Five examples of operations work, from order fulfillment to onboarding to vendor management. Click any one to see the full story.
Every growing ecommerce team eventually hits this wall: their tools work fine on their own, but none of them talk to each other. The fix is almost never new tools. It's the connections between them.
Steps per order
Steps per order
On-time shipping
A small ecommerce business doing about $3M a year, shipping 80 orders a day, with a team of seven. Tools like Shopify, Google Sheets, and ShipStation, none of which talk to each other.
Every single order takes 23 manual steps to ship. The customer service lead spends about three hours a day keeping spreadsheets in sync. This is the kind of pattern we see in most growing ecommerce businesses that have outgrown their early systems.
Manual steps to ship one order
Hours per day lost to data entry
Typical on-time shipping rate
Shopify
Sheets
ShipStation
Accounting
Every step in the new workflow is either an automated system action or a physical action a human has to take. None of them require copying information between tools.
Order arrives in Shopify
CS rep checks the order in Shopify
Rep copies order into a Google Sheet
Rep emails the warehouse
Warehouse manager prints the picklist
Worker pulls items from shelves
Worker hand-checks the picklist
Items moved to the packing station
Packer weighs items manually
Packer types weight and dimensions into ShipStation
Packer prints and applies the shipping label
Package added to the pickup pile
Packer copies tracking number back into Shopify
CS rep marks order as shipped in the spreadsheet
CS rep emails the customer the tracking number
Inventory lead updates the inventory sheet
Inventory lead checks for low stock manually
Inventory lead emails the owner if anything is low
Owner decides whether to reorder
Customer emails CS rep if they need to return
CS rep emails warehouse to expect the return
Warehouse processes the return, updates the returns sheet
CS rep manually issues the refund in Shopify
The team didn't have a tool problem. They had a connection problem. The fix was almost never going to be more software.
We don't recommend new tools. The tools the team already has are usually fine. The problem is that none of them are connected.
Direct connection between Shopify and ShipStation so orders flow automatically
Auto-generated picklists with warehouse bin locations
Real-time inventory sync across Shopify, ShipStation, and accounting
Automatic tracking number sync back to Shopify
Automatic customer tracking emails (no more manual sending)
A single dashboard the owner can check from her phone
Slack alerts when stock drops below threshold
Automated returns processing across every system
Shopify
Sheets
ShipStation
Accounting
We don't recommend new tools. The tools the team already has are usually fine. The problem is that none of them are connected.
Order arrives in Shopify
Order auto-pushes to ShipStation with picklist and bin location
Warehouse picks the order on a tablet
Shipping label auto-generates
Tracking syncs back to Shopify and customer email goes out
Inventory deducts across every system
Low-stock alert fires automatically if anything drops
Steps per order, down from 23
Hours per week typically returned
On-time shipping is realistic
No new hires. No new tools. Just systems that finally work together.
Every agency and service business eventually hits this wall: the deal closes with energy and excitement, then everything goes quiet while the team scrambles to figure out next steps. By the time the kickoff happens, the client is already wondering if they made the right call.
Days to first deliverable
Standardized welcome
Silence gaps in week one
A boutique agency or consulting firm closing $20K to $200K engagements. Sales hands off to delivery, but there's no documented process. Every new client gets a slightly different experience, and by week two, half of them are wondering what's happening.
This is the kind of pattern we see in nearly every service business that has grown past its founder-led phase but hasn't built systems around the handoff yet.
Weeks typical lag from close to first deliverable
Of clients feel "uncertain" in week one
Standardized assets handed to new clients
CRM
Project Mgmt
Slack
Drive
Every step highlighted in coral is a place where the ball drops or the client experience varies depending on who's handling it.
