Signs that your spreadsheet can’t keep up with your business growth

Has this happened to your company (or someone you know), yet?

Signs that your spreadsheet can’t keep up with your business growth

Tuesday, 08 October 2013 09:42

WILLEM MEYER

There comes a time in every business’ lifecycle when the humble spreadsheet can no longer be relied upon for solely running a thriving business.

What was once used for basic business procedures, like reporting and modelling, can gradually become stretched and overloaded by ever-increasing data types and volume levels.

Spreadsheets are invaluable for basic data management such as storing and analysing data, producing charts and graphs, and creating basic reports. However, there are certain limitations to their utility. These limitations become even more apparent as a business grows, and in some cases, they turn into liabilities.

But bad habits die hard, and many business owners, who’ve become accustomed to their spreadsheets, cling onto them for far too long. They rely on them to not only manage critical business information, but to complete highly complex tasks – even when there are far better options available. In doing so, they manage to turn a once useful resource into a high-risk office tool.

So, how do you know when it’s time to move on from your spreadsheet to a more robust system for managing your business data?

Speed

When a spreadsheet is overloaded with too much data, the program can start to glitch. Everything slows down. Not only does it take considerably longer to open the file, but once it’s loaded, it can start to labour.

If you have macros, they can take an eternity to run. Even standard data entry can become tedious. Scrolling up and down the page is drastically slowed and can be a huge frustration, especially when time is of the essence. In some cases, the spreadsheet is so overloaded that even a simple task will cause it to freeze – a frightening scenario, particularly if you’re not a frequent saver.

via Signs that your spreadsheet can’t keep up with your business growth.