Organize & Operate Your Business with Notion
SXSW | March 9, 2025
Most businesses don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because of broken systems.
I’ve seen this over and over again as a certified Notion consultant and fractional operations specialist. A founder has a bold vision. The team is talented. The product is strong. On paper, everything looks like it should succeed. But behind the scenes? It’s chaos; projects scattered across apps, strategy trapped in inboxes, processes that collapse as soon as growth kicks in. The people aren’t the problem. The systems are.
That perspective is what I carried onto the stage at SXSW, where I was honored to speak about the future of streamlining operations. Standing in front of founders, creative leaders, and startup teams, I shared a simple truth: growth doesn’t break companies. Inflexible systems do. You could feel the recognition in the room, everyone had lived it.
The Cost of Scattered Systems
Most startups build their operations like a junk drawer. Client notes live in Google Docs, tasks float between Trello and Asana, strategies are buried in email chains, and the real processes are tucked away in one person’s head. Every switch between platforms costs focus. Every missing link creates friction. What works for a team of five collapses under the weight of fifty. And suddenly, the stack of tools you thought would make things easier is the very thing holding you back.
This is why I lean on Notion as the foundation for the businesses I help build. It doesn’t just organize, it centralizes. It gives companies a single source of truth. A place where projects, clients, documentation, and workflows live side by side. In the beginning, it can be as simple as a project tracker, a client database, and a shared space for meeting notes. As the business grows, that foundation can expand into dashboards that give leaders visibility, automations that eliminate repetitive work, and cross-linked workflows that keep entire departments aligned. The system bends as the company grows instead of breaking under pressure.
Why Systems Are Culture
The real value isn’t efficiency, though efficiency is nice. The real value is consistency. When workflows are clear and repeatable, the team delivers the same high-quality experience every time. Clients know what to expect. Leaders can trust the process instead of chasing updates. That consistency builds trust, trust builds reputation, and reputation fuels sustainable growth.
At SXSW, one founder asked me how to get their team to actually use these systems. It’s the question underneath every operational conversation. Because this isn’t just about tools — it’s about culture. The answer is to build systems people want to use. Too often, processes are designed in a vacuum and rolled out top-down. Adoption fails. Notion works because it’s flexible enough to adapt to the way people already work, while still being powerful enough to provide the alignment leadership needs. When teams see their work reflected in the system, and see it making their lives easier, they adopt it. Adoption is everything.
Operations aren’t a back-office chore. They are the infrastructure that determines whether a business stumbles or scales. Notion is simply the enabler; the place where all those moving pieces can finally fit together.
If your systems can’t scale, neither can you. The companies that thrive aren’t the ones chasing the next shiny tool. They’re the ones that invest in building systems strong enough to support them.
And that’s the lesson I carry from every client engagement and from that SXSW stage: the future of work isn’t about adding more apps. It’s about building smarter systems that actually make growth possible.
About the Speaker
Sara Loretta is the founder of UNMUTE™, an experience-first consultancy that helps fast-scaling teams systemize, automate, and scale the way they work, together. As a Notion & Zapier Solutions Partner, and experienced operations strategist, Sara builds connected processes that replace scattered tools and fractured workflows that drive collaboration, ownership, and excitement throughout an entire business.
