For want of an approval, a big win was lost
A 5-year solar installation deal lost to email chaos
At Thermavolt Energy, a 15-person renewable energy startup in Lagos, every deal mattered. So when Ademola, the scrappy but brilliant Head of Business Development, landed a prospect with a state-owned manufacturing plant, it felt like the big break they'd been waiting for.
The client was ready to sign a 5-year solar installation deal, contingent on a minor discount approval. Ademola quickly routed the revised pricing sheet to Titi, the CFO, for sign-off — via email, as was customary. Titi, swamped in investor reports and distracted by an impending audit, missed it. No escalation. No tracking. No SLA. Just another email buried in a crowded inbox.
Three days later, the plant awarded the deal to a competitor. "We didn't get the pricing confirmation on time," they explained curtly. Ademola stared blankly at his laptop as the realization sank in. That deal would have covered three months of runway and opened doors to a regional expansion. Titi apologized, but the damage was done. Their CEO, Kayode, convened an emergency meeting. "We're doing great work, but we're being undone by our own backend." That was the day they began looking for a proper workflow tool and stopped trusting critical business processes to scattered emails.
For want of an email, an investor was lost
Angel investor lost due to missing follow-up materials
At NovoCraft, a startup building AI tools for African creatives, Chinwe, the CEO, had finally secured a call with a potential angel investor from Cape Town. The investor loved the pitch, praised their traction, and asked for a simple follow-up: "Send over your cap table and data room access before Friday."
Chinwe prepared everything the next morning and emailed it to Lekan, the Head of Operations, to loop in the latest financials and review access controls. Lekan had just returned from paternity leave, catching up on 482 unread emails. Chinwe assumed it was sent. Lekan thought she'd sent it directly. No tracking. No shared dashboard. Just assumptions and inbox roulette.
Friday came and went. By Monday, Chinwe followed up, only to learn the investor had decided to go forward with another venture, citing "incomplete materials and unclear communication." The missed opportunity hung like a cloud over the team. Not because they didn't have the potential, but because they lacked a way to track and execute high-stakes internal requests. "Never again," Chinwe swore. That same week, she gave the IT team the go-ahead to start the search for a centralized business workflow platform.
For want of a process, a key customer was lost
12% of annual revenue lost to unclear handoffs
At AquaSplice, a 22-person plumbing services company serving boutique hotels across West Africa, Funmi, the Customer Success Lead, took pride in how personally she managed clients. Their biggest customer - the Mirage Hotel Group - had just requested an urgent configuration change to their filtration units after a government regulation update.
Funmi initiated the internal process - pinging Field Operations and Finance via email with the necessary forms and update. But no formal handoff, no timeline, no assignment. Everyone assumed someone else had it. After all, they always "figured it out" eventually.
A month later, the Mirage team informed them they had terminated the contract - citing compliance delays. "We had no assurance you could keep up with regulatory changes," the client said. That account was 12% of AquaSplice's annual revenue. Tolu, the founder, felt sick. In the postmortem, it became painfully clear: the team had done everything except build a real process. "Emails aren't processes," Funmi admitted.
For want of a fund disbursement, a critical travel was missed
International expansion opportunity lost to cash approval delays
At TradeScope Ventures, a growing logistics startup looking to expand into francophone West Africa, Muna, the COO, had secured a last-minute opportunity to pitch to Senegalese regulators: a necessary step to enter the Dakar port system. The meeting, set up by a well-connected partner, was non-negotiable and difficult to reschedule.
Her flight ticket reservations were booked, but she needed a $1,000 advance to complete her ticket payments, make hotel reservations, and cover in-country expenses. She submitted the cash request via the company's standard email-based process on Monday - three days ahead of travel. Finance required the CFO's approval, and the CFO was in transit. No alternate approver. No escalation. No tracker.
By Wednesday evening, no funds had been disbursed. Muna missed the Thursday morning flight. The partner later informed her the regulator had met with a competitor that same afternoon. "They're moving forward with them for now," he added gently. Back at headquarters, the CEO fumed. "How do we lose international expansion over an internal cash request?" That question led them to ditch email approvals and start to seek out a tracked, rule-based workflow platform.
For want of a renewal reminder, a critical work tool was lost
$5k monthly pipeline lost over $99 subscription
At Brixel Studios, a 12-person creative agency known for tight-turnaround design campaigns, Tari, the Head of Digital, was finalizing a brand refresh for a major client's IPO. It was their biggest contract yet - with a high-pressure midnight deadline for final submission.
Suddenly, at 9:40 PM, their Adobe Creative Cloud tools went offline. No access. No warnings. The company account had expired. Finance had received the renewal invoice three weeks prior, forwarded it to the Head of Procurement, who tagged the email "for next week." Next week never came. No SLA. No automated reminder. No shared visibility. The client didn't accept late submissions.
Though they were retained, the agency was quietly dropped from future work. The fallout was subtle — but lasting. Tari muttered, "We lost a $5k-a-month pipeline over a $99 monthly subscription." That night, the founder decided: "If it doesn't get tracked, it doesn't exist. We're moving to a proper workflow system."
For want of a recruitment process, a team was short-staffed at the worst time
Product launch demo failed due to hiring delays
At ZimaHealth, a 30-person health-tech company rolling out a new telemedicine feature, Kenny, the Head of Engineering, flagged in March that they needed two additional frontend developers by June. The feature was tied to a launch at a national digital health conference - and there was zero margin for delay.
Kenny filled the standard hiring request template and emailed it to HR. Bola, the HR Manager, was mid-recruitment for another role and didn't reply immediately. There was no workflow tracker, no automated follow-up, no escalation when approvals stalled. The request sat idle for weeks.
By May, only one candidate had been interviewed. By June, no one was hired. The dev team scrambled with freelancers who didn't understand the codebase. The feature demo broke twice during the live pitch at the conference. The investors in the room weren't impressed. One even remarked, "This feels... undercooked." Back at HQ, Kenny was livid but not surprised. "If no one owns the process, the process dies."
Don't let your business become the next horror story
Get started with Workflow Builder.