Move beyond Excel and Email

Why Running Your Business with Excel and Email is Holding You Back

Microsoft Excel and email are both useful tools in the right context. Excel helps organise data into neat rows and columns, while email remains the go-to communication channel for most businesses.

But when it comes to running your business, relying on Excel spreadsheets and endless email chains can quickly become a bottleneck for growth, efficiency, and accuracy.

The Problem with Excel for Business Management

Excel is great for basic data analysis — but it was never designed to be a full business management system. SMEs that rely heavily on spreadsheets soon run into these issues:

📈 Limited Scalability

As your business grows, so does your data. Large spreadsheets become slow, complex, and difficult to manage, making analysis inefficient and error-prone.

🔒 Inadequate Data Management

Excel lacks built-in safeguards for secure, structured data. It’s all too easy to overwrite formulas, move cells, or create duplicates — leading to unreliable reporting and bad decision-making.

👥 Poor Collaboration

Multiple users working on the same spreadsheet creates version control nightmares. Without proper access controls, sensitive data can easily fall into the wrong hands.

⏱️ No Real-Time Updates

Spreadsheets don’t update live. That means if one team member makes a change, others won’t see it straight away, leading to mistakes, delays, and confusion.

🔄 Limited Automation

Repetitive tasks like data entry and reporting waste valuable time in Excel. Manual processes increase errors and eat into productivity.

The Problem with Email as a Business Tool

Email is essential for communication — but when used as the backbone of business operations, it creates chaos:

📂 Disorganised Information

Project updates, client notes, and key files buried in endless email threads are difficult to find and even harder to track.

👥 Lack of Real-Time Collaboration

Email is static, not collaborative. Multiple users working on the same documents via attachments leads to duplication and confusion.

🔒 Weak Data Management

Emails aren’t a secure or structured way to store data, making long-term access and reporting difficult.

📥 Information Overload

Important messages get lost in inbox clutter, leading to missed deadlines and reduced productivity.

🔄 Limited Automation

Like Excel, email requires manual effort for repetitive tasks, leaving staff bogged down with admin instead of focusing on growth.

The Better Way Forward

Excel and email may feel like “good enough” solutions — but for growing SMEs, they limit scalability, efficiency, and security.

At DataTherapy, we specialise in replacing outdated processes with secure, cloud-based business management systems built on the Claris FileMaker and Platopus SaaS platforms.. Our solutions are:

✅ Scalable — designed to grow with your business

✅ Secure — with enterprise-grade authentication and access controls

✅ Automated — reducing manual work and human error

✅ Collaborative — empowering teams to work together in real-time

✅ Customer-focused — giving your clients faster, easier access to the services they need

Say goodbye to spreadsheet chaos and email overload. With DataTherapy, you’ll gain a streamlined, efficient, and future-proof system that gives your business the edge it needs.

📞 Contact DataTherapy today to explore how we can transform your workflows beyond Excel and Email.