1) Teams: keep it to 2

For small companies, the best default is:

 One team 

(Which means you don't need to create teams)

When would you use 2 teams?

Only if you have a real boundary like:

• Two separate branches

• Residential vs Commercial divisions that shouldn’t see each other’s work

Even then, keep it to two teams max, or you'll risk over-segmenting.

2) Pipelines: use 2 (one Sales, one Execution)

A) Sales pipeline (Type = Sales)

This is for pursuits and must include:

• Won

• Lost

Example stages:
Lead → Qualified → Quote Sent → Follow-up → Negotiation → Won / Lost

B) Execution pipeline (Type = Other)

This is for delivery work and should not include Won/Lost.

Example stages:
Awarded → Procurement → Scheduled → In Progress → Closeout → Complete

Rule:
Sales activities live in Sales pipelines. Delivery lives in Other pipelines.

3) Roles: use 4–5 max 

Role 1: Admin (1–2 people)

• Can do everything (setup, fixes, user management)

Role 2: Sales

• Strong access to Projects/Contacts/Quotes

• Mostly “Team” scope

• Access to Sales pipeline

Role 3: Production (PM / Ops / Installer lead)

• Strong access to Work Orders / Schedule / Change Orders / Execution tools

• Mostly “Team” scope

• Access to Execution pipeline

Role 4: Accounting (optional)

• Strong access to Invoices / Bills / Expenses / Timesheets

• Access to Execution pipeline

• Usually limited edits elsewhere

Role 5: Read-only (optional)

• View only for owners/execs

4) Scope rules for small teams (easy defaults)

Use All or Team most of the time

Because everyone’s in one team, Team basically means “the company.”

Use Owned only when needed

Good for:

• Personal records that shouldn’t be shared

• Situations where one salesperson shouldn’t see another’s pipeline work (rare in very small orgs)

5) Recommended “small team” setup in one page

Teams

• 0-2 teams by location or division

Pipelines

• Estimating Pipeline (Sales type): includes Won/Lost

• Live Projects Pipeline (Other type): no Won/Lost

Roles

• Admin

• Sales

• Production/Ops

• Accounting (if needed)

• Read-only (if needed)