Deal closes in CRM
Sales rep marks "won" and sends celebration to internal team
Account manager picks up the deal (sometimes hours, sometimes days)
AM creates a project folder with whatever naming convention they prefer
AM emails client a generic welcome message
AM tries to schedule a kickoff (back-and-forth on calendars)
Client wonders what's happening, may email asking for an update
Internal kickoff meeting happens (or doesn't)
AM creates a project plan from scratch
AM shares project plan via email
Client doesn't open it, asks for a call
Call happens, project plan walked through verbally
Real work finally begins
Two weeks of internal scrambling means the client is already nervous
The first three weeks aren't about the work. They're about the client deciding whether they trust you.
The first three weeks aren't about the work. They're about the client deciding whether they trust you.
Auto-trigger handoff workflow when deal hits "won" in CRM
Pre-built welcome email sequence with everything the client needs
Auto-create project folder using a standardized template
Calendar booking link auto-sent for kickoff scheduling
Standardized kickoff agenda and pre-read documents
Day 1, Day 7, and Day 14 check-ins built into the workflow
Account manager auto-briefed with full deal context
Client portal or shared dashboard live from day one
CRM
Project Mgmt
Slack
Drive
Every step is either an automated action or a meaningful human conversation. Nothing depends on someone remembering to send the welcome email.
Deal closes, handoff workflow auto-triggers
Client receives welcome package and 14-day plan within minutes
Calendar booking link goes out for kickoff scheduling
Project folder auto-creates with templates and brief
Account manager gets briefed with full deal context
Kickoff happens within 5 business days
Day 7 and Day 14 check-ins fire automatically
Business days from close to kickoff
Standardized welcome experience
Silence gaps in the first three weeks
Every growing finance team eventually hits this wall: invoices arrive scattered across email, vendor portals, and snail mail. Approvals happen in chat. Payments live in accounting software. Nothing connects, and somebody is always chasing somebody.
Days from invoice to paid
Lost or duplicate invoices
Paid on time
A growing company spending $1M to $10M a year on vendors and contractors. Invoices come in via email, vendor portals, and occasionally physical mail. The finance lead forwards them to whoever needs to approve, waits for a thumbs-up in Slack or a reply email, then manually enters everything into the accounting software.
Sometimes invoices get lost. Sometimes they get paid twice. Vendors call asking about late payments. Trust starts to erode.
Day average from invoice received to paid
Of invoices delayed past terms
Hours/week chasing approvals manually
Slack
Accounting
Vendor Portal
Drive
Every step in coral is a manual handoff or an opportunity for the invoice to get lost.
Invoice arrives via email, Slack, or mail
Finance lead spots the invoice (eventually)
Finance lead forwards to relevant department head for approval
Department head sees the email (or doesn't)
Department head approves via reply or thumbs up in Slack
Finance lead manually enters the invoice into accounting
Finance lead manually attaches the PDF to the entry
Finance lead checks if there's a PO to match
Finance lead categorizes the expense
Payment scheduled in accounting software
Payment date arrives, payment goes out
Finance lead manually records the payment
Vendor calls or emails asking if it was paid
Finance lead checks accounting software, confirms or apologizes
Vendor calls or emails asking if it was paid
The cost isn't just late payments. It's the trust your vendors lose when you can't tell them where their money is.
We build a single intake system, automate the approval routing, and connect everything to your accounting software so the manual data entry disappears.
Single inbox for all invoices using an email parser
Auto-route to the right approver based on vendor and amount
One-click approval flows in Slack or email
Auto-create entries in accounting with the PDF attached
PO matching automated where possible
Payment scheduling automated based on payment terms
Vendor portal so vendors can check status themselves
Auto-generated payment reports for the CFO every Monday
Slack
Accounting
Vendor Portal
Drive
Every step is either automated or a one-click human action. The finance team stops chasing and starts running finance.
Invoice arrives in central inbox
Auto-categorized and routed to the right approver
Approver gets one-click approval in Slack or email
Approved invoice auto-creates entry in accounting with PDF attached
Payment auto-scheduled per the vendor's terms
Payment sent on schedule
Vendor receives status update automatically
Day average from invoice to paid
Lost or duplicate invoices
On-time payment rate
