My partner wants to use a free CRM system, how do we decide without risking data loss?

Open an account right now, add your first 10 clients, and hit export immediately. If it only gives you names and phone numbers without notes and pipeline stages, ditch it on the spot. That's your answer right there.

We got by on a free tier during our first year. Storage ran out once we reached roughly 350 contacts and 80 active proposal pipelines. Fortunately, because we could export all our data cleanly, migrating to a paid cloud setup took us just 2 business days.

I know founders who spend 5 hours a week fixing messed-up data formats just to save 400 SAR a month. A co-founder's time is worth way more than 400 SAR an hour. Don't waste your bandwidth wrestling with software.

My former partner and I used a free tool. In our second year, the vendor abruptly discontinued the free tier and announced they'd delete all data unless we paid a steep per-user fee within 30 days. We had to copy and paste our entire proposal history manually in a panic. It was brutal.

Look at these three technical capabilities when choosing: 1) Custom field limits, 2) Email sync retention period, 3) Whether notes and attachments are included in exports. If those three check out, the free plan is safe.

sounds like your partner has a point but that goes out the window if you can't export cleanly. set a rule to run a csv backup every friday so you're both covered.

every penny counts when you're just starting out so I get where your partner is coming from. btw but in enterprise logistics missing a single proposal detail can cost you a client, which is already worth 5 years of software licenses... balance it carefully.

Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for.

The answer above hits the nail on the head. If you're offering equity instead of salary, also state what you're offering in return.

The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. People defend habits not processes. Resistance comes from there.

When making a decision first look at what data you have on hand. That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

i'd appreciate it if you shared the outcome.

I've been dealing with this for a long time. Valuation methods for exits must be defined by formula; "market value" isn't enough.

Sorry, but this doesn't apply in every case. When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles.

If it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.

The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

I've been dealing with this for a long time. Everyone rushing into free CRM system gets stuck at the same point.

If IP assignment to the company isn't written from the start, it can't be collected later. btw proven by experience.

Let's separate the concepts, they're getting mixed up. Partnership isn't a decision to make without working together first.

If you're offering equity instead of salary, also state what you're offering in return. Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Absolutely. If I were to add anything: Mistakes made on the free CRM system side are usually reversible but expensive.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

We need to take it step by step. Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.

When listing, put proof that the product actually works at the very top. If you post the result here, it will help others too.