Case Study: How I Helped a Small Agency Scale Efficiently

As a Project Manager, I was contracted by the owner of a family-run web development agency to enhance operational efficiency and enable business growth. Her vision was to expand into Digital Marketing services, but there were productivity issues affecting this goal. My client was passionate about design, but found her time consumed by operational tasks and client communication, leaving little room to focus on her creative expertise. She was overworked, managing a global team across time zones, which left little time for rest or personal focus. She asked for my help to organize things in a way that the staff could work independently so that she could focus on expanding her business further. The company did website building and maintenance and has a list of 50+ active clients. Her difficulty was to take on new projects, which she needed to do to increase profit. During my first couple weeks, besides organizing small things such as her e-mail, to-do list, or productivity tools, I thoroughly observed how things worked and thought of ways for improvement. During that time, I noticed several issues that needed to be addressed and resolved. Find them and the respective implemented changes: 1 - There were no e-mail templates for client communication. - This being, my client was individually writing back to each e-mail received, even if only to say ‘received, it will be addressed, and we will confirm with you soon’, which was time-consuming. I prepared several e-mail templates which we could use to answer common messages, saving time and fastening up communication. 2 - The use of multiple communication channels led to inefficiencies and missed tasks. - Wherever my client was detecting an issue, she was writing the staff about it there, and they would also answer wherever she wrote. This created a very messy environment making it unavoidable for some things to end up lost in translation, and therefore, late, generating complaints and even let-downs from clients. I kept finding unfinished conversations and tasks throughout my first month there and it was hard to get up to date on everything that needed doing as information was everywhere. To solve this, I studied her project management tool in depth and managed to connect it to my and my client’s e-mail. This way, whenever we would get a request from a client via e-mail, we could easily pass it on to the PM tool, maintaining that as the only source of communication, as well as assigning it to the member of staff responsible for it. This opened the path for the team to become more independent and processes to be better automated. 3 - Clients were answering onboarding questionnaires in a vague and unclear way, and then having unlimited revisions. - This made some projects infinite. There was also no clear deadline provided. If we spend two months on a simple project, it will be hard to bring a new one to the table. Therefore, I’ve implemented some changes, such as: - Realistic deadlines are provided to their client. - Buyers appreciate honesty in any industry. We cannot say we’ll deliver the work in “about two weeks”, it’s a bad habit, in my opinion. So I created a template that my client could easily edit before presenting to her customers, clear about each process and indicating precise dates to the completion of each phase of their project. - I added a limit to the number of revisions, which if passed would have additional costs. - After the client filled out the onboarding questionnaire, a quick meeting would be booked for us to clear any possible doubts regarding their goals and also to show a few samples to find out their preference regarding branding, design, etc. Having clear information increased productivity and letting clients know the realistic dates for each phase being completed on their project reduced the number of messages or requests from them asking questions about what has been done or not. 4 - Staff was expected to do things outside their skillset. - When I started I quickly realized that my client expected her web developers to know design and aesthetics, besides their technical skills. So she was getting frustrated when giving the first look on a project and not being happy with the design side of things for either being too simple, or too close to the inspiration competitor websites people gave as an example. So she was re-doing the work. For me, this was what was causing the worst impact on her productivity. I recommended my client hire a designer person who could draw drafts for her to approve and then pass these on to the developer for building. She didn’t want a web designer as that’s the part she enjoys doing, so we hired a VA with Photoshop experience and a passion for design, who needed to gain experience. This lets me keep all her staff, as if there was the need to hire a professional web designer one of the developers would have to go. Even though this was an additional wage to pay, hiring this person significantly increased productivity. These changes made everybody’s life at work easier. Everybody knew what they had to do and could focus on what they did best. My client managed to focus on sales, and do design when she wanted, still having someone to rely on for design purposes if needed. I managed client communication myself by answering general queries or points of situation, also helped the team if needed, and worked on writing content and social media strategies for her clients. Results In just two months, the company increased project capacity from 2-3 to 6 monthly projects, boosting base revenue from $3,600 to $7,200 per month, excluding larger projects. Staff felt more confident and independent, and the client regained time for strategic growth and personal well-being. Summary Business owners may be excellent in their niche, but the lack of organizational and management skills may hold them back from achieving their full potential at the right time. I was so happy to help my client improve her life on different levels. By streamlining processes, I helped the client to increase her company’s project capacity while achieving a healthier work-life balance. These changes also fostered a more autonomous and motivated team, positioning the business for sustainable growth.