Why spreadsheets are the actual worst

The common thread here is this: spreadsheets suck (at running a business). Once you’re up and running with SellerVue, you’ll have 100% accurate cost info, that’s easily searchable(!) and you won’t need to spend hours keeping it updated.But this isn’t just about taking back your time.

Author

SellerVue
February 01, 2024

We asked some sellers what their biggest challenges were when it comes to knowing their costs. 

Here’s what they had to say—

“The biggest pain point for me is just organizing all the information into an easy format so I know exactly what the total costs are—but also how each area is itemized and breaks down. For instance, transferring the data from the invoice sheet I get from China, or how to calculate individual shipping costs when you bulk ship a bunch of different products together. Figuring out the exact cost for each unit.”
—Scott

“For me, it’s the constant ‘Copy and Paste’ from the invoice, and adding products into an Excel spreadsheet, only for the Excel program to quit working and nothing got saved. That is a pain I want to live without.”
—Mark

“It’s hard to get away from spreadsheets, but I would love not to be constantly updating formulas. I don’t think the makers of Excel intended ecommerce to powered by it.”
—Natalie

“My biggest pain is not having a central place where I can view all the data, so I know exactly what the costs are. Right now mostly everything gets put on a spreadsheet and it is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
—Rachel

The common thread here is this: spreadsheets suck (at running a business). 

Once you’re up and running with SellerVue, you’ll have 100% accurate cost info, that’s easily searchable(!) and you won’t need to spend hours keeping it updated.

But this isn’t just about taking back your time.

When one of our businesses was on the market recently, we had to hire a bookkeeper to come in and go through everything with a fine-toothed comb, plus we had to use a 3rd party software to integrate with Amazon… it was a whole thing. 

And all this, EVEN THOUGH I’d been keeping our data in an intricate spreadsheet for years.

When I finally got my costs right—using a prototype version of the app we’re about to release in a couple months, I was able to recoup almost an additional $150k in profit, which added around $800k to our final valuation. Just by getting our costs right!

So today, we’re sharing some ideas for what you can do with your spreadsheet once you’re up and running with SellerVue’s cost tracking software.

In Defense Of Making Spreadsheets For Fun, Tyler Robertson, Zapier blog

“Making something that is intentionally supposed to be Weird and/or Fun gives you an incredible amount of power. First, making something For Fun often means that you have a clearer vision of what the end goal is, and you tend to enjoy that end goal more. Second, making something Wacky or Weird means that you’re not upset when things go sideways (yes, I’ve become the Bob Ross of spreadsheets).” 

From a functioning Monopoly board, to fine art, to an actual video game you can play on Excel, we’re obsessed with all of these ideas!

The 7 Most Epic Excel Creations Ever Chandni Trehan, UpSlide 

We’ll let the picture speak for this one…

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