Excel or Not to Excel?
🕺 The Most Popular “Database” in the World!
Excel is the most widely used spreadsheet editor—and, by extension, the most misused “database” of all time. Almost everyone knows it, and many people love it. It’s intuitive, great for quick calculations, reporting, and ad-hoc analyses. But…
Oof, this hurts…
Over the course of my career, I’ve encountered many “Excel empires” (large companies that rely heavily on spreadsheets), so I feel pretty qualified to share the biggest pain points of managing data in Excel.
💾 Big Data… or Just Big Trouble?
At BizzTreat, I used to joke with my colleagues:
"Hey, do you know how many records qualify as big data?"
They’d squint and reply, “No, how many?”
"A million—because that’s the limit for Google Sheets."
And even if you manage to squeeze that many rows in, actually working with such a file is another story. I’ve seen Google Sheets with hundreds of thousands of records, and let me tell you, their responsiveness is… painful.

⏱️ Time—The Hidden Cost
Throwing a few tables into Excel and making a pivot table is quick and easy. Sure. But the moment you need to add more views, filters, and calculations (which you inevitably will), your simple file turns into an unmanageable beast.
And then the real fun begins:
🤯 Why is this taking so long to open?
🤯 Excel just crashed—what do I do?!
🤯 Clicking a cell takes five minutes to update!
🤯 I’ll have the report ready next week… consolidating the data takes forever.
🤯 When will we have last month’s data?
☕ I’ll hit "Save" and go grab a coffee… maybe two.
🚧 A Single Source of Truth? Not in Excel.
We’ve all been in that meeting:
Karel: “Last month’s sales were XY, and the margin was YZ.”
Jana: “No, that’s wrong. I calculated it differently, and I got a different number. Did you include returns?”
And just like that, the entire meeting derails into a discussion about which version of the numbers is correct. The worst part? We never actually reach a conclusion.
Or how about this classic?
"Hey Venca, which one of these five files is the actual plan for this year?"
Excel files multiply like rabbits, but they rarely disappear. Digging through 150 different versions just to find one reliable piece of information? Not exactly efficient.
Bottom line: Excel is not a single source of truth. If you want reliable, real-time data that everyone can trust, you need a more robust system.
❌ Human Error—The Silent Killer
"Hold on, let me just tweak this real quick and I’ll be right there!" Marta said before heading off to lunch.
The problem? She was already thinking about whether to order pasta or salad… and in the process, she swapped two columns in her formula.
Who hasn’t made a mistake in an Excel formula? Exactly.
But some mistakes have serious consequences. One company I worked with unknowingly ran their business based on last year’s budget—and only realized three months later when things started looking… off. 😄
💸 The (Hidden) Cost of Excel
Finally, let’s talk money.
During one conversation, I asked Tomáš, an IT manager, a few questions:
Total employees: 500
Employees using Excel regularly: 40
Average time spent in Excel per week (to get the data they need): 3 hours
Average hourly wage: 13€
Now, let’s do the math:
40 employees × 3 hours × 47 workweeks × 13€ = 73 320€ per year
"You know, Tomáš, that’s more than enough to build a proper business intelligence system."
Tomáš stared at me in shock. And this calculation doesn’t even account for lost opportunities—the time employees could spend on more valuable tasks instead of wrestling with spreadsheets.
🤔 To Excel or Not to Excel?
That is the question. 😄
Look, I’m not saying spreadsheets are bad. I use them myself for quick ad-hoc analyses or manual data inputs. But when it comes to managing a medium or large business, running it on spreadsheets is a utopia at best—and a disaster waiting to happen at worst.
So… is it time to rethink your Excel empire? 🚀