Over the years, I have seen small business owners develop, multiple spreadsheets systems, databases and manual processes designed to keep data about their clients and the operational sides of their businesses.
These systems take hours of time to keep up-to-date and they are always behind in updating them.
I ask the question why? When there are packages available that they can use to run their business on a day to day basis that will provide them with all of the information they need to run and grow their business.

• QuickBooks, Xero or MYOB for your bookkeeping and accounting needs and they have plenty of support available.
  
• ACT, Zoho, Sales Force or PlanPlus Online Customer Relationship Management packages for managing your sales and customer contact programs.
  
• Point of sale systems for retail outlets to assist them in managing their sales and controlling your inventory.
  
• Service Management systems such as Miracle Service for businesses that send technicians into the field to service equipment and bill out on a time and materials basis.
  
• Studio Management Systems for photographers, graphic designers and website developers.
  
• Job Bag systems for printing companies, that track the customers job through the printing process.
  

These are just a few off the shelf systems that are available for small business owners to manage the day to day operations of their business and at the same time collect valuable information that is critical to the decision making process for growing and developing their business.
Remember, when you are looking for a system to run your type of business, always look at what information you can get out of the system, these reports need to provide you with the information you need to make decisions in your business.
Then, look at how it operates and how easy it is to use.
Most small business owners will cite cost as one of the main reasons they do not invest in these systems.
From my experience, the problem is, they waste valuable hours of time trying to update and maintain the manual systems and then don't have any time left to properly evaluate the information and make quality decisions for their business.
Which in the long run cost significantly more? If you want more time and greater profitability, search for an operational system that that is designed for your type of business, use it to run the day to day operations of your business and reap the rewards.