CRM

Figuring out how to start a business can feel like an uphill battle. It’s easy to get stuck thinking you need a groundbreaking concept or a hefty investment to succeed. Fortunately, that’s not the case.

In this post, you’ll learn 11 practical steps to starting a business (even without a clear idea or large budget).

11 steps to starting a business for the first time

Starting a business doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This step-by-step guide outlines exactly what you need to do, from validating your idea to launching your first product or service.

Here are 11 of the most crucial steps to starting your own business.

1. Identify your business idea

Many business owners start with an idea for a product or service that solves a problem, fulfills a need or makes life easier for their target audience. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Just find something you can improve upon or do better than others.

A clear and realistic business idea focuses your efforts and minimizes unnecessary financial risks. It defines:

Let’s say you’re proficient in design software like Photoshop. You may use your existing skills and offer a graphic design service to meet a growing community’s or online demand.

Relying on your expertise or existing tools can reduce startup costs.

• Start with your know-how: Think about your skills, experiences and interests. Can you turn a hobby, talent or past job experience into a business?

• Solve a specific problem: Talk to potential customers or look online (forums, social media, reviews, etc.) to identify pain points to address.

• Keep it simple: Start small with a single product or service to test the waters.

Write down all your potential ideas and research and narrow down the most viable (i.e., cost-efficient, easy to get started, etc.). If you’re struggling, try free exercises like “Finding Your Ikigai”:

Create a Venn diagram with four circles labeled “You love it”, “You are great at it”, “The world needs it” and “You are paid for it”. List answers in each and look for overlapping themes where all four intersect.

By starting with an idea matching your skills and budget, you’ll set yourself up for a manageable and rewarding business.

2. Conduct market research

Market research involves understanding your target audience, competitors and the demand for your new business. It’s about learning what customers want, what others already offer and where market gaps exist.

Without market research, you risk investing time and money in an idea that might not work. Research helps you validate your idea, identify opportunities and make informed decisions that align with customer needs and market conditions.

If you have some investment, hire a market research firm or offer paid surveys. Thankfully, you don’t need to spend money on formal studies to get substantial insights.

Instead, you can:

• Identify trending topics or products using free tools like Google Trends

• Run polls on social media or contact potential customers directly for feedback

• Ask questions in online communities to pinpoint your target market’s pain points or preferences

For example, you might use Google Trends to assess consumer demand for your new idea. Let’s say you’re considering developing a new note-taking app. Exploring this keyword suggests search interest is minimal (likely because many people use their smartphones for the task).

The term “task manager app”, on the other hand, has far more interest. You may use these insights to branch out your idea to meet a broader target market.

You can also analyze competitors yourself. Look at similar businesses in your niche and note how they market their products or services, what they’re doing well and where you could do better. Compile all your insights in a spreadsheet to stay organized and easily make updates.

3. Write a business plan

A business plan is a roadmap for your company. It outlines your mission and goals, how you’ll make money and how your operations will keep you on track.

A well-thought-out plan focuses your efforts, allocates resources wisely and attracts potential investors, lenders or partners. It can also give you clarity on how to grow your business sustainably.

There are two main types of business plans:

• Lean business plans are short, flexible documents that outline the key elements of your company

• Traditional business plans are comprehensive documents that anyone investing or lending will need to see

If you have a new idea, use lean business plans to avoid unnecessary complexity while setting a clear direction.

For example, you can use Pipedrive’s free business plan template to fill in crucial components (e.g., your proposed pricing strategy and value proposition) and organize your ideas.

Here’s an example of what that plan could look like:

If you’re starting with no money, use your plan to outline how you’ll crowdfund, take out a personal loan or apply for business grants. If you have funds, hire a consultant or buy business planning software to create a polished, investor-ready document.

However you create your plan, set SMART business goals based on your research and resources.

4. Choose a business structure

Your structure (or business entity) determines how your company is recognized legally and taxed.

Your choice of structure affects your personal liability (i.e., whether or not you pay for damages or injuries to a third party), tax obligations and compliance requirements.

Selecting the right one can save you money (i.e., how much the state charges you) and simplify your operations (i.e., the complexity of your ongoing paperwork).

Five typical structure options include:

If you’re on a budget, start as a sole proprietorship or single-member LLC. These legal structures often have lower upfront costs and fewer compliance requirements. Each state has its own fees and requirements.

For example, Californian sole proprietorships can start a business for virtually nothing. Then, LLCs must pay a franchise tax of $800 per year (even as a single member).

As you scale, consider becoming an LLC for liability protection (i.e., you won’t be personally responsible for company debts) or a corporation to fundraise capital. Many investors prefer corporations because they can more easily buy and sell shares in the business.

Consulting a business attorney or accountant can clarify the long-term implications of your choice.

Many states also offer resources (e.g., your city’s Chamber of Commerce) and free advice to help new small businesses choose the right structure.

5. Register your business

Registering your business involves securing your name and filing necessary documents. This practice ensures your new company is legally recognized and compliant with state regulations.

For example, you can register your business in Texas because you live there. Another option is to register somewhere with lower fees (e.g., Kentucky or Arizona) if your business can operate from anywhere, like an online store or consulting service.

Let’s say you live in Pennsylvania. You might register your business in Delaware because it’s known for low registration fees, a business-friendly legal system and no sales tax.

Here are three top small-business-friendly states and why you might choose them:

• Delaware. Affordable registration, strong legal protections for businesses and no state sales tax.

• Wyoming. No state income tax, low filing fees and privacy protections for business owners.

• Nevada. No corporate or personal income tax and business-friendly policies.

Before you do, check your chosen state’s business registry or free name-checker websites to confirm your name isn’t already used. For example, you can run a business name search on Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness.

You can also register a “doing business as” (DBA) name that’s different from your legal business name. For example, “John Smith Enterprises” could also register a DBA of “Smith’s Landscaping” to better reflect its services.

To save extra cash at this stage, skip premium name registrations (e.g., trademarks or high-demand domain names) unless you’re building a brand where uniqueness is critical.

If your budget allows, work with a registered agent or service to handle registration paperwork for the Secretary of State more efficiently.

6. Obtain startup licenses and permits

Many companies require specific licenses or permits to avoid fines or penalties. These requirements ensure your business operates within federal, state and local laws.

For example, small businesses in New Hampshire are exempt from sales and income tax. However, they have to pay one of the highest property tax rates in the country.

For online businesses, licensing requirements depend on what you sell and where your customers are located. Some states demand home-based business licenses (even for e-commerce), while others only require permits if you ship physical goods.

Here are three tips to make sure your new company is covered:

1. Research requirements. Check federal, state and local guidelines to identify the licenses, permits or self-employment tax ID numbers you need.

2. Use free resources. Local small business development centers (SBDCs) or government websites like the US Small Business Administration (SBA) can guide you through the process.

3. Start small. If your business can operate with minimal licensing, focus on the essentials and upgrade as needed.

For example, here are some of the topics covered on the SBA.gov website:

Having the correct licenses and permits from the start allows you to focus on growth. If you can afford it, consult an attorney to handle more complex compliance needs.

7. Open a business bank account

A business bank account separates your personal and business money, making accounting and tax preparation easier. Separating finances maintains accurate records, simplifies bookkeeping and builds credibility with vendors and customers.

There are two types of business accounts you should consider:

• Checking accounts are essential for day-to-day operations (e.g., receiving payments, paying bills and managing cash flow)

• Savings accounts are useful for setting aside funds for business taxes, emergency reserves or long-term investments

Prioritize a checking account when starting out. Once your business generates steady revenue, open a high-yield savings account. This builds financial security while earning interest on your reserves (i.e., letting your emergency funds and tax savings grow passively over time).

If you’re starting with funds, explore accounts that offer added perks like cash-back rewards or integrated financial tech (like invoicing tools).

Many financial institutions offer free or low-fee business accounts for startups. Online banks with fewer overhead costs are a great money-saving option. Have your business registration and identification on hand for a quicker setup.

8. Research the right business management software

Business management software streamlines operations, including accounting, sales, customer relations and project management. Using the right tools saves time, reduces errors and improves efficiency so you can focus on growing your business.

Small business owners need tools that assist with crucial jobs like:

Look for free trials or entry-level plans for software that handles multiple functions. For example, Pipedrive offers sales, email marketing automation and project management all in one to reduce the need for several tools.

Pipedrive’s CRM

Finding customers and closing sales fast is a must when starting a business. With Pipedrive’s intuitive interface, you can see where every sales opportunity stands and take timely action to close deals.

Pipedrive’s CRM helps you:

• Organize leads in one place so no potential customer slips through the cracks

• Visualize your sales pipeline to see precisely where deals are and what actions to take next

• Track follow-ups and deadlines to stay on top of every opportunity

Centralizing sales tasks in one platform means no longer managing spreadsheets or juggling multiple tools.

Pipedrive’s Campaigns

Growing a customer base takes time, especially if you do everything manually. Pipedrive’s Campaigns feature saves hours while keeping your communications professional and effective.

For example, you can create professional emails introducing your business to sales prospects in minutes using simple drag-and-drop elements – with no design experience needed.

The AI email writer features allow you to personalize outreach without extra effort, making customers feel valued even as your list grows.

By tracking email strategy performance (like open and click-through rates), you’ll see what messages resonate to refine your efforts.

Pipedrive’s Projects

Whether you’re coordinating a product launch, managing a small team or juggling freelance work, Pipedrive’s Projects can help.

Use this project management solution to break big goals into smaller, manageable tasks, set clear deadlines and assign responsibilities (even if you’re a team of one).

Tracking progress ensures nothing gets overlooked, especially during a busy startup phase. Pipedrive aligns your projects with your sales goals, ensuring every task contributes to your growth.

When your business demands more features or scalability, simply upgrade to a more comprehensive plan.

9. Set up your business insurance

Protecting your business from unexpected risks is crucial, even when starting with limited resources. Business insurance safeguards your assets, reduces liability and prepares you for potential setbacks.

Unexpected events like lawsuits, accidents or natural disasters can threaten your business’s survival. The right insurance coverage minimizes financial risk and provides a safety net.

For example, general liability insurance protects against property damage or injury claims. On the other hand, product liability insurance covers risks related to defective goods.

Here are four tips for finding affordable coverage:

• Start with basic policies, which are often more cost-effective for new entrepreneurs

• Compare rates from multiple insurers to find the best coverage at the lowest cost

• Focus on coverage based on your industry and business model (e.g., dropshipping businesses might prioritize cyber liability insurance)

• If you can afford to, work with an insurance broker to tailor coverage to your company’s specific needs

Having even minimal insurance gives you peace of mind and lets you focus on growing your business.

10. Develop a marketing strategy

A marketing strategy outlines how you’ll reach your audience, build brand awareness and generate sales. Effective small business marketing plans attract customers and help your business grow without wasting time or resources.

For example, a well-executed social media marketing campaign can turn a single post into hundreds of shares – driving traffic to your website without significant expense. Be patient, as this won’t happen overnight.

If you’re starting from scratch, these four cost-effective methods can bring awareness to your company:

• Leverage free social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn) to build your presence and engage with your audience

• Attend industry-specific networking events to meet potential customers, collaborators or mentors who can spread the word about your business

• Read online guides on search engine optimization (SEO) tactics like keyword research, on-page optimization and backlinks

• Create valuable content on a blog that solves problems or entertains your audience to encourage organic traffic

If you have the budget, invest in a marketing agency, paid ads or advanced tools to build targeted campaigns.

As you attract more customers, build marketing funnels that track your customer journey stages and use the insights to improve traffic and sales.

