From doing it all to doing it right
- Laia Sastre
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Why it’s time to rethink your systems
Let me share a story about the importance of looking at your operations and improving your business systems.
I once had a client who had been using a simple project management software for years — alongside a growing collection of spreadsheets — because they couldn’t get the reporting they needed for financial management quite right from the project management software.
It looked tidy enough on the surface: time tracked, invoices sent, jobs closed off. But when it came to reporting and financial clarity (super important for founders and directors), the functionality wasn’t there. Instead, it created duplication and inefficiencies.
My guess is the software did its job at the beginning. But after years of using it, it became clear that it no longer met the business’s needs. They had outgrown their system — and were now working with a tool that no longer served the business they are now, or the one they’re becoming.
The “pause and reflect” moment
This sparked a moment of reflection — not just about this specific software, but about how founders often choose tools that are recommended by their industry or accountant, without looking at the whole picture: how the business is operating, what growth is projected, and what’s actually needed to support that growth.
Because we all know that founders don’t have much time. The doing and client delivery often take priority, leaving the foundational systems behind. It works for a while — even years — but as the business grows, it can become a real bottleneck.
When you’ve been in the thick of it for years — juggling clients, managing delivery, handling admin after hours — it’s easy to keep patching things together “for now.” But every growing business hits a point where it’s worth stopping to ask:
How are we really doing things today?
Is this the way we want to keep doing them?
Do our systems and tools support where we want to go next?
That pause — a moment for reflection and strategic thinking — can be powerful. And it can bring clarity, too.
The reality behind “no admin”
This particular business had almost no admin. On paper, that sounds efficient. In practice, it meant things were slipping through the cracks.
Not because the team didn’t care — they simply didn’t know what “good” could look like. The founder had been handling it all: quoting, invoicing, reconciling, managing projects, tracking costs. It worked when things were small, but as the business grew, it started to feel heavy on the founder’s shoulders.
Building your business systems for growth
So before jumping into new tools or systems, I started with a discovery questionnaire — to map out what was really happening across the business.
It’s not just about software. It’s about understanding:
What’s working (and what’s not)?
Where the friction lies?
What kind of visibility the directors actually need to make decisions?
And what tools will grow with the business — not just patch things up for now.
Because choosing the right systems isn’t just a tech decision — it’s a leadership decision. It’s about freeing up the founder to focus on strategy, growth, and the work that moves the needle.
From chaos to clarity
This is the kind of inflection point where founders can take back control — not by doing more, but by doing things better.
If this sounds familiar — if your systems feel pieced together and you’re not getting the visibility or insight you need — maybe it’s time to pause and have a look at how your business is operating, too.
How would it feel to bring some structure, clarity, and calm to your operations so you can get back to leading the business, not running it?
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