learning curve, we quickly tired of the added overhead in costs and time that the supposedly wonderful new tools had introduced. I now think that dropping the systems everyone else had told us were essential was the best business decision we’ve made this year. We’re so much more productive on paper, and we’ve got to know our clients as more than numbers in a list.

We’re now using a whiteboard for our project management, and simple paper-based calendars for client liaison and records. I think a lot of SMEs could benefit from this philosophy — by avoiding the pressure to use systems that were designed for larger companies, they might prevent the usual headaches and admin that such software and tools introduce into their working weeks.