11. Launch your business

Launching your business introduces your product or service to the market. This process allows you to test your idea, gather feedback and adapt before scaling further.

For example, one product feature might resonate more with some customers than others, so you prioritize it in your marketing content and ads.

Start with a simplified version of your product or service to gauge interest and refine it based on feedback. Testing the market identifies what works, uncovers potential challenges and minimizes unnecessary spending.

After launching, track your progress with these four methods:

Adjust your sales and marketing approaches based on these insights to spot improvement areas and boost performance.

If you have the budget or resources, plan a more robust launch with marketing campaigns, influencer partnerships or media coverage to maximize visibility. You can also start small and reinvest your profits to scale gradually.

5 challenges when starting a business with limited funds and resources

While starting a business with limited funds is challenging, it’s also an opportunity to build resourcefulness and creativity into your foundation.

Being aware of common roadblocks (and how to overcome them) can help you navigate the process more confidently.

Here are five typical challenges and solutions for entrepreneurs working with tight budgets:

By understanding and addressing these challenges, you can turn limited resources into an innovative and resilient company foundation – proving you don’t need a big budget to build a successful business.

How to start a business FAQs

Final thoughts

Anyone with the right idea and attitude can start a business. Following the above steps will cover all the bases and set you up for success.

When you’re ready to manage your company online, try Pipedrive free for 14 days to see how it can support your business’s growth.

You don’t have to stop selling out-of-stock products. Selling on backorder lets you keep products available to customers even when they’re not in your warehouse. It takes a little more effort but reduces overhead, improves cash flow and increases customer satisfaction.

In this article, you’ll learn what backorders are, why you should use them, how to fulfill them and how to reduce them in the future.

What does backorder mean?

A backorder is when a customer purchases a product, but you can’t fulfill the order because of a lack of supply. In other words, you don’t have the stock in your warehouse.

Backorders let you continue selling the product if you expect to have it in stock soon. Customers buy products as usual with the promise that you’ll fulfill the order once the item is available.

As a result, products sold on backorder have longer shipping times, but customers are usually happy to wait if it means they’ll eventually get what they want.

Backorders are a normal part of running an online retail business. Selling on backorder helps you maintain customer relationships even when you can’t deliver orders immediately. Backorders also help brands capture immediate demand and improve cash flow.

When to sell on backorder

Some businesses are better suited to selling on backorder than others. Decide if backorders are right for you by answering these questions:

• Will customers accept a shipping delay?

• Can customers buy the same product elsewhere?

• How quickly can I reorder the product?

• Can I handle more customer service requests?

• Will it break marketplace rules?

Backorders work best for unique or niche products. Don’t use them for widely available items shoppers can buy elsewhere. If you don’t want to sell on backorder, mark the product out of stock instead.

Backorder vs out of stock

The terms backorder and out of stock are similar, but there are several differences retailers and consumers need to know.

Both terms indicate product shortages. However, customers can buy back-ordered items, unlike out-of-stock items, which aren’t for sale.

The timelines for a product’s return are also different. Backorder products will be available again shortly. However, an out-of-stock designation suggests the retailer may not sell the item again or doesn’t know when it will next be in stock.

This table summarizes the differences:

Looking at how backorders work will make the differences even clearer.

How do backorders work?

Back orders can be as simple or complex as your supply chain. The interaction between customer and retailer will largely stay the same, however, and look something like this:

• A retailer runs out of a product. They place an order for more units from the manufacturer and continue to list the product for sale on their website

• A customer orders the out-of-stock product. They receive an email from the retailer giving an estimated delivery date

• The retailer verifies payment and creates a purchase order. The consumer enters their credit card information at checkout, but the retailer doesn’t charge them

• The backordered products arrive at the retailer’s warehouse. They restock the warehouse and ship the order

• The customer receives an email once the product is back in stock. They track and receive the delivery as usual

What causes backorders?

Backorders happen for several demand-, supply- and process-related reasons. Some are preventable, but others are beyond your control.

Four common causes of backorders are:

1. Unanticipated demand

Backorders can occur when you experience an unexpected surge in demand and lack adequate stock. Several factors account for such an increase, including:

• Seasonality. Demand tends to be much higher around Black Friday. Holiday sales account for over one-third of all sales for holiday, toy and game retailers.

• Promotion. Appearing on a television show like Shark Tank can also send demand soaring. For example, according to founder Tyla-Simone Crayton, Sienna Sauce received over $300,000 worth of orders immediately following the show.

• Going viral. A celebrity spotted wearing your jacket or an influencer gushing about your makeup can send shoppers scrambling for your products. For example, the Princess of Wales’s “Kate effect” boosts UK fashion by an estimated £1 billion.

You can’t always predict demand shifts, but we’ll discuss how accurate sales forecasts give you the best chance at the end of this article.

2. Supply chain issues

Many businesses operate just-in-time (JIT) supply chains, aiming to store as few SKUs as possible. JIT is a great way to reduce overheads, but it can also cause backorders if:

Reduce the risk by working with as many suppliers as possible. If picket lines inhibit production at one plant, good supply chain management practices let you order from another instead.

3. Inventory discrepancies

The figures in your inventory management system don’t always match reality. Even the most orderly warehouses deal with missing or damaged products.

A backorder can occur without you realizing it if a customer places an order for a product you thought you had in stock but didn’t.

Avoid these discrepancies by carrying safety stock and running routine inventory checks to ensure digital records match your warehouse.

4. Human error

No one is above simple human error. Simple mistakes can cause backorders, like:

Technology helps you reduce human error, mainly when you use an e-commerce CRM or ERP to automate workflows.

However, even when backorders occur, they aren’t always bad. In fact, they can be pretty beneficial.

Benefits and challenges of accepting backorders

There are several benefits for stores that allow backorders.

Benefits

• Improve cash flow. Backordering lets businesses take payment upfront, boosting cash flow temporarily. Moreover, backordering products on purpose means you tie up less capital in inventory and can spend more on marketing.

• Guarantee demand. Customers may not return if you list products as out of stock, but selling on backorder keeps them coming. Somewhat counterintuitively, backorders may increase customer demand if they think a back-ordered product is popular and desirable.

• Capture customer information. Get customer contact information when they place an order, letting you communicate about backorders and promote future offers. Backorders also let you highlight popular items and show demand.

• Reduce storage space. Selling on back order reduces storage requirements, which cuts overhead for small businesses. Keep this cost reduction as profit or pass it on to customers through lower prices. If your prices are lower, customers will usually accept longer wait times.

However, you must overcome several challenges to keep backorders from damaging the business.

Challenges

• Lost sales. Some customers won’t want to wait several weeks for their product to arrive. You’ll need an enticing offer like free shipping or a discounted price to stop consumers from shopping around. Selling unique or niche products will also make it harder for customers to find a like-for-like alternative.

• Customer cancellations. Customers may cancel their order if shipping takes too long or they lose faith that it will arrive. Regular emails keep customers abreast of the situation and increase anticipation.

• Customer service. Backorders often generate WISMO (where is my order) queries. Combat this issue by being upfront about delivery times and increasing the number of customer service reps that handle these requests.

• Payment processing. While you can take payment in advance, most retailers process it before delivery. You’ll need a way to verify payment details in advance and take payment automatically when shipping.

This table summarizes the benefits and challenges of backorders:

The better you handle backorders, the easier it will be to overcome these challenges and reap the benefits.

How to handle backorders successfully

Backorders are a robust inventory management strategy that improves cash flow and reduces overhead costs. Manage them successfully to avoid disappointing customers.

Excellent communication is critical, as is having optimal back-office processes. Make backorders better for your business and customers with these four best practices:

1. Suggest related products. Avoid backorders altogether by encouraging customers to purchase related products. It’s a win-win: they get products on time, and you don’t have to worry about backorder fulfillment.

2. Be honest and upfront. Tell customers products aren’t in stock and include a realistic shipping time when they order. Shoppers should find this information on the product page, not the checkout screen or in a post-purchase email.

3. Send emails once products are in stock. Update customers on their order progress and communicate unexpected delays or backlogs. Create an automated email funnel to reduce administrative work.

4. Use cross-docking to ship products faster. The cross-docking warehouse management strategy sends products to shipping as soon as they arrive at receiving.

The more backorders you fulfill, the better your process will become. For example, you can use previous experience to estimate shipping times more accurately and refine automated email campaigns using customer interaction data.

Successfully fulfilling backorders will delight customers. However, it’s best not to jeopardize the benefits of backorders by letting them pile up. Reduce them as much as possible.

How to reduce backorders

Reducing backorders increases customer satisfaction and improves inventory management. It also guarantees more sales of your best-selling products since they’ll likely sell out.

Determine whether backorder rates are high by measuring them as a percentage of all your orders. Use this formula:

Reduce your rate by implementing these best practices:

Get real-time inventory data

Real-time inventory data lets you track stock levels and be proactive about replenishment. The less time it takes for your reports to reflect inventory changes, the more time you have to avoid a backorder.

Use dedicated inventory management software to monitor your warehouse or centralize all your e-commerce data in a retail CRM like Pipedrive. The Pipedrive Marketplace lets you connect your CRM with third-party platforms like Shopify, NetSuite and Cloudify Unleashed while gathering data and automating processes.

For example, you can send automated notifications when sales of a specific product reach a target amount or inventory levels dip below a predefined metric.

Implement this workflow across your entire product range or focus on your most popular products by creating automated weekly reports tracking online sales and inventory levels.

Forecast demand and keep an eye on stock levels

When you can predict future sales, it’s much easier to order enough products to avoid backorders. They also let you set better safety stock limits.

Run a sales forecast or use a tool to analyze historical data, seasonal trends and customer insights. This process helps you predict future demand instantly.

Use an accurate forecast method and up-to-date lead time data to set accurate reorder points. A reorder point is the minimum quantity of products you have on hand before reordering. High demand and extended supply chain lead times necessitate higher reorder points. Conversely, lower stock levels will suffice if you expect demand to remain stable.

Identify what’s causing backorders

Rather than accepting backorders as part of running an e-commerce business, discover what’s causing them and resolve issues for good.

An e-commerce CRM with insights and reporting functionality makes these reasons easy to spot by centralizing and visualizing sales, inventory and supply chain data.

For example, if sales figures surpass your forecast, the reason is unanticipated demand. Use technology to make your sales forecasts more accurate or increase your stock buffer to get a wider margin of error.

Increase stock capacity

Backorders reduce a company’s warehouse overheads, allowing it to invest those saved costs in other parts of the business.

However, if you want to capture more sales or reduce the stress backorders place on customer support teams, it might be time to expand your stock capacity with more warehouse space.

Although it may increase your overheads, you can offset the cost with increased orders, higher average order values and fewer cancellations.

Additional space lets you maintain a large safety stock buffer for items prone to backorders. If you don’t want to rent warehouse space for the entire year, consider working with a third-party logistics company that stocks products on your behalf and scales according to your needs.

Work with multiple suppliers

A supply chain issue doesn’t have to cause a backorder when you work with multiple suppliers. If one manufacturer can’t get ahold of raw materials but another can, it’s easy to order from the latter since you don’t have a single point of failure.

When it comes to supplier relations, aim for quality and quantity. Regular communication and on-time payments create a partnership that overcomes issues and disruptions.

Final thoughts

Backorders make the best of a bad situation. While an out-of-stock warning sends shoppers scurrying to competitors, selling on backorder lets you capture demand and improve cash flow.

Fulfilling backorders as quickly as possible improves the customer experience. Delight them even more by never having an out-of-stock product again. An e-commerce CRM like Pipedrive improves inventory control and sales forecasts to reduce backorders. Try it free for 14 days.

