Growth Potential—But Systems Not Ready
Every company reaches a moment when the opportunity for growth becomes unmistakable. You can feel the momentum building… but you also see the cracks forming. For us, that crack is clear:
We lack the project management systems—internal and external—to support the growth we say we want.
And without addressing it, the consequence is predictable:
• Slower onboarding
• Missed opportunities
• Lost bids
• Internal confusion on priorities
• And, ultimately, a ceiling on our ability to scale
The talent is here. The potential is real. But the framework to support it is not.
The Core Problem: No Unified Project Tracking
We’re asking new and current designers to learn complex software, navigate evolving standards, and juggle new initiatives—all without the guidance of a clear, shared system.
Right now:
Active and inactive projects live in the same folders.
Internal R&D files are mixed with customer jobs.
Designers don’t know what standards should take priority.
Cross-functional handoffs (sales → design → production) are undefined and inconsistent.
We haven’t created a path for scaling processes across future locations.
And internal project ownership is unclear, making accountability difficult.
This creates friction everywhere: onboarding becomes longer, priorities get muddled, and our ability to take on high project volume becomes questionable.
What This Looks Like Day-to-Day
Designers focused on mastering tools, but uncertain which standards matter right now
Files scattered with no hierarchy or naming logic
No established template for internal or external handoffs
No shared view of what’s in sales, bidding, design, or production
No milestones for new hires (e.g., “By week 4 you should know X, by week 12 you should handle Y”)
In short, we’re asking people to drive the bus while we’re still building the road.
The Solution: Build a Real System Before We Scale
We don’t need more effort—we need structure.
1. Establish a unified project tracking system
Something that captures:
All active jobs
Bid requests
Sold projects
Internal development initiatives
Ownership and accountability
Milestones and deadlines
A simple weekly ritual can anchor it:
Design review + cross-functional sync
to discuss strategy, bottlenecks, standards, and project statuses.
2. Choose the right tools
Several tools can work, depending on the complexity we want to capture:
Smartsheet – Most robust; great for complex, multi-step processes and automation
Monday.com – Clean, simple project and task tracking
TrueBuild – Worth evaluating for CRM/job number generation, but may not be sufficient alone
Microsoft Planner – Basic, but integrates well with Microsoft apps
Tools don’t solve problems by themselves—but they make good processes scale.
3. Define Systems and Standards (Across All Departments)
Before we scale, we must answer:
What internal standards are we building, and in what order?
How will sales track bids, customer relationships, and job details?
How will information reliably flow from sales → design → production?
How should files be organized (by year, by client, by job number)?
How will updates propagate across teams and future locations?
What does a “seamless handoff” look like for each department?
What should onboarding milestones be for new designers?
How do we train multiple designers at once using repeatable systems?
These aren’t abstract questions. Each one becomes a building block of sustainable growth.
We’re Not Behind—We’re Unstructured
The biggest misconception is that we’re struggling because of effort.
We’re not.
We’re struggling because we don’t yet have a system that supports effort.
We have the people, the momentum, and the opportunity.
But to scale from where we are to where we want to be, we need to:
Organize. Track. Standardize. Align.
Great companies aren’t built on talent alone—they’re built on repeatable systems that unlock the full potential of that talent.
And we’re right on the edge of getting there.
— Josh Baugh
