Meet Ricky Chau
Ricky makes sure that operations run smooth like butter at Taste Studios, and since 2010 they’ve assisted food manufacturers of all sizes with white-labelling custom branded retail products.
But after 3+ years of running the business the same way, Ricky and his team started feeling the gaps in their processes. Things were slowing down, and when one tiny mistake in order processing could cost them double and triple the costs, they had to make a change.
So our Systemise & Scale Up Team helped Ricky cook up more efficient workflows to save his time. This is how they did it!
The Problem
All these challenges prevented Ricky from systemising their business and scaling up properly:
Tedious manual order processing
Most of the team’s processes were done through Google Sheets, so a lot of manual copy-pasting, double-checking and back and forth between people were necessary to generate manifests. The risk of human error was a constant headache too!
Inefficient sales pipeline
Ricky and his team were using multiple apps and platforms (Tall Emu for sales management, Campaign Monitor for emails, Google Forms to send information to the label designer, and more.) Switching between apps ate up their precious time.
No documented SOPs
It was tricky and time-consuming to onboard incoming Virtual Assistants and other team members because the team didn’t have proper documentation of all the tools they were using and how each tool fit into their processes.
With the right tech, processes and Virtual Assistant, your business can scale up properly
We understand that Ricky’s role was to strategise and make high-impact decisions. It’s what all leaders should do to turn up the heat in their business!
But sometimes, this means that tiny details in the day-to-day procedures could be overlooked. And that’s when an objective perspective is most helpful.
So we jumped in to help. We knew we could help Ricky and his team streamline their workflows the proper way. With a customised Systemise and Scale Up Plan, they won’t be going out of the frying pan and into the fire.
In terms of systems and processes, we were just like any other businesses starting out. We were a mess [and] procedures were not followed. It does come at a cost after, and it’s not an immediate problem that you actually see as part of your business.
What you guys have done has been really helpful to actually allow us to visualise what our core processes are, where different team members come in, and to actually ask the question of which areas can we increase our efficiencies in, what can be automated.
It just helped us as business owners to understand a bit more about our processes and where loopholes lie.
Charmaine Ooi
Co-founder at Taste Studios
Ricky’s Systemise and Scale Up Journey
The Deep Dive
The first step was to understand Ricky’s entire business process. It was important for us to understand all the nitty-gritty details and which parts Ricky loved and hated, so we could take the latter off his plate.
Design & Implementation
Once Ricky agreed to our customised Systemise & Scale Up plan, our team got to work setting up new apps, automations and streamlining his processes.
Rollout & Support
While our team worked with Ricky to implement the changes, we began shortlisting VA candidates that met all of his criteria. We also trained his chosen VA on all the upcoming systems and processes.
Whenever we came to you guys with a problem, it was always suggestions [such as] ‘Hey, actually, you can do this quicker, this way would be more effective’ or ‘This method would be more cost-effective.’
Having that mindset and knowing that you guys are seeing it from [our] lens, in the best interest of the business, that was really helpful. That was what gave us the confidence.
Charmaine Ooi
Co-founder at Taste Studios
The Result
After all the changes were made, Ricky’s business can practically run on its own, giving him more time to focus on strategy and other higher-level tasks.
Streamlined order processing
With custom Make automations connected to Google Sheets, Ricky and his team can now generate order quantities, check for errors, and create manifest recaps with just a few clicks.
This cuts down their order processing time by roughly 45%!
Up-to-date customer journey
We helped Ricky’s team move their sales management (TallEmu) and email templates (Campaign Monitor) into HubSpot. Custom automations now allow them to auto-email their label designer once mockups are approved, auto-notify their clients regarding samples, and more. They also have a new leads pipeline and a customer success pipeline to cover all their bases.
Clear SOPs & trained Virtual Assistant support
Ricky now has a HubSpot User Manual to help with their new sales pipeline, and a summary report to navigate their new automations—all with video walkthroughs. We also helped him hire and onboard a Virtual Assistant, and trained them on all his new systems and processes.
Before
After
Want to upgrade your processes just like Ricky?
Training Ricky’s Virtual Assistant
Unfortunately, the first virtual assistant we hired for Ricky wasn’t the perfect fit, which can happen.
As part of our Client Happiness Guarantee, we wanted to make sure that Ricky was completely satisfied. So we hired a new virtual assistant and gave Ricky 1 week for free to settle in with his new VA.
He has since been working swimmingly with VA Julie, who now looks after the following for Ricky:
VA Julie’s Work Samples
A better business set-up makes life a lot easier
Scaling a business all boils down to having better tech and processes. And with a skilled VA onboard, all that’s left for business owners to do is strategise and unwind!
Ricky and his team were great to work with. We’re especially proud to support VA Julie with healthcare benefits, a dedicated Virtual Office Manager, and other ongoing virtual assistant perks.
By properly supporting his VA, we’re also continuing to help Ricky’s business.
We do feel a bit more confident. I think especially since we knew that we were guided by someone who actually knew what they were doing at the start.
In terms of order processing, the Make automation was really helpful.
Just one click of a button to get a good idea as to what our orders look like.
It allows team members to get the job done to less than half of the time.
Charmaine Ooi
Co-founder at Taste Studios
