Google Sheets Will Break You

Read Time: 3 Minutes

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At first, Google Sheets feels harmless.

Fast. Flexible. Cheap.

Everyone knows how to use it.

So teams use it for:

• Lead tracking
• Revenue forecasting
• Handoffs
• Headcount planning
• “Temporary” ops work

And it works… until it doesn’t.

Here’s what’s going to break when you outgrow Google Sheets.

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Ownership gets fuzzy

In Sheets, ownership is implied.

Who updates it?
Who’s responsible?
Who fixes it when it’s wrong?

Answer is usually:

“Whoever noticed last”

At a small scale, it’s annoying.

At a large scale, it’s dangerous.

Because when ownership isn’t explicit… follow-up becomes optional.

And optional follow-up destroys revenue.

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Data starts lying (quietly)

No one wakes up planning to ruin the spreadsheet.

But then:

• Someone copies a row
• Someone pastes over a formula
• Someone updates last week’s version
• Someone adds a “temporary” column

Now you have:

• Multiple versions
• Conflicting numbers
• Meetings spent reconciling instead of deciding

If your team says:

“Salesforce is wrong… but the sheet is right”

This is a clear signal that you’ve gotta system problem.

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Processes depend on memory

Sheets don’t enforce behavior.

They hope people remember.

Remember to:

• Update the status
• Assign the owner
• Follow up
• Log the outcome

Hope is not a strategy!

If your process only works when 1 specific person is paying attention…

…that ain’t a process.

It’s a person.

And people:

• Take PTO
• Get sick
• Get overwhelmed
• Leave

A system doesn’t.

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You scale headcount instead of systems

This is the expensive one.

As volume grows, teams do this:

“Let’s hire someone to manage the sheet.”

Now you’re paying senior salaries to:

• Copy / paste
• Clean data
• Chase owners
• Manually route work

Big waste of money.

Humans should do judgment.
Systems should do repeatable work.

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What replaces Google Sheets (without over-engineering)

This isn’t about fancy tools.

It’s about guardrails.

The upgrade looks like this:

• 1 source of truth
• Required fields where they matter
• Clear ownership on every record
• Automation for routing and follow-up
• Reporting that doesn’t require reconciliation meetings

This is exactly what CRMs like Salesforce are built for.

Not complexity.

Consistency.

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Quick gut check

If any of these feel familiar:

• “We’ll clean it up later”
• “Only Sarah knows how this works”
• “The numbers are mostly right”
• “We just need one more ops hire”

You’ve already outgrown Google Sheets.

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What you should do next

Pick one workflow currently living in Sheets.

Ask:

• Who owns this?
• What breaks if they’re out tomorrow?
• What should the system enforce automatically?

Fix that first.

Small progress compounds.

1 process per week = 52 fixed processes per year.

See you next Friday.

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2 Ways I Can Help You:

• If you want the full walkthrough and examples, the video is here
• Or my team and I can build this properly for you