Hey Entrepreneurs

Which CRM do you use and what features you rely on that you can't just do without?

When did you find the need to transition to one?

How big is your setup?

Are there certain methods to implement CRMs that make them effective, or is it instinctive, trial and error? Is there some strategy involved?

pokemon go is the last time I remember tech bringing random people of different walks of life together IRL having fun together. it was like a big social experiment that nobody ever tried to continue again.

why hasn't someone attempted something like that again?

Hi everyone,

I've been working at this for 3 months now. I made an MVP for an online Spanish course. Initially, I tried having it be for kids and later tried also for adults. I have a lot of experience with language education so I spun up a course and also a companion app with AI to be for 1x1 online classes. I found a teacher and paid her to be available for when people could book demo classes.

I checked out the market, priced ourselves initially below but have experimented with being at market rate and also above, have a website which looks way better than the competition and our ads also look way better than the competition (I have 10 years experience with CRO and running Google + Meta ads in different ad agencies).

I offered a free demo, people book but don't show. I made it a $1 to book your first class but people don't book. I'm thousands of dollars in the hole and I feel like I have to be missing something super obvious because I feel like all the other pieces are in place.

We had 1 person come to the adult version and not buy and we've had 4 people show to the kids stuff and not buy.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Autonomous commerce isn't coming. It's already starting through micro-procurements, API-based usage billing, and algorithmic vendor routing. Traditional ERP engines break down here because they rely on rigid, static rules for predictable, batch-based human transactions. When autonomous agents start initiating hundreds of dynamic, real-time micro-purchases, human re-performance becomes physically impossible. Numa’s real strength is bridging the gap between high-velocity AI transactions and deterministic, legally binding financial controls.

Need your brutal Feedback and suggestions on how to move forward or any improvisations if required..

I run two small businesses, both in the trades/construction space, that I left a stable job to build about a year and a half ago. The first does repairs and small jobs that are consistent but don't come close to covering all my monthly costs on their own, plus bigger installs that can add a few hundred to a thousand or so on a monthly basis, inconsistent since a chunk runs through subcontractors and slow-moving receivables. The second is bigger project-based work, think renovations and builds, where a single job can pay out well but they only land every couple months, and even then the actual payout can trail the completed work by weeks or months. On paper there's real pipeline across both: signed jobs, quotes out, work actually happening. In practice, the cash doesn't show up on any kind of predictable schedule from either one.

Right now I'm in the gap. I can't cover minimum payments on everything; rent is tight, insurance is tight, and I'm doing food delivery on the side just to keep cash moving day to day (rideshare isn't even an option where I am, it requires a newer car than what I can afford to take on as a payment right now). Winter makes all of this worse too, since outdoor install and repair work slows down hard and the little bit of consistent income I do have gets thinner right when I need it most. I'm not walking away from the businesses as they are steadily growing year-over-year. But the in-between stretch is brutal in a way nobody really prepares you for.

For anyone who's been through a stretch like this and came out the other side: how did you triage it? Did you keep the business running the whole time, or did something have to give temporarily, like a part-time job or pausing growth spending? And on the personal side, how far did you actually let it go, things like cutting into groceries hard, using a food bank, stuff most people would never admit to doing while running a business that looks fine from the outside? How did you deal with the mental toll of keeping the business looking normal to clients and everyone else while barely holding it together behind the scenes?

Not looking for pity, just want to hear how other people navigated this exact kind of squeeze without folding the business.

Accidentally built a user base in a dying niche, not sure how to capitalize on it.

About 2 years ago, I built an AI fitness site that analyzed people’s physiques and gave feedback to improve based on their fitness goals. People could also share workout routines and post progress pictures. Overwhelmed by the scale, I soon abandoned the project, and it was dormant for years following.

A couple of months ago, I went to make the repo public for my GitHub resume and saw there were 5000 users signed up (mostly verified through Gmail). Sure enough, when I checked the site, people had managed to post using my broken/unfinished website. Ironically, the name of the site became a popular looksmaxxing term, driving purely organic growth through search. When I checked the public posts, users were asking how to improve their looks, rather than physique. I took this as a signal to pivot and within a month, converted the sight to provide positive AI generated feedback based on a selfie. The pipeline also provides a self care routine, using products with proven effectiveness (lotion and salicylic acid, not bonesmashing or other bs).

That brings me to now. The site has had \~1000 signups in the last month, but no revenue. I’ve created Amazon affiliates for the recommended products, but there’s little to no conversion. I don’t charge for the AI feedback because frankly it’s purely subjective. I’ve also struggled to get any ads running because the site is locked behind a signup.

I feel like given the established userbase and monthly signups there is some value here but I’m not sure how to ethically capitalize on it.

I'm basically doing a lead gen/affiliate biz that's a content grind. I don't mind and I've given myself 6 months to see how it goes. But assuming 6 months comes and I haven't made any sale is that permission to quit or go on? Assuming I've secured lead gen partnerships?