< h 2 > Client says ' I want the old version ' and you can 't find it </ h 2 >< p >Last Wednesday afternoon , I was revis ing a client proposal at Starbucks . The client suddenly said , ' I think last Wednesday 's version was better .' I dug through folders for half an hour and couldn 't find it .</ p >< h 2 > What is version control , and why you need it too </ h 2 >< p > Before GitHub , cod ers faced the exact same problem — end less revisions with no way to find the original . GitHub is like a ' time machine ,' automatically arch iving every change so we can go back to any past version at any time .</ p >< p > But we don 't need to learn complex coding tools . Apps like Fe ish u Docs , Not ion , and Google Docs all have built -in version control . My friend Xia olin , who does personal brand consulting , used to be just like me . After 10 revisions , her folder was full of files named ' Proposal _v 1 ', ' Proposal _Final ', ' Proposal _Final 2 '. Now she stores all client proposals in Fe ish u and can revert to any historical version instantly .</ p >< p >I also messed this up : I tried managing versions with folders before , and my ' final version ' got revised 8 times . In the end , even I couldn 't figure out which one was the actual final version .</ p >< h 2 >You can start using this today </ h 2 >< p > Money : $ 0 ( Fe ish u / Not ion free versions are enough )</ p >< p > Time : 10 minutes to set up </ p >< p > Technical barrier : If you can use Word , you can use this </ p >< p > First step : Open a Fe ish u doc , click the ' ...' in the top right , and select ' Version history '</ p >< h 2 > Depending on your stage </ h 2 >< p >If you 're just starting out : The built -in version control in Fe ish u or Not ion is enough . It 's fine if you don 't try it right now ; you can start when you 've revised a proposal 5 times and can 't find the original draft .</ p >< p >If you have 1 - 2 clients : I suggest consolid ating all client docs into one tool . At least ensure your files aren 't scattered across We Chat , email , and local folders .</ p >< p >If you 're scaling up : Consider Fe ish u Enterprise or Not ion Team . Version control is even more critical for multi -person collaboration to avoid over writing each other 's work .</ p >