Are You in Excel Hell?

Microsoft Excel is great for a lot of things, but it shouldn’t be your data entry and management solution. That’s the business equivalent of using a small hatchback to move your belongings from one house to another – you can probably get the job done with enough time and patience, but you’re better off using the tool that suits the purpose.

This isn’t exactly advanced thinking in the world of software and application design, but it’s something business leaders need to remember. That’s because we regularly come across companies stuck in what we call “Excel Hell.” They’re using numerous spreadsheets to try to manage data with opportunities and insights slipping through the cracks every day.

What It’s Like in Excel Hell

Are you in Excel Hell? Here are some of the signs…

The spreadsheets you use to manage your business span many different worksheets, often with overlapping names, date ranges, or purposes.

You do a great deal of data entry directly into your Excel spreadsheets, and continually find yourself worrying that individual entries are going to be inaccurate.

Speaking of your data, you aren’t all that confident about the accuracy of your customer records, bookkeeping, or sales forecasts.

You have numerous pieces of data that are repeated, duplicated, or just listed in multiple formats.

Your team struggles to import and export data between different spreadsheets, or into and out of Excel when using other pieces of software.

The spreadsheets you rely on frequently display error messages or broken functions resulting from missing links, incomplete sums, or equations that don’t make sense.

These are just some of the problems you find in Excel Hell, but there are indicative of bigger data management problems. And more importantly, they can cripple your business.

A Better Solution to Data Management

None of this is meant to pick on Microsoft or Excel. What we are getting at are the perils of using tools for jobs for which they weren’t designed. It’s not the way to get the business results you need. Rather than rely on an endless number of spreadsheets to record, tabulate, and view data, why not use a different piece of software designed specifically for the tasks you’re trying to complete?

Often, business owners and executives will tell us that the applications they need don’t exist. That’s actually good news!

Why do you want to hear that the software you need hasn’t been invented yet? Because when you hire a programming team to turn it into a reality, you either get a huge advantage over your competitors or a product you can sell on your own.

In other words, the answer to your data management problems isn’t to rely on spreadsheets that will eventually drive you crazy, but to develop the custom software needed for accurate data collection and reporting. It’s your cue to build a better mousetrap.

Data management is always going to be a headache if you’re trying to keep track of thousands of pieces of information in a piece of software that wasn’t designed for the job. Why not build a better tool and improve your company at the same time?

Custom Software Programming Made Easy

Have a need for software that’s developed specifically for your business? Want to solve your toughest data management problems permanently?

Contact the experienced programming team at WebRevelation today to see how we can help!