By Ivan Serrano

As technology continues to grow and be used throughout society, small companies and solo entrepreneurs can benefit from the efficiency and organization that technology can provide. Typically run by a small group of people, small businesses must handle all their own marketing, filing, sales, and back office duties without the help of multiple teams. As their business begins to grow, client lists and important data begins to increase with it. This is where databases come in.

Databases are organized collections of data. Generally stored and accessed electronically through a computer system, they collect tables, reports, schemas, views, client data, and more. Relatively low in cost, databases allow quick access to information, allow for automation of menial tasks, increase verification, and speed up modern office duties. A data base is a great investment to have as your business begins to grow.

Here is how to create a client database for your small business.

Gather information

To begin, start gathering all the information you want to input into the spreadsheet. Make sure to not start inputting information into the document until all your information is ready. Tedious and sometimes time consuming, creating your document before all information is prepared can drag out the process and may result in an incomplete database.

Create headings

Creating headings for the clients and their specific information is equally as important as the client information itself. Start by choosing obvious headings that can have specific client data inserted underneath them. These can include company name, title, contact information, mailing addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. To create an even more useful heading for your database, include headers that identify the customer by specific codes. This can contain codes that denote dollar volume, business type, type of customer, and other relationship values. Clients categorized by codes can then be easily identified for special promotions, particular product sales, or event reminders based on their purchase history.

Enter your data

Now that all your client information is gathered and appropriately labeled with headers and codes, you can begin to enter your data into the spreadsheet. There are plenty of premade templates and programs online for you to use at little or no cost.

While inputting data can be viewed as an effortless task by some, inputting information correctly is critical in a database’s usefulness. One wrong letter or number has the potential to drastically decrease practicability and result in wrong data sets. For example, an incorrect letter in an email address affects the ability for a client to receive any information or contact from your company. If you input a code for a specific data set for a sales promotion and send it out to “A” instead of “B,” your company can potentially lose profits by addressing the wrong clients.

Run practice sorts

Once all your information has been entered and your client database has been created, you can begin to practice sorting all of the information. Start by highlighting all your information and finding the “Sort” button in the program you are using. You can sort by heading or row, depending on what information you are searching for, and the types of parameters the program you are using offers. For example, “Sort” your clients by the “Value” column and then select “Descending” or “Ascending” depending on which clients you want to view.

Whether you are a solopreneur or a small business, you can benefit from implementing a database into your everyday practices. Quick access to sortable information is not only valuable for steady growth, but also for increasing efficiency in your business practices.

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Ivan Serrano is a writer specializing in technology. He is from San Jose, California, and attended high school at Valley Christian High School (go Warriors!). He moved to San Francisco State University (go Gators!), and graduated with a double major in English (concentration in Creative Writing) and Journalism (with a concentration in photojournalism).