It’s time to make a mark in your new role, job or department, but where do you begin? Writing a 30-60-90 day manager’s plan can help you hit the ground running while increasing structure and accountability in a new leadership role.

In this article, you’ll learn why 30-60-90 day manager’s plans are essential and how to write one. You’ll also see an example you can use to accelerate the process and get tips on making your plan even more effective using a CRM.

What is a 30-60-90 day manager’s plan?

A 30-60-90 day manager’s plan outlines your three-month goals, how you’ll accomplish them and ways to measure your success.

Each 30-day window has a specific focus. For example, managers might spend the first 30 days learning about their new organization, the company culture and internal processes. They spend the next 30 days implementing a change project and the final 30 days analyzing their success and making plans for the future.

Managers create these plans for several reasons:

• Interviewing for a new role. Prospective employers may require you to write a 30-60-90 day plan. Alternatively, you can write one to impress interviewers with your initiative and dedication.

• Starting a new job. A plan helps new hires navigate their first few months and impress stakeholders with their ability to take action.

• Moving to a new department. This plan is ideal for handling periods of change or when you need to get up to speed quickly.

• Seeking to improve skills. These plans don’t have to coincide with a career change. Start whenever you want to improve your output or demonstrate your capabilities to management.

Most managers write their own plans, but sometimes, a business owner or hiring manager creates them for new employees.

Benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan for managers

A 30-60-90 day plan gives new managers focus, encourages building relationships and shows their employer what they can do.

The specific benefits of a 90-day plan include:

Determining the scope of work

A 30-60-90 day plan reduces pressure when starting a new role. It lets you act with purpose rather than fretting about your job responsibilities and requirements.

It supports self-management and adds much-needed structure to your first days in charge. It doesn’t overwhelm you either since you’re only planning crucial tasks and not scheduling every second of your day.

Setting employee expectations

A 90-day leadership plan creates a productive and proactive work environment for your direct reports.

While a change in leadership can be destabilizing and nerve-racking for employees, a 30-60-90 day plan eliminates ambiguity in the short term while helping employees understand your goals and management style.

Teams are more likely to excel during managerial transitions if they see a driven, well-organized and thoughtful leader taking over. Prove you have these qualities with a 30-60-90 day plan. As a result, you can sustain or even increase productivity levels during the transition.

Making a great impression and building trust

A detailed and goal-orientated plan demonstrates to stakeholders and employees that you’re the right person to lead the team. If your employer didn’t ask for a plan, your initiative will assure them they made the right choice. If they did, it’s your first opportunity to prove you can deliver.

Build camaraderie with employees by meeting with them and asking for feedback during your first 30 days. It will show you’re interested in improving their existing processes rather than forcing through a regime change.

Defining goals and measuring progress

Finally, a 90-day plan gives you a yardstick to measure your success in a new role. It forces you to set goals and track your progress using milestones.

It also lays the foundation for continuous improvement. Measure your progress in the first three months and identify opportunities to improve.

What does a 30-60-90 day plan include?

30-60-90 day plans are most effective when you tailor them to your specific goals. Still, there is a standard structure to follow when creating one:

• Company’s mission, values and objectives. An overall aim keeps your efforts on track. Define what you want to achieve, then justify it by explaining how it will help your company’s goals.

• Days 1-30. Treat your first month as a research and education period. Learn as much as possible about your new company or team through meetings, feedback requests and performance reviews.

• Days 31-60. Take action in the second month. Check off some easy wins using your findings from the first 30 days and start to get feedback from direct reports.

• Days 61-90. Continue to take action in the third month, but analyze your results, too. How have the changes you’ve made affected the company? Is your team performing at a higher level? Use the answers to plan the following 90 days.

• Goals and objectives. Assign specific performance goals to each stage. They can depend on one another (requiring you to check off your first goal to move on) or be independent and unrelated.

• Resources. Index the resources you’ll need through your 90-day plan, including company training materials and employee handbooks.

30-60-90 day plan examples for managers

This 30-60-90 day plan template is for a manager starting a role with a new company. It will be more impactful if you tailor it to your goals. For example, it makes sense to shorten a plan you write for an interview since you won’t have access to all the necessary information.

View your 30-60-90 day plan as flexible rather than set in stone. Unforeseen events always happen, but they don’t have to derail you. Revise your approach if necessary, adjust your goals and review your new plan with stakeholders on your team.

How to write a 30-60-90 day plan

It’s vital to strike the right balance between detail and brevity when writing a 30-60-90 day plan. It needs to be clear, actionable and easy to follow. However, it must also include enough information to satisfy your bosses and direct reports. Follow the steps below to ensure that’s the case.

1. Define your employer’s expectations

Start by outlining what your new employer or manager expects of you and how you can fulfill those expectations. It will set the tone for your plan and keep overarching objectives in mind as you write the details.

Some expectations will be obvious. They’re written in the job description and referenced during the interview. However, more nuanced expectations can be more difficult to gauge, so it’s essential to have genuine conversations with your new bosses and other stakeholders.

2. Interview team members and stakeholders

A 30-60-90 day plan works best when it’s collaborative between the manager, stakeholders and direct reports.

Arrange a series of one-on-one meetings before writing your plan and ask these questions:

• What do you think is the most important thing to achieve?

• What are your goals for the next three, six or 12 months?

• Where can we improve?

• What did the previous manager do well?

• What could the previous manager have done differently?

Meeting as many people as possible will also help you foster the strong relationships you need to succeed.

3. Set measurable goals to track your success

Pre-defined and realistic goals give you something to aim for and a way to evaluate your plan’s success. It’s sometimes easy, especially if you’re hired for a specific purpose, like growing a new sales territory. In any case, make sure your goals align with the expectations in step one.

Set SMART goals as part of your action plan to check off at the end of every 30 days. SMART goals are:

• Specific. Have a clear goal with a definitive path to achieving it

• Measurable. Ensure you can measure your progress

• Attainable. Avoid making it too challenging

• Relevant. Ensure it matters to your team and business objectives

• Time-bound. Provide a timeframe to complete every step

Take your team’s goals into account, too. While achieving your personal goals is important, you’ll win more respect and loyalty if you help everyone achieve their goals simultaneously.

4. Describe how you’ll reach each goal

You have your objectives. Now, it’s time to work backward to outline how you’ll complete them. This section will form the bulk of your 90-day plan, so make sure it’s specific and actionable.

For example, if your goal is to optimize one process by day 45, you’ll need to complete these tasks:

You’ll have a list of tasks for each 30-day segment and feel better about meeting your goals.

5. Identify resources

Before rolling up your sleeves and diving in, collect all the resources you’ll need over the next 90 days, including:

Also, send out meeting requests to team members. Scheduling these one-on-ones now will ensure you learn about your team, its prospects and processes early in your first 30-day sprint.

How to use a CRM to build a successful 30-60-90 day plan

Technology will help you create and execute a 30-60-90 plan for managers in sales, marketing or another customer-facing department. Here’s how a customer relationship management (CRM) solution can make the process easier.

Review resources to understand the company, clients and processes

CRMs hold a lot of company and customer data, making them a great place to educate yourself about your new employer.

Review information about your existing customers alongside internal documents like ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and buyer personas. You’ll learn what your target customer looks like and how they move through the customer journey.

Next, analyze current team performance. Within the first 30 days, create activity reports to determine the effectiveness of existing processes, identify top performers and understand how your direct reports currently measure their performance.

This process will help you implement changes in your second 30-day period. You may spot a problem you can rectify immediately. For example, if deals get stuck at a particular pipeline stage, you can use sales training to give team members the skills to keep deals moving.

Manage and track your plan with a project management tool

Rather than relying on paper or spreadsheets, use project management software to map out your plan. It will centralize your efforts in a cloud-based platform that you, your boss and your direct reports can access.

Projects by Pipedrive is a CRM-based project management solution that lets you:

The drag-and-drop dashboard makes it easy to create your plan during the first 30-day sprint. You can also redesign your plan quickly if you need to pivot due to an unforeseen incident.

Track performance with customized reports and dashboards

Ongoing evaluation and feedback are core parts of a successful 30-60-90 day plan for new managers.

Use a CRM with sales reporting and dashboard functionality to track you and your team’s performance throughout the 90-day plan.

If you’ve set customer or sales-related goals or KPIs, CRM reporting will monitor those performance indicators in real time. You’ll get the feedback you need to evaluate your progress every 30 days.

Pipedrive gives you complete control over the look and content of reports, so you can customize it to show the metrics that matter. Use dashboards to report your progress to stakeholders.

Centralize data from multiple sources

Merge data into one tool to overcome information overload. A CRM that integrates with third-party applications like Microsoft Teams, Slack and QuickBooks centralizes the data you need to create and execute your plan.

It makes a single source of truth that you, your team and your managers can reference. There’s no flicking between applications or siloed data because you have everything you need.

Automate manual work processes

With so much on your plate at the start of a new job, automating repetitive tasks lets you see the big picture.

Workflow automation can eliminate many of your day-to-day tasks like:

It also means you don’t have to manually handle tasks or processes. For example, a sales manager can set up deal flows to automatically change deal status in their pipeline.

Final thoughts

A 30-60-90 day manager’s plan is your roadmap as you move into a new role. It encourages you to take action, build trust and make a great impression.

Using a CRM to learn about your new company, manage your workload and track your performance will make your plan more manageable to create and execute. Register for a free 14-day Pipedrive trial to improve your 30-60-90 day plan today.

Strategic planning helps organizations set goals, identify new opportunities and prepare for the future. It can add significant value and contribute to tangible positive sales outcomes.

In this article, you’ll learn what strategic planning is and how it benefits a sales function. You’ll also discover how to approach the strategic planning process successfully.

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is when business leaders set organizational goals, develop the company’s long-term vision and map its direction.

Strategic planning is fundamental to strategic management, the discipline of building and executing plans to achieve business goals.

The strategic planning process isn’t about identifying short-term “wins” for a business. Instead, it’s about establishing long-term objectives and defining metrics for success.

Strategic planning requires multiple senior stakeholders to engage in high-level decision-making. They must collaborate to align on business priorities and ensure all stakeholders contribute to and support the strategy.

What are the benefits of strategic planning in sales?

Strategic planning aligns companies on vital sales issues, like how to allocate company resources and which opportunities to pursue.

It also establishes which organizational goals sales will support in the coming months or years.

Strategic planning produces a robust organizational action plan, which sales leaders develop into a sales plan with their teams.

The sales plan is a roadmap that sales reps use daily to ensure they tackle the most important sales opportunity and pursue the organization’s goals to boost sales.

What is the strategic planning process?

The strategic planning process is the series of steps leaders follow during strategy development.

Key stakeholders involved in the process include the company’s senior leadership team and leaders from each business function, including sales.

A robust process helps ensure discussions result in tangible outcomes. Let’s take a look at the basic steps of effective strategic planning.

The steps of the strategic planning process

There is no single right way to approach the strategic planning process. However, the following steps offer a good general process foundation:

1. Analyze the business

Most organizations begin their strategic planning process by assessing the business environment. This assessment reveals core strengths, areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.

When analyzing the business, consider both the internal and external environment. You should also consider both positive and negative factors.

2. Establish the company’s vision and mission

A company’s strategic plan must align with its vision and mission statements to be effective.

Although the phrases are sometimes used synonymously, “mission” and “vision” are two distinct concepts:

Vision and mission statements are simple sentences of intentions that companies can share with staff and the wider public.

For example, General Motors’ mission is “A world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion”.

The company’s mission statement explains how it will achieve its vision.

