What a multi-BU HubSpot setup project involves

Companies with several business units or brands often want one HubSpot portal instead of several. It keeps reporting and customer data in one place, but it takes careful setup so the units do not trip over each other. HubSpot sells a Brands add-on for this, formerly called Business Units; check HubSpot’s documentation for the current requirements.

This is the usual shape of the project. Use it to check whether a partner’s plan covers every stage.

1. Discovery

List the units and brands, the currencies and languages they use, and who owns customers that buy from more than one unit. This decides almost everything that follows.

2. Data model

Decide which objects and properties are shared and which belong to one unit. Shared customers need clear ownership rules.

3. Teams and permissions

Set up teams so each unit sees its own records, pipelines and reports, and decide who can see across units.

4. Brands, domains and content

Each brand needs its own email settings, domains, templates and subscription types, so customers only hear from the brand they signed up with.

5. Migration

Bring each unit’s data in without collisions: deduplicate across units first, then import in a planned order.

6. Training and reporting

Train admins in each unit and build reports that work per unit and across the group.

Questions to ask a partner

• How many brands or units have you set up in one portal?
• How did you handle customers shared between units?
• What would you set up differently next time?