Off the shelf database solution?

cakeadoodle

Hoping someone who knows about these things can give me a nudge in the right direction!

I run a small (but full time) home based business and I get enquiries and orders from a number of sources - through my Facebook page, texts and phone calls, emails etc. It's really hard to keep track, particularly on facebook where messages can't really be organised and orders get buried.

I've tried various spreadsheets etc. but it's just too much of a faff to keep up with separate spreadsheets for orders and enquiries, stock, customer mailing lists and my accounts.

I'm thinking the best thing is a database that I can just plug details into (e.g. customer details, order details, materials required etc.) and be able to see at a glance what orders I have on and what stock is required. But I don't really know how much I need to spend and how difficult it would be to set something like that up. I'm hoping to find something off the shelf and customisable that's fairly easy to set up to meet my basic needs. I'm IT literate but I don't have the time, or patience any more to spend hours and hours faffing about something complex to set up.

Does anyone have any suggestions about something that might fit the bill? I use a mac but I'm not adverse to using a PC if need be.

earthstorm

depending what sort of business you run to what sort of DB etc. you require. Have you thought of something like WHMCS (whmcs.com) as this can also be used for non hosting businesses and has full DB/invoices/stock control and order pages all in one.

FrugalFriend

I'd recommend LibreOffice, its a complete office suite, the database is called Base. Its very simple to use. Its also free software, so it won't cost you anything.

Ratboy

When I left school, I learnt to programme and use a database called dBase II, on the Amstrad 8512 via CP/M..

As you are willing to cross over platforms, this might be an excellent opportunity to learn how to the program, and understand how it works? With none of this namby pamby db's that are windows based, with their crash rates.

OK joke, but maybe consider it, you can learn to program it, and all Windows variants, have bugs and crash! And nothing available by Apple.

johnmc

cakeadoodle as others have said there are free office suites available and it sounds as if you all ready have a start with the spreadsheets.

If you have MS Access then it wouldn't be too difficult to move them over. However, it is both a steep learning curve and time consuming to develop.

Finding a ready developed database which will exactly match your business requirements will not be easy. Good luck.

Mr_Toad

Ratboy wrote: »

When I left school, I learnt to programme and use a database called dBase II, on the Amstrad 8512 via CP/M..

As you are willing to cross over platforms, this might be an excellent opportunity to learn how to the program, and understand how it works? With none of this namby pamby db's that are windows based, with their crash rates.

OK joke, but maybe consider it, you can learn to program it, and all Windows variants, have bugs and crash! And nothing available by Apple.

If you're a Mac user there's;

Bento - never used it so can't comment on its suitability but it's in the App Store

FileMaker Pro

iData

iList Data 3

Google is your friend. Although I'm a Mac user I'm an Oracle Database User and DBA.

I run Oracle Enterprise Linux as a virtual machine on my Mac because Oracle is what I know.

InsideInsurance

By the sounds of it you are not really asking for a database programme but instead a software solution for your issue?

I would have thought what you are looking for is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) which would be able to do everything that you listed other than stock control but that may well be an extension for some of them.

There are some that you run on your desktop and many that are using the SAAS model where you operate it via a third party website

[Deleted User]

How about an open-source CRM like this - http://zurmo.org/

WilliamO

I would of thought SAGE or one of the easier-to-use packages from PC World would of sufficed.

S0litaire

Ratboy wrote: »

When I left school, I learnt to programme and use a database called dBase II, on the Amstrad 8512 via CP/M...

I still have nightmares about trying to use dBase on my Amstrad 8512!! had one in my bedroom to do homework on when it first came out!

paddyrg

What you're actually describing is a CRM/ERP - forget talk of database products, you'll spend the rest of your life learning some pretty abstract data concepts and writing code, you don't want that.

I have used the demo version of ERPLY (ERPLY.com), an online ERP - worth a look, otherwise there are various free ERP packages.