Have you ever needed to refer back to your notes, only to realize you never jotted them down in the first place? Or tried to repeat a process but no longer remember how you did it? Or maybe someone asked for the reasoning behind a past decision, and you had no solid documentation to back it up? In the early stages of a startup, documentation is especially important. Your business will go through multiple iterations - of the product, branding, and strategy - and you’ll have countless conversations with clients, investors, and co-founders that you may need to reference later. Establishing a habit of documenting important decisions, processes, and insights from the start will help your startup stay organized and run smoothly.
However, documentation shouldn’t be done just for the sake of it. There should be intent behind why you are recording a process or creating a plan. Regularly reviewing your documentation practices and implementing clear policies - such as document retention, version control, and access management - helps keep records organized while ensuring compliance with legal and industry standards. Without structure, shared drives can quickly become cluttered, making it difficult to find critical information when needed.
Why Documentation Matters for Audits and Investors
Down the line, documentation will be essential not just for your internal team but for auditors and investors. Audits require concrete evidence of business plans, financials, and compliance with tax laws, financial regulations, and industry-specific requirements. Proper documentation reduces the risk of fines or legal issues, which could significantly hinder business growth.
Investors, too, expect detailed records of financials, policies, contracts, product development, and major company changes. They look for potential risks that could prevent a startup from scaling and may signal bad business practices. Thorough documentation demonstrates professionalism and risk mitigation, making your company a more attractive investment.
Supporting Product Development and Engineering
On the development side, maintaining high-level architecture diagrams and concise technical documentation is key to get new developers up to speed and ensure long-term clarity. Documentation isn’t about creating roadblocks or creating an extra step for the sake of it– it’s about anticipating needs and maintaining consistency. Keeping simple notes can prevent knowledge loss, and as your product matures, provides a historical record of past decisions and revisions.
Documentation Builds Trust with Clients
Once sales start taking off, documenting conversations with leads and prospects will save you from appearing unorganized. It’s impossible to remember every conversation that happens on a daily basis, and you don’t want to risk looking unprofessional in front of potential clients. Telling yourself you’ll remember key details is risky, and you most likely won’t remember, so it's best to jot down quick notes while it's still fresh.
For startups operating in highly regulated industries, proper documentation can be the deciding factor in whether a client chooses to work with you. During the due diligence process, potential clients want to see that your solution is secure, compliant, and well-documented. Having clear, structured records reassures them that your company is reliable and professional.
Remote Teams and Employee Onboarding
Especially in fully remote teams, documentation is crucial for onboarding new employees and ensuring consistency among the team. It’s much easier for a new hire to read up on the business rather than to rely on someone remembering to share critical information. Good documentation helps new employees get up to speed quicker and find the information they need without asking a million questions–making everyone's lives easier.
On the flip side, ensuring employees document their processes before offboarding is necessary to protect against any job function or relationship getting dropped and forgotten. In startups, teams are often lean, with one person responsible for specific tasks. If they were to leave and take their institutional knowledge with them, it would create major disruptions for your business.
Tracking Decisions and Company Evolution
In the early stages of building a team, it's going to be chaotic and quick decisions are constantly being made. Keeping a record of why you made certain choices, what the outcomes were, and what you learned from them will be invaluable. Messaging will change, the product roadmap will shift based on feedback, and the market will continue to change. One thing that should remain consistent is your core values, and documentation helps ensure those values stay evident in leadership and decision-making.
Eventually, you’ll look back and see the evolution of your company - having a well-documented history of your journey will be one of the most valuable assets you’ve built.
To start documenting processes, you can simply use a Google Doc. However, as your startup grows and you need a more structured knowledge base for new team members, consider using Notion for a Wiki-style setup, supplemented by Scribe for step-by-step guides.
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About the author: Kaitlyn Shevlin is a Business Analyst at Stratyfy, a startup offering transparent and interpretable AI solutions that help financial institutions make better-informed decisions in credit risk, fraud prevention, and compliance.
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