My Business Runs on Spreadsheets and Workarounds. Sound Familiar?

I've spent most of my career in accounting and finance, which means I've seen a lot of business processes up close. Not the polished versions companies put in their employee handbooks. The real ones, like the sticky note on the monitor, the spreadsheet with fifteen tabs, the email chain where someone always forgets to reply-all.

Most small business owners I know aren't running inefficient processes because they're disorganized. They're running them because they built something that worked when it was just them, and then life happened. The business grew, the workarounds multiplied, and now the system that kept things moving is the thing slowing everything down.

I know this because I've been in the middle of it, both as the person building those systems and the person auditing them. There's always a moment when someone says “we've always just done it this way,” and you can tell they're exhausted by it.

That's actually why I started a new business. It's called Business Process Automation and Cleanup, and the short version is this: I audit the processes small business owners are most frustrated with, identify what's actually broken versus what just feels broken, and deliver a clear plan for fixing it, along with the tools and templates to make the fix stick.

If you're a business owner who's nodding along right now, that's probably not a coincidence. The midlife business owners I talk to most often aren't looking for a total tech overhaul. They want someone to look at how things actually run, tell them the truth about it, and help them get some time back.

You can find out more at karilewallen.com. There's also a free checklist at karilewallen.com/free-checklist if you want to see whether your process is due for a cleanup before committing to anything.

More on this soon!