Building the operational backbone of a growing agency
A growing digital marketing agency had built across multiple service lines and active accounts without a single piece of operational documentation. The founder was the single point of knowledge transfer for everything. Phase 1 was about building the backbone the agency had never had.
3wks -
2 days
SEO contractor onboarding time
V2.1
SOP transformed to evergreen
14 Docs
Phase 1 deliverables provided in 1 month
3 of 3
Active accounts on documented standards
THE SITUATION
A growing digital marketing agency serving SMB clients across SEO, paid media, social, email, and web. Lean, flat structure with nearly every role reporting directly to the founder. Growth was creating friction faster than the founder could absorb it personally.
What the agency was dealing with:
— No centralized operational documentation
— Founder as single point of knowledge transfer for everything
— Inconsistent client onboarding across active accounts
—No documented roles, capacity, or hiring framework
THE APPROACH
1. Organizational clarity first
Built org chart, role-first responsibilities framework, and formal Operations Director scope. Functions defined structurally, not by individual names.
2. Client and team onboarding systems
12-tab client workbooks for active accounts, debrief documents for new team members, standardized intake forms, pre-strategy gate-checks.
3. Process, hiring, and capacity
Transformed AI-assisted SOP draft to v2.1 evergreen operating manual. Built interview guide and scorecard. Mapped contractor capacity across accounts.
PHASE 1 COMPLETE · PHASE 2 UNDERWAY
Phase 2 Horizon
Google Workspace role-bucket SOP
Second Technical SEO contractor: scope and hire
Link Building role design
Consolidated content tracker for an active account
Built in Phase 1
Org chart, R+R framework, Ops Director scope
Client workbooks for 3 active accounts
SOP v2.1 evergreen and version controlled
Hiring system used to onboard first contractor
Capacity tracking and Workspace cost architecture
Holding your agency together personally?
MORE RESULTS
2 weeks → 3 days onboarding
BD Process Discovery
13 pain points, PE-backed firm
SEO Systems Enablement
Coming July 2026