Salesforce is the gold standard of CRMs. But for a small business, the question is, do you really need it right away? I think the answer is not so clear because Salesforce isn't cheap. Using spreadsheets or cheaper/free CRMs (Sugar CRM for example) are reasonable alternatives. However, if you believe your business is going to grow quickly, it still makes sense I think to pay for Salesforce. To save money, you can have your sales people share accounts in the beginning. Also, look around for discounts because Salesforce is always interested in bringing in new, growing companies.