You don't need to learn FileMaker.

Running the business takes knowing what the system does, what's worth keeping, and how to get answers out of it. Building in FileMaker is a developer's job. Yours is deciding what happens to the system, and when.

First, find out what you own.

Before anyone changes anything, get these answers in writing. You can collect most of them yourself in an afternoon.

  • Who has the keys. The full-access account and password for every file. If only the last developer had them, fix that first.
  • Where it runs. A server in the back office, FileMaker Cloud, or a hosting company. Whose name is on that account?
  • Whose name is on the license. The Claris account, the renewal date, and how many licenses you pay for.
  • Where the backups go. And when someone last restored one to check that it works.
  • What else it depends on. Plugins, payment processors, email services, other software it talks to. Each one has its own account and its own renewal.
  • Who built it. The last developer's name and number, even if they've moved on. One phone call can save days.

If any of those accounts sit in someone else's name, move them into the company's. That part of continuity is entirely in your hands, and it costs nothing.

Then, decide what's worth keeping.

A system that has run a business for ten or fifteen years usually holds a lot of working logic: pricing rules, approval steps, the path an order takes to become an invoice. That logic is an asset, and rebuilding it costs real money. The same system usually also holds layouts nobody opens, scripts nobody runs, and reports for a job that no longer exists.

A written map tells the two apart. It says what the system does, which parts the business uses every day, what's fragile, and what each next step would cost. With the map in hand, keeping it, building beside it, or leaving in stages is a choice you make on your own schedule.

Then, ask it questions.

The system already knows things you'd otherwise dig out of spreadsheets: which customers stopped ordering, which jobs ran over, what sells in which month. With a small addition built beside it, you can ask those questions in plain English and get an answer back, without learning FileMaker's menus. Here's what that looks like.

How I start.

  1. A free 30-minute triage call. You tell me what you inherited and what worries you about it. I tell you what I'd look at first.
  2. A System Assessment, $250 or $500. About a week, ending in the written map: what you have, what's at risk, and your options, with a quote if you want one. It's in your name, and you can use it with any developer.
  3. Then you decide. I can look after the system on a monthly retainer, build what's missing beside it, or plan a staged exit. Or you keep the map and do none of that yet.

The map comes first. Every decision after that is yours.

Common questions

Do I need to learn FileMaker?
No. You'll learn what the system does for the business, which is a different and much shorter list. Some owners like to learn a bit more over time. That part is optional.

Should I just replace it?
Maybe, later. Replacing a system you don't understand yet means paying someone to guess at the rules inside it. Find out what you have first. Then replacement is one priced option among the others, and you can weigh it. A second opinion on replacing FileMaker.

The developer who built it is still around. Do I need anyone else?
Not necessarily. If they answer the phone and the system is documented, keep them. If the documentation lives only in their head, get it written down while they're available, by them or by someone else. Either way, the map should be in your name.