A small studio's operation fits in a spreadsheet until it stops fitting. The proposal in one file, the invoice in another, whatever was agreed with each client living in the memory of whoever took the call, and the next step of each deal nowhere at all. The cost does not show up at once: it shows up as a forgotten invoice, a follow-up that never went out, and a client question nobody can answer without digging.
The goal was not to have a CRM. It was to have one place where sales, delivery, finance and support look at the same data, under the same rules about who can see what, and where the day's work is already assembled before anyone asks what to do next.