CRM Systems & Tech

CRMs? Tech? Nano… What the hell, man?

How does this even link to your last blog, dude?

Hi guys,

Back again with the chronicles of Nano’s adventures into being a business owner — and I will tell you how this links to the last post. When I started The Contractor’s Admin, the goal was to have five clients within three months.

Did it happen?

No.

So what did I do?

I’m one of those people who has to be doing something. Fully chilling or sitting at home doing nothing just isn’t in my nature. Month one came with zero clients. Conversations were going back and forth but leading nowhere — so how was I meant to fill my days at home?

Learning.

Not sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher — but preparing myself for when the business did take off. And here’s how. Another thing about me is that I love structure and organisation. Wherever you work in a 9–5, there are systems in place for day-to-day activities.

So the biggest question I found myself asking at my desk at 7am every morning was:

When I do get a client, where am I putting their information? How am I tracking invoices, outstanding payments, or how much I’m making per client?

I wanted a clean, organised, go-to system — something I could access quickly on my phone or laptop, while keeping personal and professional life separate.

I started by asking people what they used. Most said ClickUp.

So I played around with it for three weeks — learning every detail of the free version, setting up automations, the lot. With ChatGPT, YouTube, and coffee by my side, I was determined to build a CRM system that worked.

I was going to log in every morning, have tasks set for every day — uber productivity at its finest.

…NOPE.

The free version just wasn’t for me. I wanted to use free resources that still offered smooth functionality, easy updates, and mobile compatibility for when I didn’t want to carry my laptop everywhere.

After three weeks of tireless searching, modifying, editing, and even attempting to learn a bit of code, I decided to start fresh and simple.

I typed three words into Google: Free CRM.

HubSpot, ClickUp, Attio, Zapier — all came up. None of them felt right. They all had limitations, layouts that didn’t suit my needs, or just felt like a chore to learn. And honestly, after three weeks arguing with ClickUp, I wasn’t about to repeat that experience.

Then came my dream.

Notion.

One week in, I’d built multiple databases — client profiles, accounts, reminders, a social media planner, and even the blog articles I write.

I was hooked.

The thing about having a system in place before you get a client is that you can take it anywhere with you and not panic about where information goes. You feel on top of the simple stuff — and the rest starts to fall into place.

Is it nerdy?

Hell yeah.

But a free CRM that separates personal and professional life without using multiple apps? Come on. You don’t have to be a nerd to think, “Yeah… that actually sounds good.”

It brought the structure I needed. Because quite frankly, leaving a full-time role with a decent salary and having nothing in place but a dream was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

And when I did get a client, the one thing I needed to be on top of was admin… right?