Your company may already have mission and vision statements you can update as part of the strategic planning process.

In companies new to strategic planning, leadership may need to craft statements during its first strategic planning initiative.

3. Identify long-term goals and success metrics

Once you’ve articulated the company’s vision and mission, identify long-term goals that align with them.

Set objectives for each business unit that will support your mission. Then, define metrics for success for each goal.

4. Create the company’s strategic plan

The strategic plan is the output of all the work in the earlier stages of the strategic planning process.

This document outlines your company’s desired outcomes, articulating how it will use its resources and define success. Strategic planners will refer to the strategic plan throughout implementation to keep efforts focused on priorities and track progress.

There’s no specific strategy formulation or strategic plan format to use. However, you generally want to include the following information:

• The company’s mission and vision statements

• The company’s objectives for the period ahead (e.g., the next quarter, year, etc.)

• Success metrics for those objectives

• A broad plan of action or approach for ensuring success

Strategic planning tools and frameworks

There are tools and frameworks to support the steps in strategic planning and implementation. Let’s look at some of the most popular strategic frameworks along with a strategic plan sample scenario for each step.

Assess the business environment with a SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is a type of competitive matrix, a tool that helps companies identify their competitive advantage. It also helps organizations understand how they measure up against competitors.

Conducting a SWOT analysis involves reviewing the business against two internal factors and two external factors, as follows.

• Strengths (internal factor): What does the company do well? Consider product features or brand recognition.

• Weaknesses (internal factor): Where does it fall short? Consider customer sentiment, poor infrastructure or an outdated offering.

• Opportunities (external factor): What external factors can the company leverage for business growth? Think about emerging technologies or new markets.

• Threats (external factor): What issues in the external environment could impact business? Think about economic conditions or disruptive technologies.

These four factors are often visualized in the quadrant format shown below.

Strategic plan example: SWOT analysis in action

To complete a SWOT analysis, assess your company in each quadrant. List your findings under each heading.

Here’s an example of a completed SWOT analysis for a tech startup:

Conducting a SWOT analysis helps strategic planners better understand the positive and negative factors that could shape the company’s strategic direction.

Define long-term objectives and success metrics with OKRs

OKR stands for “objectives and key results”. It’s a goal-setting framework many companies use as part of the strategic planning process.

The OKR methodology involves articulating objectives and the goals that will determine success:

• The objective is what the company wants to achieve. It’s expressed in an engaging but concise way to ensure that teams find it motivating and memorable.

• Key results express how the company will measure success against each objective. They include metrics for tracking progress.

Strategic plan example: OKRs in action

Say the tech startup in our previous example determines that it needs to address its weakness in audience understanding. The company might craft the following OKR for customer education:

Traditionally, companies use the OKR methodology in quarterly planning cycles.

Set goals and track progress with the balanced scorecard methodology

In the balanced scorecard (BSC) methodology, strategic planners consider the company’s mission and vision through four critical perspectives:

1. Financial performance

2. Customer satisfaction

3. Internal processes

4. Learning/growth

They then identify goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each area of focus.

Strategic plan example: balanced scorecard in action

Here’s how this might play out in our tech startup example:

The BSC methodology helps companies avoid the pitfall of setting goals and success metrics for only one business area.

Once the strategic plan is in place, sales leaders and other strategic planners can use the balanced scorecard to track progress against each relevant area.

Communicate the plan with a strategy map

Strategy mapping is an essential element of the BSC methodology. It visualizes the relationship between your strategic objectives on a balanced scorecard.

It places each objective within one of the four perspectives of the scorecard and shows how they’re connected.

Strategic plan example: strategy map in action

Here’s how our tech startup might list the following objectives in a strategy map:

A strategy map helps everyone in an organization understand the company strategy.

Using a CRM for strategic planning and implementation in sales

A successful strategic planning process requires up-to-date sales and customer data. A sales-focused CRM like Pipedrive can be a highly effective planning tool. The software enables sales leaders to quickly collect, analyze and interpret this data.

Accurate numbers help stakeholders decide which objectives to pursue and how to measure success.

The data can also help sales leaders and their teams operate effectively as they implement the strategy.

Here’s how a CRM can support strategic planning and implementation.

Using a CRM to support strategic planning

Accurate and up-to-date sales data is vital for assessing the business environment, setting objectives and crafting a strategic plan.

Sales reporting and dashboard functionality help you gauge your progress. Many CRMs provide additional insights into how your team and company are currently performing.

Interactive dashboards like those in Pipedrive (shown below) display convenient charts and graphs to help strategic planners visualize KPIs for sales.

CRM reporting can also help sales leaders monitor important performance indicators. These include the number of leads the team has created, archived and converted into deals over time.

Conversion reports in your CRM can reveal valuable insights into your leads-to-deals conversion rate. These reports show how well your sales and marketing efforts reach your audience.

Using a CRM to support strategic implementation

Your CRM can help you monitor your sales team’s progress against the benchmarks during strategy execution.

Pipedrive provides a visual representation of each pipeline stage (shown below). This pipeline management functionality gives you more control over your sales tasks and activities.

Many CRMs allow you to visualize your sales funnel. This view helps you identify weak points in the process and swiftly intervene when reps need support.

Sales pipeline management features can also reveal valuable insights into your customer journey and sales process.

Meanwhile, sales forecasting features provide a clear picture of business costs and revenue, making day-to-day cash flow management more straightforward.

These features help sales teams work toward strategic goals by revealing which activities and deals to focus on. They also help sales leaders anticipate what’s ahead so they can make better decisions.

Final thoughts

The strategic planning process allows business owners and company leaders to prepare for the future in a structured and intentional way.

CRM automation speeds up workflows and automates time-consuming tasks, freeing up time for critical forward-looking activities like strategic planning.

Pipedrive’s sales-focused CRM offers businesses quick and easy access to customer data and other metrics to ensure a successful strategic planning process. Sign up for a free 14-day trial to try Pipedrive and start streamlining your strategic planning efforts today.

Business development is a strategic engine that drives organizational growth. It combines careful planning with effective tactics to boost sales and expand market reach.

In this article, you’ll learn about business development, its roles and how to drive growth with a comprehensive business development plan.

What is business development?

Business development (or biz dev) is creating long-term value by pursuing growth opportunities through new markets and relationships. It encompasses sales, marketing, project management, product management and partnerships.

How business development representatives drive biz dev

Business development representatives (BDRs) ensure an organization can grow sustainably and maintain a competitive edge. They pursue opportunities that:

• Strengthen existing customer relationships and acquire new business

• Expand into new markets or industries

• Innovate and improve product offerings

• Create alliances or partnerships that enhance competitiveness

With such wide-ranging goals, a BDR’s day-to-day work includes research, prospecting, partnership management and sales data analysis.

Business development vs sales

While business development seems like sales management, the business development manager’s job scope and focus are broader.

Consider a software company wanting to expand its market reach. The business development team might identify healthcare as a promising industry and take these steps:

• Conduct market research to understand industry needs and compliance requirements

• Develop a strategic partnership with a healthcare consulting firm to streamline market entry

• Collaborate with product development and tailor software to healthcare standards

• Negotiate collaboration terms with industry influencers

Once these elements are in place, the sales team sells the software to hospitals and clinics. Salespeople close deals and meet sales targets, while business development managers set the stage for new revenue streams.

Business development roles

There are six overarching business development roles:

1. Market research and analysis

Business development teams research market trends, competitors and customer preferences to identify opportunities and guide strategic decisions.

2. Strategic planning

Business development executives formulate strategies to expand into new markets or enhance existing operations. They create strategic roadmaps to guide the company’s business development and growth trajectory.

3. Lead generation and qualification

Biz dev representatives are vital in identifying and attracting potential customers to drive sales growth. They generate qualified leads that the sales team can convert into customers.

4. Relationship building

Business development professionals focus on establishing and nurturing relationships with partners, vendors and stakeholders. The goal is to build collaborative business opportunities and encourage resource sharing.

5. Deal structuring

BDRs negotiate terms for business deals, joint ventures or partnerships in deal structuring. This process creates mutually beneficial long-term collaborations.

6. Project management

BDRs oversee business development initiatives using project management techniques. They coordinate resources, timelines and stakeholders to ensure projects are on time and within budget.

How to create a successful business development plan

A business development plan is a strategic document that outlines goals for growth, partnerships and market opportunities while providing a roadmap for achieving those objectives.

An effective business plan includes a thorough analysis of the market, achievable goals and a step-by-step approach for building partnerships. It lists specific actions, timelines and metrics to measure progress.

Here’s how to create a new business development plan.

1. Set clear objectives

Precise goal-setting lays the foundation for business development activities. It organizes and aligns efforts with tangible business goals. It also helps you prioritize activities and measure success accurately.

Use SMART criteria to set clear objectives. Make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Rather than saying “boost sales”, aim to increase sales by 10% over the next year.

Collaborate with other departments, including sales, marketing and product development, to set realistic and comprehensive goals.

Here are two examples of helpful business development goals:

• Establish strategic partnerships. Develop partnerships with three complementary companies within the next six months to expand market reach, enhance product offerings and access new customer segments

• Expand market presence. Enter two new geographic markets by the end of the year, tailoring product offerings to meet local demands while setting up initial sales and support operations

2. Conduct market research

Once you’ve defined the scope and objectives of your business development plan, it’s time to gather data. Look for anything that will support your plan or provide valuable insights. For instance:

• Customer demographics, needs, preferences and pain points

• Current solutions and customer satisfaction levels

• Market size and growth potential

• Industry trends and dynamics

• Top competitors with their strengths and weaknesses

• Potential market entry barriers and compliance requirements

• Partnership and collaboration opportunities

Conduct market research through industry reports, competitors and customer feedback related to your goals, target markets or products. Tools like Google Trends and social media analytics can assess market dynamics, while customer surveys gauge preferences and pain points. Compile and organize everything you find so it’s easy to analyze in later stages.

3. Identify target opportunities

Begin analyzing your data to pinpoint areas for expansion, innovation and collaboration. Here’s how to spot those opportunities:

• Analyze market gaps. Look for unmet needs or underserved segments. Consider areas where existing solutions fall short and how your business can fill those gaps.

• Explore market trends. Monitor industry developments and new technologies. These trends signal shifts in customer behavior that you can exploit.

• Assess new markets. Expand your reach into new markets by checking economic conditions, cultural fit and the competitive landscape.

• Spot opportunities for expansion. Review your current product offerings to see if there’s room to improve or innovate.

• Identify strategic partnerships. Examine potential collaborations with businesses that can enhance your offerings, extend your reach or provide unique market entry points.

• Evaluate sales channels. Identify new or underutilized sales channels that could help you reach more customers.

Prioritize opportunities based on your objectives, potential return on investment (ROI) and feasibility. We’ll revisit these opportunities soon and develop strategies to capitalize on them.

4. Analyze your competition

Start your competitor analysis by listing primary competitors or companies with similar offerings that target the same segments. Collect data from various sources, including websites, marketing materials, reviews and financial reports.

Analyze branding, messaging and unique selling propositions (USPs) to determine how they position themselves in the market. Then, try to understand who they are and how they meet customer needs.

Next, compare their offerings with yours. Look at quality, pricing, features and customer service. What makes their products appealing? What might they lack? Compare key performance indicators (KPIs) like market share, customer growth and financial performance.

Finally, conduct a SWOT analysis that identifies strengths to leverage and threats to avoid:

5. Develop strategies to leverage insights

Use your market research and competitor analysis to craft strategies that help your business reach its goals. Here are some targeted actions to help you address specific areas:

• Capitalize on market gaps. If your assessment identifies unmet customer needs, propose solutions or offerings to address these gaps.

