We recently went through the process of researching project management systems to find a new one for our company. This would all be fine and dandy if we hadn’t gone through this exact same thing in 2015. Oh and before that in 2014. Then before that in 2011.

It seems like every time we go through the process, there are more and more options. I swear – I think this time, I must have looked at over 200 different platforms and actually set up trial accounts with at least 50.

Every. Single. Time. I. Go. Through. This. Experience. I. Have. The. Same. Thought…..

I want to build my own.

Nothing out there works the way that is truly conducive to productivity.

Why is the market so fragmented? Why are there so many options? They each must work for at least some people, even if I can’t count myself among them. What gives?

We had a pretty basic list of “must haves” when it came to a system yet were unable to find a single one that met all of them.

Here’s the thing: whenever I vocalize this opinion to friends and fellow entrepreneurs, they are always quick to agree with me. Everyone uses one system or another, but very few are really thrilled with them. The more complicated a business and it’s workflows are, the lower the satisfaction seems to be.

I’ve had people suggest that for what I want we’d need to look at an enterprise-level system. For most of the enterprise category ones I’d looked at, either the learning curve would be too high for regular users or the companies only did annual prepay contracts. Many also hide the pricing so you have no idea what their rates are without actually speaking to someone live. We’re in 2016. Hello!

In my head I know what the perfect system should look like. I know how every single screen would work. I know how work would flow through it.

I know every single person or team behind each project management system that exists probably had the same idea – their idea was perfect. I guess it’s a matter of everyone needing a different solution so it’s difficult to imagine something perfect for everyone.

Perhaps if I feel this frustrated in 2017 when I’ll inevitably want to go back to the drawing board and look for new options, I may decide – screw it, it’s time to build my own!

We ultimately decided to go back to Teamwork (aff). We’d used it for 6 months prior to our last system. It has many of our must have features but it can be cumbersome when you deal with single projects with several hundred or more tasks.

What system are you using? Love it or hate it? Let me know below!