Why Spreadsheets are Great for Running Your Business—Until They’re Not*

The Problem with Spreadsheets

When you’re starting out, spreadsheets are a lifesaver. They’re easy to use, flexible, and probably already installed on your computer. At first, they help you track everything from sales to client data and project tasks, and you feel like you’re on top of it all. But as your business grows, those trusty spreadsheets can start to hold you back. 

Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. We’ve been there, too.

For many small businesses, spreadsheets become critical for keeping things organized, but they can quickly become overwhelming. Managing larger data sets, sharing information with your team, and ensuring active collaboration gets harder. What was once a quick fix starts to slow you down.

Why Spreadsheets Seem Like the Perfect Tool—At First

Spreadsheets are so popular because they do a lot of things well. Here’s why they work great in the beginning:

• Easy to Customize: You can set up your spreadsheets exactly how you like them—color code cells, create formulas, and organize your information in a way that makes sense for your business.
• Flexible: Spreadsheets can handle a range of tasks. Whether you’re tracking sales, inventory, or client data, you can easily adapt them to your workflow.
• No Training Needed: Everyone knows how to use a spreadsheet, at least on a basic level. That means no expensive training sessions or steep learning curves.

For many business owners, spreadsheets are the first logical step when moving away from paper records. They give you what you need to get organized and keep things moving. But as your business grows, the limitations of spreadsheets start to show up.

When Spreadsheets Start to Hold You Back

If you’ve been running your business on spreadsheets for a while, you may have noticed some of these problems:

• Collaboration Issues: Sharing spreadsheets with your team can get messy, especially if you’re sending files back and forth or dealing with multiple versions. 
• Errors and Inaccuracies: Manual data entry increases the chances of mistakes. A simple typo or formula error can throw off your entire system.
• Limited Scalability: As your data grows, your spreadsheets can become unwieldy. Managing multiple tabs and large amounts of information gets harder, and it’s easy to lose track of important details.
• Time-Consuming: The more your business grows, the more time you spend maintaining your spreadsheets. What once took a few minutes now takes hours.

At this point, it’s clear that spreadsheets are no longer enough to support your business. So what’s the next step?

What to Do When You’ve Outgrown Spreadsheets

When your spreadsheets start slowing you down, you have a few options for moving forward:

Option 1: Off-the-Shelf Software

Many businesses look for ready-made software to replace their spreadsheets. This can be a quick fix, but it comes with its own challenges.

• Complexity: These tools are often designed to meet the needs of a wide range of businesses, which means they come with a lot of features you may never use. This can make them overwhelming and difficult to navigate.
• Limited Customization: Most off-the-shelf solutions don’t adapt to the unique way you run your business. You’ll find yourself jumping between screens, re-entering data, and working around the limitations of the software.
• Bloat: As these tools continue to add features, they can become even more complex over time. You may be forced to pay for upgrades just to keep your system compatible with the latest updates.

Option 2: Custom Development

Another route is to hire a developer to build custom software for your business. This sounds ideal—software designed specifically for your needs—but it comes with its own set of drawbacks.

• High Costs: Custom development can be expensive, and costs can quickly add up as your needs evolve. 
• Time Delays: Building custom software from scratch takes time. Every change or update requires conversations, specifications, and timelines, which can slow down your business.
• Ongoing Maintenance: This is the one most companies forget about. Once the software is built, you’ll need to maintain it, which may require hiring a development team for support and future updates.

Finding A Solution That Fits Your Business

If spreadsheets are slowing you down and off-the-shelf software or custom development doesn’t seem like the right fit, we’ve got good news—there’s another option. That’s where our software, Engine Awesome comes in.

Engine Awesome bridges the gap between spreadsheets and more complex software solutions. It’s a managed software platform that allows you to build exactly what you need, without all the hassle.

Here’s why Engine Awesome is the perfect next step:

• Customization Without the Coding: With Engine Awesome, you don’t need to be a developer to build custom software. Our platform gives you the flexibility to create tools that match your business processes, just like you did with spreadsheets, but with far more power.
• Real-Time Collaboration: No more emailing spreadsheets back and forth. Engine Awesome allows your team to work together in real-time, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.
• Scalable and Flexible: As your business grows, so does Engine Awesome. You can easily adjust and expand your software without worrying about performance issues.
• Fast Setup: Whether you’re starting from scratch or moving your existing data, getting set up with Engine Awesome is quick and easy. You can be up and running in minutes, not months.

How do we know Engine Awesome is right for you?

Because we’ve been in your shoes. As a small business relying on spreadsheets, we faced the same challenges—manual updates, collaboration headaches, and limited scalability. Existing software solutions were either too complex or didn’t fit our unique needs.

That’s why we created Engine Awesome. We built it to solve the problems we encountered ourselves. It combines user-friendly simplicity and flexibility with the power of custom software, without the complexity or high costs. We know it’s right for you because it was the solution we needed for our own growth.

Ready to Upgrade?

If you’re tired of wrestling with spreadsheets and need a solution that fits your growing business, Engine Awesome is here to help. It’s the tool we wished we had when our spreadsheets started slowing us down. Now, we’re sharing it with you.

Want to see Engine Awesome in action?

Still not convinced?

Learn how Homeowners Hub made the switch from a bloated CRM and Paper, to Engine Awesome and saw immediate improvements in efficiency and collaboration.