• Enhance your presence in existing markets. If your market presence could be more prominent, tailor marketing strategies to segments with higher potential. Use customer engagement initiatives to boost brand loyalty.

• Improve your products. If customers express dissatisfaction with specific features, start a redesign to enhance user-friendliness. Compare features with competitors to ensure competitive advantage and add innovative enhancements.

• Diversify your offerings. If you rely on one product line, develop new products to complement current offerings. Test the acceptance of new products in target markets before a full-scale product launch.

• Use new marketing and sales channels. If existing channels aren’t reaching your target audience, use new channels. For example, if you cater to a younger demographic, you might benefit from a strong presence on TikTok.

• Reevaluate your pricing strategy. If customers aren’t happy with your pricing, analyze your value proposition and set prices accordingly. Adjust prices to remain competitive through temporary discounts, promotional deals or loyalty pricing.

• Streamline operations to improve efficiency. If you find inefficiencies, identify the problem and apply leaner practices. For example, if order processing times are bottlenecks, upgrade outdated systems to automate routine tasks.

• Boost customer service. If customer service is weak, provide additional training to your support staff. You could also introduce chatbots for 24/7 service or hire and train new staff to support live chat.

Later, we’ll explain specific business development tactics BDRs use to generate leads and drive sales.

6. Plan partnerships and alliances

Once you’ve gathered market information and identified partnership opportunities, plan how to pursue those partnerships. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

7. Establish a timeline and allocate resources

After you’ve developed a comprehensive plan, create a trackable timeline and allocate resources to accomplish your plan.

First, break the plan down into specific phases or milestones. For instance, completing a market entry strategy, forming partnership agreements or launching a product.

Assign a timeframe to each milestone. Factor in potential obstacles and be realistic to ensure your timelines are achievable. Address all dependencies, like completing regulatory compliance before launching a product.

Finally, identify your needs for each phase, including financial, human and technological resources. Create a detailed budget that assigns funds and human resources to each milestone.

8. Choose measurable metrics and monitor implementation

Set measurable metrics and create a system for monitoring progress. Here are some important metrics to track:

Choose metrics that will help you track success for each objective. For instance, if you want to enter a new market, you might track market share, revenue, customer acquisition rate and CPA. These metrics will give you a well-rounded overview of what’s working and what isn’t, helping you stay agile.

Here are some tips for monitoring progress:

• Use monitoring tools. Employ dashboards and analytics tools (e.g., Pipedrive or Google Analytics) to track real-time metrics. These platforms give you a visual representation of performance, helping you interpret data.

• Hold regular check-ins. Review metrics with stakeholders. Check-ins keep everyone updated so you can discuss progress and adapt quickly to changes.

• Analyze patterns. Look for trends in your metrics and understand what they mean. For example, a declining conversion rate might signal a need to adjust sales tactics.

• Adjust your strategies as needed. Refine your strategy based on insights from your metrics. Flexibility is a necessity, so experiment with different approaches and double down on strategies that work.

• Document your results. Keep detailed records of what’s working, why metrics are improving or why you’re not reaching goals. Comprehensive records will help with future planning and continuous improvement.

6 business development outreach tactics that drive sales

Business development tactics focus on generating quick results by engaging potential customers and expanding market reach. They complement your business development plan by boosting sales and brand awareness immediately.

Here are six proven BDR sales strategies:

1. Networking

Engage in industry events to build relationships with potential clients and partners. Networking expands your circle of influence and uncovers new opportunities through personal connections.

2. Referrals

Encourage satisfied customers to refer new clients through incentives. This tactic leverages existing customer relationships to tap into new markets and build credibility through word-of-mouth recommendations.

3. Sponsorships

Partner with events or organizations to boost brand visibility. Sponsorships associate the brand with valued causes or interests, enhancing reputation and attracting aligned audiences.

4. Advertising

Use channels like digital ads and social media (LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram) to reach broader audiences. Well-targeted campaigns increase brand awareness and drive inbound inquiries.

5. Outbound calls

Reach out to potential clients directly to inform them about offerings. Outbound cold calls personalize the sales approach while providing opportunities for immediate feedback and conversion.

6. Thought leadership

Share expert insights and content through blogs, webinars or speaking engagements. Thought leadership establishes your company as an authority, builds trust and attracts customers seeking expertise.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re new to biz dev or seeking to sharpen your business development skills, excelling in this field offers growth opportunities.

The more you engage with your industry, the better you position yourself for success and drive business growth through innovative business development strategies.

Streamline your lead management and sales processes further with Pipedrive’s powerful CRM system. Start a free trial today to explore its powerful features and data-driven insights.

A customer portal changes how clients work with you. It gives them direct access to what they need when they need it. They can check their projects, download files, see their bills and find answers – all in one place.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to choose a portal that fits your business needs and enhances your client experience. You’ll have access to a list of top customer portal software solutions, discover what features you need and learn how to use the software effectively with your CRM.

What is customer portal software?

Customer portal software is a platform that centralizes all customer interactions in one place. It lets customers log in to check on deliverables, view documents or seek help. They can handle these tasks independently at any time.

Portals create a self-service centralized hub for client interactions. Some allow customers to work on ongoing projects alongside you, while others handle account management or support tickets.

A customer portal may give your customers access to:

• Active projects and their status

• Contracts or signed documents

• Billing history

• Knowledge base information

• Customer support

• Account information

• Other resources

Traditional customer service tools focus on managing support tickets or answering emails. Customers submit requests and wait for responses, creating a cycle of back-and-forth messages. They aren’t ideal for handling routine tasks like checking account information or project updates.

A customer portal, on the other hand, is customer-centric. Instead of waiting for email responses about invoices or project updates, clients handle these tasks independently. Portal software empowers them to act independently while giving them access to support teams when needed.

7 features to look for in customer portal software

Your portal should handle your customers’ specific needs, whether they want project updates, account information or product support. Desired portal features will vary depending on your needs, but here are seven essential features to look for:

1. A self-service knowledge base provides quick, searchable answers to common questions. You can create guides, FAQs and help articles that customers can refer to anytime. A knowledge base saves time for your customers (who can find what they need) and your team (who can focus on more complex issues).

2. Account management capabilities enable your customers to update their own account information. They can change their contact details, set preferences and view payment history. With this feature, customers don’t need your team’s involvement for simple changes or management.

3. Document sharing and management let you share contracts, project files or reports securely in one place. Your customers won’t have to search through email chains for important documents. Instead, your team uploads files once, and customers can find them whenever needed.

4. Customer communication tools make it easy for customers to contact you when they need help. A built-in messaging feature keeps communication in one place, so your team has the full context of the conversation. Customers can also receive notifications about project updates or changes.

5. Analytics and reporting let you track how customers move through different sections of your portal. Analytics can help you understand which help articles your customers visit the most and where they get stuck. Also, you can check how often they log in to your portal for engagement.

6. A ticket management system helps keep your support team organized. You can track requests by giving them their own numbers and message threads. A ticket management system avoids lost requests and keeps the details you need to solve an issue.

7. Integration capabilities allow you to connect your portal with your existing business tools. You can share data with your email system, customer relationship management (CRM) platform or billing software.

The features in this list help transform customer service, shifting it from reactive (a support-ticket model) to proactive (self-service).

7 best customer portal software solutions

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of the best client portal software. We selected them based on portal features and business needs.

Trello is a user-friendly software with lists, boards and cards that you can use for any project. It allows you to see the big picture across projects and automates routine tasks to save time.

The basic system works for daily tasks. While there’s no built-in knowledge base, Trello can integrate with other tools to offer this feature.

Key features:

• Multi-level project views to help teams organize and track their work from different angles

• Automated workflow rules for task management and automatic trigger actions

• Customizable templates that give teams ready-to-use projects and workflows

• Power-up plugins that extend functionality with other tools

Who it’s best for: Trello works best for small service businesses and freelancers. Agencies, consultants and project-based businesses value its visual approach to client collaboration.

What we like about Trello:

• A simple drag-and-drop interface requires minimal training

• Visual boards make project status clear at a glance

• The flexible system adapts to different client management styles

• The free tier offers essential features for small teams

Pricing: Starts with a free plan for up to 10 collaborators per workspace.

With Notion, you can create custom workspaces to manage all your customer relationships in one place. The platform lets you build client portals with documents, project updates and team discussions. It allows you to create pages and databases to keep everything connected and in one place.

Key features:

• Page customization to help teams build workspaces and knowledge bases

• Database tools to create a custom knowledge base

• Real-time collaboration for editing and commenting on shared pages

• Customizable templates to streamline workflows and standardize team processes

• Integration options to connect with your business tools

Who it’s best for: Notion is a good fit for knowledge-based businesses such as creative agencies, consultants and digital service providers. It’s best for teams that value organized documentation and transparent client communication.

What we like about Notion:

• The highly customizable system adapts to unique client needs

• A rich text editor makes documentation creation intuitive

• Links between pages create organized information networks

• Regular updates introduce new features and improvements

Pricing: Starts with a free plan with limited features.

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk helps you transform scattered customer support into organized conversations. You can manage all support requests in one place, and your customers can easily access help resources and their support history.

Lower plans don’t offer all customizable features, but the core features are enough for small teams that are just getting started.

Key features:

• Self-service knowledge base articles that help users find answers through search

• Centralized ticketing system using multiple communication channels to consolidate customer support requests

• A customer portal with secure access that offers complete support history and files

• Automated workflow rules to handle routine support tasks without manual intervention

• Analytics dashboard that measures customer satisfaction and support performance

Who it’s best for: Freshdesk serves growing SMBs managing customer support for 20–500 clients daily. The platform helps companies transition from email-based support to a structured help desk system without requiring extensive technical expertise. It offers features that scale as support teams expand from small groups to full departments.

What we like about Freshdesk:

• Smart automation reduces manual support tasks

• Multi-channel support consolidation simplifies workflow

• Comprehensive self-service options decrease support volume

Pricing: Starts with a free plan for up to two agents.

4. Clientjoy

Clientjoy allows you to manage both client relationships and sales opportunities. It helps you create proposals, onboard new clients and organize your communications in one central place.

The analytic tools provide core insights that are helpful for small teams. However, mid-size businesses seeking deeper analysis may need to add more reporting tools.

Key features:

• Centralized client workspace for all customer documents, messages and information

• E-signature tools for proposals and contract approvals from customers

• Invoice management to help clients track and process payments

• Client communication options like direct messaging and email templates

Who it’s best for: Clientjoy helps freelancers and small agencies focused on client acquisition. Project-based businesses benefit from its sales-oriented approach and client management capabilities.

What we like about Clientjoy:

• Sales tools enhance client acquisition efforts

• The proposal features speed up client onboarding

• A clear interface makes navigation intuitive

• Affordable pricing suits small businesses

Pricing: Starts at $44/month per member billed annually.

OneHub is a client portal solution that helps you share files with clients. It uses bank-level encryption and a white-label feature for a personalized portal experience. It also has role-based permissions to control who has access to your documents.

The software uses data rooms to let participants in your workspace see content anonymously. It also has corporate repositories that let you share documents with competitors or bidders.

Key features:

• Document sharing that enables customers to find and download files on their own

• Role-based permissions to control what each customer can access and modify

• Mobile app portal access that lets customers manage their account from any device

• Built-in collaboration tools to keep all customer communication in one place

• White-label options to create a customizable client portal

Who it’s best for: OneHub suits service-based businesses managing 10–50 clients. It also works well for organizations handling sensitive data or documents (e.g., legal practices, financial advisors and consulting).

