When people think about MLD Trading, they probably imagine shelves lined with jewelry, racks of shipping supplies, and stacks of padded envelopes waiting for the afternoon trip to the post office. Those things certainly are part of the business.
But if you asked me what keeps MLD Trading alive, I would point to a Microsoft Excel workbook.
It isn't just a spreadsheet anymore. It has become the nervous system of the business.
What surprises some people is that I didn't build it after the business became successful. I built it before I ever made my first sale.
From the very beginning, I knew I wanted MLD Trading to be organized. I had only a handful of products at the time, but I also had a vision of where I hoped the business might someday go. I downloaded Microsoft Office, knowing very little about Excel, and found a simple inventory template that seemed like a good place to begin.
That template wasn't the final destination. It was simply the first stepping stone.
As I used it, I discovered little things that I wished it could do. I wanted to keep track of financial information. I wanted better organization. I needed SKUs. I needed product titles. Every new idea required me to learn another piece of Excel.
I never sat down and decided to become an Excel expert.
Instead, I built an inventory system, and in the process, Excel taught me how to use Excel.
The workbook grew right alongside the business.
The inventory sheet came first. Before long, I realized I also needed an orders sheet to record incoming merchandise. Then came the challenge of connecting the two sheets together so information could flow automatically instead of being entered twice.
As sales began arriving through eBay, I created a sales sheet. That page eventually became the busiest part of the entire workbook. It doesn't simply record what sold. It guides my work throughout the day as I locate products on the shelves, pull inventory, package orders, and prepare shipments. What began as a sales log became a working tool that I rely on every day.
Once those three pieces were in place—inventory, orders, and sales—I reached an important milestone.
I rewrote the entire workbook from scratch.
At that point, it was no longer a modified template that someone else had created. It had become my own system, built around the way I run my business.
Of course, that wasn't the end.
Over the years I've continued adding new pages whenever the business presents a new challenge. I created a page to keep track of items currently on sale. At first glance, that seems like an unnecessary extra sheet, but it saves me time and helps me manage promotions with confidence. I built a price calculator that considers expenses so I can determine appropriate selling prices. More recently, I added a dashboard that helps me monitor how products are performing at a glance.
Each addition solved a problem that didn't exist when I first started.
Today, MLD Trading has nearly a thousand active products listed on eBay, with even more items occupying shelves throughout my shop. Without this workbook, finding many of those items would be difficult. Losing it would be devastating, which is why I keep backups and other safeguards in place. Like any nervous system, it deserves protection.
The funny thing is that I don't consider the workbook finished.
I doubt I ever will.
As long as the business continues to evolve, I'll continue finding little improvements to make. A better formula. A new report. A page that organizes information just a little more clearly than before. Every improvement removes a little friction from tomorrow's work.
Some people enjoy restoring old cars. Others build model railroads or spend weekends in woodworking shops.
Apparently, I build spreadsheets.
Or perhaps that's selling the idea short.
What I've really been building all these years isn't an Excel workbook at all. I've been building the memory, organization, and nervous system of a business that started with only a few products and a simple plan.
If that makes me a bit of a geek, I'm perfectly comfortable with that.
-- The Curator