What we like about OneHub:

• Bank-level security protects client information

• A simple interface reduces client training needs

• Role-based permissions control document access

Pricing: Starts at $12.50/month per user billed annually.

6. Clinked

Clinked is a secure client portal where you can manage all your client interactions. It keeps your team and clients aligned with collaboration and project management tools.

Some teams report finding a steep learning curve in the beginning. However, they also comment on the support team’s quick responses and helpfulness.

Key features:

• Document management with version control and secure file-sharing capabilities

• Role-based access controls and permission settings for secure client access

• Wiki-style knowledge base creation and management tools

• Task tracking and project management functionalities

• Real-time collaboration tools for team and client communication

Who it’s best for: Clinked works for mid-sized businesses and professional service firms. It’s well-suited for firms that need secure document sharing and collaboration, making it a good fit for consulting, financial and professional services.

What we like about Clinked:

• Document management with version control ensures accuracy

• E-signature functionality streamlines approvals

• Robust security features protect sensitive information

• Project management capabilities keep stakeholders updated

Pricing: Starts at $95/month billed annually.

7. Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint helps you build secure B2B customer portals that connect with your Microsoft tools. You can organize client documents and team communications while maintaining enterprise-grade security.

SharePoint is ideal for businesses that already use Microsoft 365. However, you may need IT experts on your team to customize the system during setup.

Key features:

• Document management system for file sharing and version control

• Customizable client workspaces with personalized access to resources and updates

• Knowledge base functionality with searchable help articles and support documentation

• Built-in analytics to track customer engagement and document interaction patterns

• Microsoft integration to connect with existing business tools and apps

Who it’s best for: SharePoint works for SMBs that need robust security and compliance features. Organizations already using Microsoft 365 can easily integrate Microsoft Sharepoint into their existing workflows.

What we like about Microsoft Sharepoint:

• Enterprise-grade security to protect client data

• Customization options that adapt to specific needs

• Extensive integration possibilities expand functionality

Pricing: Starts at $5/month per user, billed annually.

Why your business needs customer portal software

Client portal software has several benefits beyond reducing your support team’s workload.

For instance, a customer portal sets you apart by showing that your company values customer convenience. According to Statista, 88% of customers expect a brand or organization to provide a self-service support portal.

Here are some other benefits of using a customer portal software:

• Saves time. A portal enables both project teams and support staff to respond to client needs faster. Rather than trading emails about updates or issues, clients access information directly. Document360 states that 30% of customers prefer live chats to reduce wait times.

• Empowers customer self-service. Customers prefer to try to solve their issues themselves. In fact, 84% try to solve issues independently before contacting your support team. Letting users access customer portals to update their information, sign contracts or check documents can also improve customer retention and satisfaction.

• Centralizes information. Without a portal, businesses rely on scattered emails to share updates about projects or new terms of use. A customer portal creates a single source of truth. Research from Gartner shows that 62% of millennials would rather search unofficial knowledge bases or community forums than contact customer service.

• Reduced support costs. A customer portal that allows customers to perform routine tasks themselves reduces support requests. It can prevent new support tickets or unnecessary communication, translating into saved labor costs.

• 24/7 access to information. Research by CM.com shows that more than 60% of customers expect 24/7 customer service availability. A customer portal works around the clock, giving customers access to what they need when needed.

Younger, tech-savvy customer segments expect a digital self-service option as a standard. They want the same convenience in business interactions as in their personal lives. Whether that be managing projects, accessing documents or seeking help.

How to choose the right customer portal software

The right customer portal does more than solve your current challenges. It helps your business grow. Your choice of software will affect how well you can serve customers over time.

Here are three key aspects you’ll need to consider to get a customer portal.

1. Match your business model

A customer portal should align with how your business operates and serves your customers.

Think about the customer journey and the touchpoints from first purchase to ongoing interactions. Your customer portal should mirror those touchpoints.

For example:

Map out your customer service processes and find where a portal could address customer pain points. For instance, if your support team constantly answers the same questions, consider a customer portal with a knowledge base for frequently asked questions.

2. Consider real implementation needs

Whether a customer portal works for you depends on your ability to implement and maintain it. To understand your implementation needs, look at:

For example, technical requirements include your team’s technical knowledge and ability. If your employees aren’t technically savvy, prioritize a solution with intuitive interfaces and vendor support.

3. Plan for future growth

When choosing a customer portal software, think beyond your current needs to ensure that your solution doesn’t become obsolete as your business evolves.

Look for solutions that offer flexible scaling options (e.g., adding users, increasing storage, adding advanced features, etc.). A portal that works perfectly for 100 customers might not meet the demands of 1,000.

Here are some questions to ask when planning for growth:

• How many customers do you expect to service in the next 2–3 years?

• What additional features you might need as you expand?

• How flexible is the pricing structure as you scale?

• What advanced features are available in higher-tier plans?

• Can the portal handle increased data storage?

Powering up your customer portal with Pipedrive

Pipedrive integrates with several customer portal tools and business software. It acts as a bridge between external customer activities and internal sales and support team activities.

Pipedrive tracks all customer interactions, deals and relationship history.

Here’s how connecting it with your customer portal can benefit you:

• Centralizes customer data. When you close a deal in Pipedrive, the integration automatically creates a new client profile in your customer portal. The transition from sales prospect to client means you can send invoices, get e-signatures and manage ongoing client interactions.

• Aligns sales and support teams. Sales and support teams work from the same facts, and integrating systems means they don’t have to switch between systems to find information. For instance, when a new support ticket comes in, your team can see all customer information, including the number of activities, contact information and deals open.

• Streamlines contact history tracking. In one view, you can see every piece of customer communication, including emails, calls, meetings and notes. Your team can pick up conversations right where they left off, making customers feel heard and valued.

• Improves the customer journey. You can connect to business tools like Power BI to better understand your customers. You can also visualize your data with interactive dashboards. This data helps you track your pipeline performance and find patterns in customer behavior so you can spot ways to help them before they ask.

When Pipedrive and your customer portal collaborate, you get a full view of your customer relationships. Your team has all the information it needs to provide faster, more personal service to your customers.

Final thoughts

Choosing customer portal software isn’t a decision you should take lightly. The right software depends on your company’s needs, required features and budget.

You should also look for something that works with your existing tech stack. To ensure the best customer experience, connect your portal to Pipedrive CRM. Sign up for a free trial today and discover how our powerful integration capabilities can help you deliver the seamless, self-service experience your customers demand.

Securing funding can be challenging for new entrepreneurs. Bank loans often require collateral or proof of revenue that many startups lack, while venture capital is competitive and can demand significant control over a company.

Crowdfunding offers a viable alternative to traditional financing. It enables business owners to raise money from a large audience and build a community of loyal supporters.

This article will answer the question: “What is crowdfunding?” You’ll learn about the different fundraising models and discover top crowdfunding platforms for funding your business. Finally, you’ll get five tips for creating an effective campaign.

What is crowdfunding?

Some business owners use crowdfunding to secure capital for a startup, while others aim to launch new products or expand their existing services. Crowdfunding is also popular with creators looking to fund their art and individuals raising money for personal or social causes.

Traditional financing methods, such as bank loans, grants or venture capital, don’t work for every business. In these cases, business owners may turn to crowdfunding, meaning they take a community approach.

Anyone interested in your venture can contribute money to support it. In return, backers often receive a return on investment.

For example, kid-safe tool design startup ChompShop used crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to fund its ChompSaw power tool.

Backers were offered rewards like VIP discounts and product bundles in return for supporting the campaign.

Combining an in-demand product, an informative campaign page and community building via email marketing and social media led to success. These factors helped ChompShop reach its $50,000 goal in 23 minutes. By close, the company had raised $1,175,102 from over 5,000 backers.

Crowdfunding platforms and effective marketing have made crowdfunding a popular way for startups to bring ideas to life.

More than 270,000 projects have been successfully funded on Kickstarter alone. Statista research predicts crowdfunding transactions will reach $1.27 billion by 2028.

Before we look at the different crowdfunding approaches, let’s explore some of the benefits that a large group of backers offers beyond raising capital.

The benefits of crowdfunding your business idea

While traditional financial backing provides the funds to achieve your goal, crowdfunding’s strength is in community building. Engaging your network helps you earn loyal supporters who can champion your idea, shape your project and empower long-term success.

Beyond monetary support, here are some of the benefits of crowdfunding your venture:

• Validating your idea. Crowdfunding helps you gauge market interest. A successful campaign can also demonstrate proof of concept to future stakeholders and investors, helping you secure funding that might previously have been unavailable.

• Generating brand awareness. Crowdfunding platforms put your brand and project in front of audiences who may not have found you otherwise. Successful campaigns can also attract attention from media outlets, helping you generate publicity, build recognition and create word-of-mouth buzz that increases your reach.

• Building an audience. Backers become your earliest supporters and brand advocates who help spread your message. Engaging them with campaign updates and rewards helps you build a loyal following and a ready-made customer base come launch time.

• Gathering feedback. Publicly sharing your idea lets you collect feedback to iron out issues before launch. For example, backers might share ideas for improvements or additional features to help you go to market with a more complete solution.

3 popular types of crowdfunding

The right crowdfunding model depends on your project and the return on investment (if any) you want to offer backers.

Here are the three main types of crowdfunding and their best use cases.

1. Donation-based crowdfunding

Donation-based crowdfunding uses social good as a return on investment. It’s a funding model commonly used by nonprofits and social enterprises, allowing backers to donate money because they believe in the cause.

For example, Mulatto Meadows used crowdfunding to give underprivileged and marginalized communities access to horses.

Each donation went toward program costs, operations, fees and upkeep.

Donation-based crowdfunding means you don’t have to worry about rewarding, repaying or giving away shares to backers.

However, without a product or service to sell, campaigns rely solely on the project’s emotional appeal. Therefore, this model is best for charitable, community and social causes.

2. Reward-based crowdfunding

Reward-based crowdfunding involves backers contributing to your goal in exchange for a reward. It’s a popular model for creative startup companies and new product launches.

For example, to crowdfund its 3-in-1 camping system, Space Acacia offered supporters early access to different versions of its product. The higher the pledge, the more feature-heavy the product:

With the right incentives, reward crowdfunding is an effective way for entrepreneurs to assess market interest and engage backers. It also acts as a pre-sale to build an early customer base before a full launch.

3. Equity-based crowdfunding

Equity-based crowdfunding involves giving backers shares in your company. It’s an effective model for startups with high-growth potential, allowing them to raise a large amount of capital.

Attracting equity investors also enables you to build long-term relationships to grow your business.

Investors are committed to your company’s success. They offer expertise and connections to help you improve your offering and reach new markets.

However, giving up equity can mean sharing control with investors and increasing your commitment to stakeholders through reporting and financial returns. It’s important to choose investors who fit your brand’s purpose and mission.

Here’s a summary of the most common crowdfunding models and their best use cases:

7 crowdfunding platforms for your fundraising campaign

Crowdfunding platforms help you raise awareness, receive money and engage your community.

While features and user bases differ, most sites work the same: you submit your new project with a fundraising target and deadline, then campaign for support.

In exchange for hosting your campaign, the crowdfunding site charges you fees. Depending on the site, these might be platform, payment processing or transaction fees.

We’ve included fees in the list below so you can consider them when choosing the best platform for your goals and budget.

1. Kickstarter

Kickstarter is one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms around. Since 2009, the site has helped startups raise over $8.5 billion in pledges.

Kickstarter is a reward-based platform, so it’s best suited to products or services.

In exchange for their pledge, backers are protected by an all-or-nothing guarantee. Meet a goal, and users will receive their funds. Fall short, and backers keep their money.

Successful Kickstarter campaigns often focus on innovative or creative projects. The more novel the project or service, the better the chances of grabbing the attention of reporters and early adopters.

Fees: 5% platform fee and transaction fees of 3% plus $0.30 per pledge for successful projects. Pledges under $10 have a micro-pledge fee of 5% plus $0.08 per pledge.

2. Indiegogo

Like Kickstarter, Indiegogo is a rewards-based crowdfunding site geared toward entrepreneurs and creators. However, it also welcomes nonprofit organizations, allowing you to raise money for charitable causes.

A key benefit of Indiegogo is the ability to choose between flexible or fixed-funding goals. With flexible funding, users keep their money even if they don’t hit 100% of their goal – meaning startups have funds to work on their idea, so long as they fulfill perks.

Indiegogo’s InDemand feature also lets users continue raising money after a fundraising campaign ends. It’s an effective way to build momentum and use crowdfunding to increase production or improve products.

Fees: 5% fee on all funds raised and a transaction fee of 3% plus $0.20.

3. Fundable

Fundable is a crowdfunding website aimed at startups and small businesses.

The platform lets users raise funds in exchange for rewards or equity in two ways:

• Self-Managed. Use Fundable’s platform to run a crowdfunding project and collect pledges.

• Guided Fundraise. The Fundable team creates a pitch deck, researches potential angel investors and venture capitalists and helps users manage fundraising through email outreach and presentation coaching.

If you lack an existing network or the resources to market your idea, Guided Fundraise can introduce your business to willing investors, maximizing your chance of reaching your goal.

Fees: From $179 per month to fundraise.

4. StartEngine

StartEngine is an equity-based crowdfunding website for high-growth startups.

The platform offers two paths:

• Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). Best for new startups that want to raise up to $5 million a year and launch quickly with low upfront costs.

• Regulation A+ (Reg A+). Best for large businesses that want to raise up to $75 million with a registered broker.

Users get access to StartEngine’s community of 1.8 million investors, investment data and a dedicated team to help set up and manage campaigns.

StartEngine has the tools to help secure multi-million dollar investments for businesses with growth potential and significant funds to invest in campaigning.

Fees: 5%-13% commission on closing

5. CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet is a real-estate crowdfunding platform that lets businesses fund construction or commercial property projects.

CrowdStreet’s process is fully managed. If its investment team determines your project is a good fit for its marketplace, you get access to a network of accredited investors to raise passive capital.

Users also receive support from CrowdStreet’s marketing team to help create a webpage and digital marketing plan that reaches target investors.

Additionally, post-investment support helps facilitate communication between users and investors for the duration of the deal.

Fees: Structure varies depending on the deal. Crowdstreet levies a management fee on funds, plus additional fees for servicing, acquisition, marketing and performance.

6. GoFundMe

GoFundMe is a donation-based crowdfunding website for individuals, community initiatives and charitable projects.

GoFundMe is a popular crowdfunding site for personal fundraising because of its simplicity. From memorial tributes to medical emergencies and overcoming financial difficulties, the platform’s tools make it easy to campaign for yourself or others.

However, the platform isn’t built for commercial projects. If you’re launching a new business or product, another platform in this list is likely a better choice.

Fees: 2.9% transaction fee, plus $.030 on payments.

7. Patreon

Patreon is a crowdfunding platform for digital creators such as podcasters, musicians, writers and artists.

Unlike other crowdfunding websites, Patreon is subscription-based, allowing you to generate recurring revenue for your project.

Its tools let you create paid membership plans, giving fans exclusive perks.

For example, a podcaster might create bonus episodes or behind-the-scenes content for Patreon subscribers.

Creators can upload videos, create forums, publish newsletters or host livestreams for members.

By providing gated content, users can incentivize membership and reward fans for their support while raising funds to manage your project. At the same time, they can build an engaged community that helps grow their brand.

Fees: 5%, 8% or 12% of your income, depending on the plan, plus processing fees that vary depending on the payment method (e.g., PayPal, Mastercard or American Express).

Choosing a crowdfunding website

Your project and crowdfunding model choice will help steer you toward the right platform for your goals.

Before committing, evaluate each option to ensure it has what you need to run a successful campaign.

Here are some questions to ask when choosing a crowdfunding website:

• Does the platform attract the right type of backers to support my project?

• Does it have positive reviews and a good track record of successful campaigns?

• Are the fees affordable?

• Does it have tools for campaign creation (e.g., page templates)?

• Can I track campaign performance and referral sources?

• Does it integrate with social media and email marketing platforms for sharing?

• What level of customer support is available?

• Does it include self-support resources (e.g., user guides and a community forum)?

The solution that matches your objectives, resources and audience will give you the best chance of reaching your fundraising target.

5 tips for effective crowdfunding

The right crowdfunding website provides the platform to promote your crowdfunding. However, the key to success is to connect with and engage the right people.

Here are five tips to help you sell your project and hit your funding target.

1. Set a clear, achievable goal

Start by setting a clear goal for your crowdfunding campaign. There are two important questions to answer here:

A goal that addresses both questions will show potential donors (and, in some cases, platforms) you have a realistic plan.

It also ensures you ask for the right amount of money. Asking for too much might prove daunting for backers while asking for too little can leave you with less than you need to fulfill promises.

When estimating your costs, include all project expenses. For example:

Accurate costs will help you set a clear fundraising target to bring your project to life.

Keep your target achievable by focusing on the amount you need for a minimal-viable product (MVP). You can raise additional funds for enhancements through stretch goals (unofficial goals beyond your project target).

For example, say you need $20,000 to create your final complete product with additional colors, styles and accessories. However, you only need $10,000 to launch the basic version. Setting your campaign goal for $10,000 gives you a realistic objective to aim for.

2. Build awareness before launch

Most of the work for your crowdfunding campaigns happens pre-launch. According to Indiegogo, campaigns that reach 30% of their goal in the first two days are more likely to exceed their crowdfunding goal.

Rallying fans before launch day allows you to build momentum early and create social proof, giving potential backers confidence that your idea is on track for success.

Find early supporters by tapping into your network. Think about potential backers as separate groups.

Keeping groups separate early on helps you tailor your messaging strategy to personalize outreach.

For example, an email sales pitch to a friend might focus on your personal relationship. However, an overly familiar approach might not work with a stranger who wants to know how your project improves their lives.

Create an email list for each group and develop a plan to contact them before launch. Here’s how your pre-launch sequence might look:

Email marketing software like Campaigns by Pipedrive can help you segment your list so each group receives the right message.

It also lets you build segments by engagement. For example, you can group people by how often they open your emails and click your links. Over time, this can help you build a list of top supporters who can help spread your crowdfunding campaign.

3. Craft a compelling campaign story

Facts and figures are essential for showing potential investors you have a viable product, but storytelling is what brings your project to life.

As the old saying goes, facts tell, but stories sell.

Creating a pitch that connects with backers on a human level communicates value, triggers emotion and inspires action.

Develop a story about your brand and project that answers the why and how of your fundraiser.

Take Unistellar’s Fundable pitch for its consumer telescope:

Unistellar makes potential backers care about its product by highlighting flaws in the competition: “Optical telescopes are not powerful enough to observe the many objects of the sky, such as galaxies, nebulae, and comets.” “They are also very complicated to set up, install and use.”

They also turn features into benefits, helping readers see how the product can fit into their lives: “The integrated hardware and image processing software allows users to enjoy 200 times more targets without being an expert.”

Research how successful crowdfunding campaigns use storytelling to grab attention as inspiration for your own narrative.

Focus on creating a story that is:

• Relevant to your audience’s pain points and emotional triggers

• Unique to your business or product

• Clear and honest (don’t be afraid to talk about challenges and mistakes)

Combine compelling copy with eye-catching images and video to make your story shareable. A story worth retelling will help spread your message and reach audiences beyond your network.

4. Create meaningful incentives

If you want people to back your crowdfunding campaign, it helps to give them something of value in return.

Perks and rewards give potential funders a tangible reason to contribute. Additionally, they’re an effective way to engage and attract an audience.

For example, HappyWorks rewarded customers for backing its crowdfunding campaign early by offering its Thermometer at tiered early bird prices.

Making a limited number available incentivized backers to act quickly to avoid missing out on a big discount.

Keep rewards relevant to your project. For example, a podcaster might offer exclusive bonus or extended episodes. Alternatively, a startup might invite a small number of backers to its launch party.

Consider co-creating perks with your pre-launch supporters. For instance, animal sanctuary Edgar’s Mission ran a workshop with supporters before its crowdfunding campaign.

The workshop helped the non-profit design rewards to appeal to a wide range of donors, including special recognition for small donors and paddocks named after high-tier backers.

Offering perks at different levels (e.g., $10 to $100) makes your project accessible to more people, allowing you to make steady progress toward your goal.

5. Keep your audience engaged at every stage

A well-managed backer experience is crucial to maintaining momentum and reaching new audiences. Backers are your biggest advocates, so it’s crucial to keep them engaged.

Regular updates on progress, milestones and challenges (as well as swift answers to questions) keep fans invested. You can also share updates on social media and encourage backers to spread the word with their networks to grow your audience.

As with your pre-launch build, email is one of the most effective ways to keep people in the loop.

As your audience grows, consider using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to streamline engagement.

A tool like Pipedrive’s CRM stores all your contact data in one place and lets you split customers into groups (e.g., backers and potential backers) to effectively target your marketing.

By tracking their activity across your campaign, you can send relevant content at every stage.

Pipedrive’s automated email tools simplify this task, allowing you to send emails automatically whenever you reach a significant milestone.

You can also set up notifications to alert you to specific events (e.g., receiving a large donation or inquiry) so you can respond personally and build relationships with your audience.

Maintain contact with backers even after your crowdfunding campaign ends. Sharing updates on product development and your business journey will help you build a loyal customer base to support your next project.

Final thoughts

Crowdfunding is an effective way to start or grow your business. With a strong campaign, you can raise the funds you need to get your idea off the ground and establish an engaged community to empower future success.

Use Pipedrive’s powerful tools to personalize marketing and manage relationships during your crowdfunding campaign and beyond. Try it today with a 14-day free trial.

Why does your business exist? Crafting a clear, meaningful answer to this question challenges even experienced business owners.

In this article, you’ll see real mission statement examples from companies like yours. You’ll also learn a step-by-step process for creating an effective mission statement and discover practical ways to implement it.

What is a mission statement?

A mission statement is a concise statement that explains your business’s purpose and objectives, usually in just one or two sentences.

Your mission statement is your company’s North Star, whether it appears on your website, in your business plan or on your office wall. The short text is a guiding principle that helps your teams stay focused on what you do and why you do it.

Big companies like Nike, Ikea or Amazon often have broad, aspirational mission statements because their scale and resources allow it. Take Starbucks’s mission: “To be the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world, inspiring and nurturing the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time”.

While inspiring, this statement isn’t practical for smaller businesses or startups. It lacks the specificity and practical focus to guide your team.

The best mission statements often combine these elements:

1. Your core purpose. What specific pain points you address, or what value you create.

2. Your approach. How you deliver that value differently from competitors.

3. Your impact. Who benefits, and why it matters to them.

For example, an IT services provider’s mission might be “To help small businesses grow through reliable technology support and straightforward solutions”. This statement works because it defines the company’s purpose (enabling business growth), approach (reliable, straightforward service) and impact (helping small businesses succeed) in concrete terms.

Why every small business needs a great mission statement

A mission statement isn’t just a business document. It’s a practical tool that can strengthen internal operations and brand positioning.

Whether you’re a nonprofit addressing social challenges, a healthcare provider focused on improving patient outcomes or a small IT business offering reliable technology support, the right mission statement delivers tangible value.

Here are some of the main benefits of a great mission statement:

It aligns your team around shared goals and core values

The best mission statements help teams understand how their roles contribute to the business’s success.

For example, when customer service staff know the mission emphasizes “straightforward solutions”, they feel empowered to explain complex issues in simple terms.

Say your sales team understands you’re focused on “helping businesses grow”. They’ll spend more time understanding prospects’ long-term goals rather than pushing quick deals.

This shared understanding transforms daily work from task completion to purpose-driven action.

It makes decision-making clearer and more consistent

Entrepreneurs face constant choices about resources, opportunities and priorities. The best mission statements help you evaluate options quickly and consistently.

For example, the IT company’s mission statement emphasizes “reliable technology support”. This clarity might lead it to prioritize hiring an experienced technician over investing in automated support tools. Similarly, it can assess new service offerings by whether they align with “straightforward solutions” or add complexity for customers.

This clarity becomes especially valuable when you face unexpected challenges or opportunities. Your mission statement provides a stable framework for choosing the path that best serves your core purpose.

It helps attract ideal customers who share your brand values

Your company’s mission statement acts as a magnet for customers who value what you offer most. For example, the aforementioned IT company whose mission emphasizes “straightforward solutions” will attract business owners who want clear communication and practical guidance. Those who prioritize cutting-edge technology over simplicity might look elsewhere.

This natural filtering helps you focus on customers whose needs more closely align with your product. In the long term, this alignment can lead to greater customer satisfaction and lower customer churn.

It sets you apart from competitors

Your mission statement helps you stand out by highlighting what makes your business special. Instead of competing solely on price or features, you’re showing customers why your approach matters.

For instance, when our IT company emphasizes “reliable support”, prospects know that dependability matters more than having the latest technology.

This differentiation helps you build stronger relationships with customers who value your way of working. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, you attract customers who appreciate – and will pay for – your distinct approach.

3 mission statement examples from B2B businesses

When brainstorming your company’s mission statement, looking at how other businesses articulate their purpose can provide valuable inspiration.. These three B2B companies’ mission statement examples show different approaches to crafting statements that guide their teams and resonate with their ideal customer profile.

1. Pipedrive

Pipedrive’s mission is to “empower SMBs to unlock their business potential and scale with our easy-to-use, affordable and effective CRM”.

This statement addresses the three key elements of an effective mission:

• Purpose (empowering SMBs)

• Approach (easy-to-use, affordable, effective solutions)

• Impact (helping businesses unlock potential and scale)

Pipedrive’s mission statement focuses specifically on what matters to SMBs. It acknowledges their constraints (needing affordable, easy-to-use solutions) and their ambitions (wanting to scale and reach their potential).

You can take a similar approach to your mission statement by identifying what holds your target customers back. Build your mission around how you remove those obstacles while also supporting their growth goals.

2. TalentLMS

TalentLMS offers an intuitive online learning platform. It shares its parent company Epignosis’s mission statement: “to democratize learning by making premium eLearning technology accessible and affordable to any single company or organization worldwide”.

This great mission statement also addresses the three key elements we discussed:

• Purpose (democratize learning)

• Approach (making premium eLearning technology accessible and affordable)

• Impact (every company worldwide can reach their potential)

TalentLMS’s mission focuses on the business outcome of better learning opportunities. You can take this approach by identifying the core transformation your product or service creates. Instead of listing technical capabilities or features, focus on how you improve your customers’ work or lives.

3. Shopkeep

Shopkeep creates point-of-sale (POS) software for independent retailers. Shopkeep’s mission statement is “to empower independent business owners to dream big and fight smart”.

The three elements of a good mission statement are also present here:

• Purpose (empowering independent businesses)

• Approach (combining aspiration with practical solutions)

• Impact (helping business owners succeed on their own terms)

Shopkeep’s mission statement speaks to its customers’ entrepreneurial spirit and positions itself as an ally in the fight against big retail.

You can take a similar approach by identifying the deeper motivation driving your customers. Build your mission around supporting their ambitions while acknowledging their real challenges rather than just describing your product or service.

How to write a mission statement: a step-by-step template

Crafting a great mission statement requires a structured approach that goes beyond simple brainstorming. Follow this step-by-step template to turn your insights into a powerful, concrete statement.

1. Define your company’s purpose by focusing on customer impact

Pinning down why your business exists starts with your customers. Schedule a meeting that includes stakeholders and customer-facing staff. These team members witness your business impact firsthand and can provide valuable insights about why customers choose and stay with you.

Using a physical whiteboard or a digital whiteboard like Miro, answer two key questions:

Examine last quarter’s customer service reports, recent testimonials, sales call notes and project outcomes. As you review your insights, have team members add specific examples to the relevant sections of the board.

Remember our IT company example? Say they had a customer testimonial about how their service saved them “hours of troubleshooting”. This statement would go under “What specific problem do we solve?”

You don’t have to choose a single statement at this stage. Review the insights in these areas and identify the clearest, most recurring ideas. Then, use this framework to turn the ideas into concrete sentences:

Our IT company might draft several versions based on its findings, including:

• “We exist to [simplify technical problems] so that [small businesses] can [focus on running their business]”

• “We exist to [provide reliable IT support] so that [small businesses] can [grow with confidence]”

• “We exist to [remove technology barriers] so that [small businesses] can [scale]”

Review your draft purpose statements with your team. Choose the one that appears most consistently in your evidence, best captures the transformation you create and feels authentic to what your business does.

Say our IT company finds that its purpose statement about helping businesses grow through technology support is mentioned most often in customer feedback and team discussions.

2. Identify brand values that shape how you work

After identifying your business’s purpose, define how you achieve it.

During your team meeting, explore how your core values affect how you work:

• What standards do we never compromise on?

• How do we want customers to describe their experience with us?

• What makes our approach different from others?

Use this framework to turn your values into actionable brand value statements:

Use these insights to refine your purpose into a statement that captures what you do and how you do it.

In our IT company example, the team identifies that being straightforward and reliable is crucial to how they help businesses grow. These aren’t just nice-to-have qualities. They‘re fundamental to their approach. Customers consistently mention appreciation for the company’s clear communication and dependable support.

The company’s statement might evolve from “helping small businesses grow” to “helping small businesses grow through reliable technology support and straightforward solutions”.

Adding “reliable” and “straightforward” shows its values in action, not just as abstract concepts.

3. Tailor your mission to speak to customers and team members

Your mission statement must resonate with different groups while maintaining a clear focus. Review your team meeting notes and customer evidence to understand each audience’s perspective.

Complete this template for each of your core values:

For example, our IT company might map its values as follows:

• “Being straightforward means we explain complex issues simply, which helps customers understand their technology better”

• “Being reliable means we maintain consistent service standards, which helps customers focus on their business with confidence”

Does each value guide your team’s work and speak to customer needs?

Our IT company’s mission, “to help small businesses grow through reliable technology support and straightforward solutions”, works because it shows employees how to work (reliably, simply) and tells customers what to expect (growth, clear communication).

4. Draft, test and refine your mission statement with stakeholders

By now, you have all the pieces for your mission statement: your core purpose, key values and target audience. Getting these elements to flow together naturally might take a few attempts.

Try these different formats to see which best fits what your business does:

For example, our IT company might try several versions before finding the right flow.

It starts with “We help businesses with technology” – too vague. “We provide reliable IT support to small businesses” is better, but missing the impact. Finally, the company arrives at “To help small businesses grow through reliable technology support and straightforward solutions”.

Present your draft to your team and run through some real scenarios.

• When hiring: Would this help us identify the right cultural fit?

• For a new project: Does this help us decide if we should take it on?

• During sales demos: Can we explain how this guides our approach?

Refine your statement until it consistently guides these kinds of real-world decisions. Once your mission statement passes these tests, you’ll have a clear compass to direct your business, unite your team members and show customers what makes you different.

Common mission statement mistakes to avoid

Even with a clear process, it’s easy to fall into common mission statement traps. Here are the key pitfalls to watch out for and how to avoid them.

• Being too vague or generic. Statements like “to provide quality service” or “to be the best” say nothing about what makes your business special. Instead, be specific about your unique value proposition.

• Confusing mission with vision. Don’t mix up your mission statement (what you do now) with your vision statement (future aspirations). Your mission should focus on current values and approaches, not long-term dreams.

• Making it too long. If your mission statement takes more than 10 seconds to read, it’s too long. Complex, multi-sentence statements lose impact. They’re harder for teams to remember and act on.

• Copying larger competitors. The aspirational language that works for companies like Microsoft, LinkedIn or Tesla doesn’t work for startups or small businesses. Instead of “being the best X in America” or “the most customer-centric X on earth”, focus on the concrete value you provide your specific market.

• Not involving your team. Writing your mission statement alone means missing valuable insights from those interacting with customers daily. Your team’s input ensures the mission reflects reality and creates genuine buy-in from stakeholders.

• Failing to make it actionable. A mission statement should guide daily business decisions. If your team can’t use it to answer “Should we do X or Y?” it’s not specific enough to be useful.

How to put your mission statement into action

A mission statement can only reach its full potential if it actively shapes how your business operates. Here’s how to empower every person on your team to connect with your mission and bring it to life.

Bring your mission into daily operations

Regular team discussions keep your mission active and relevant. During meetings, highlight specific examples of team actions supporting your mission. For example, our IT company might recognize when support staff documented complex solutions simply. This acknowledgment reinforces their commitment to “straightforward solutions”.

When evaluating new tools, systems or partnerships, assess how they align with your core purpose. The IT company we’ve been using as an example might choose a simpler ticketing system over one with advanced features because it better supports their focus on reliable, accessible support.

Make your mission concrete for new employees by showing how it shapes their roles. Instead of just sharing the statement, provide examples of how it guides daily initiatives.

Connect your mission to customer touchpoints

Your mission should shape every stage of the customer journey, from first contact to ongoing support. Create a simple customer journey map and identify how your mission guides each interaction.

For our IT company, this means demonstrating “straightforward solutions” at every step.

• Initial contact: Clear, jargon-free explanations of services

• Sales process: Transparent pricing and honest assessments of client needs

• Project delivery: Regular updates in accessible language

• Ongoing support: Simple documentation and practical guidance

Your marketing materials should showcase real examples of your mission in action. Instead of claiming “reliable support”, share specific cases where your team solved problems efficiently. Use customer testimonials highlighting how your approach made a difference to their business.

Track your company’s mission statement impact with Pipedrive

Use Pipedrive to measure how your mission resonates with customers. Create custom fields tracking when prospects respond to specific elements of your mission during sales conversations or customer interactions.

Our IT company might set this up in Pipedrive by adding a custom field for “Key Value Mentioned” (e.g., reliable, straightforward, growth-focused).

The team can then create a deal label to mark deals where mission alignment influenced the decision.

This data helps refine strategic planning for your sales team. For example, if prospects consistently mention appreciating your “straightforward solutions”, emphasize this aspect in early sales conversations.

If certain mission elements rarely come up, consider whether they truly reflect your value to customers.

Final thoughts

Distilling a mission statement into a single sentence or short statement can be challenging, but it’s well worth the effort. A great mission statement guides strategic planning, aligns stakeholders and helps build a customer-centric culture.

When done right, your mission statement will become a practical tool that helps your business reach its full potential and stay focused on what matters most.

Use Pipedrive to track your mission statement’s business impact and refine your strategy based on real customer insights. Sign up today for your 14-day free trial.