Let's Learn Together: Operational Optimization
From manual spreadsheets to scalable systems. Eliminating operational bottlenecks to enable business growth
The Challenge
Let's Learn Together is a Houston-based tutoring agency providing personalized in-home academic support for children ages 3-18. As the business grew, their operations became increasingly complex: tracking tutors, managing schedules, invoicing families, and reconciling payments.
Everything ran through manual spreadsheets. Billing calculations were done by hand. Invoice generation was copy-paste. Every week, hours disappeared into tedious administrative work that could be automated, but the team didn't have the technical background to know where to start.
They needed two things: immediate relief from the spreadsheet chaos, and a long-term plan to adopt software that could scale with the business.
What We Did
This was a 2-month advisory engagement focused on optimizing operations and guiding technology decisions.
Phase 1: Immediate Relief
First, we fixed the spreadsheets. Rebuilt the billing and invoicing workbooks with proper formulas, automated calculations, and clearer organization. Not a complete solution, but enough to buy back hours every week while we planned the long-term fix.
"I still have a lot of work to do, but your simple formulas and set up are saving me hours and so much stress."
- Sara Ho, Founder
Phase 2: Vendor Evaluation
Evaluated three business management platforms designed for tutoring agencies: Teachworks, Sawyer, and TutorCruncher. Sat in vendor demos, asked technical questions, and helped the team understand trade-offs between features, pricing, and complexity.
Key Decision Factors
- •Fit with internal processes: Which platform matched their existing workflow vs. forcing them to change
- •Team size and simplicity: Avoiding over-engineered solutions with features they didn't need
- •Pricing and scalability: Cost-effective now, but able to grow with the business
- •Client and customer experience: Easy for families to book, pay, and communicate
- •Ease of adoption: How quickly the team could learn the new system and start using it
Phase 3: Implementation Support
After evaluating all three platforms, Teachworks emerged as the clear choice. It matched their processes, scaled appropriately for their team size, and provided the best balance of features and simplicity.
Provided technical guidance during onboarding: data migration planning, workflow setup, and troubleshooting integration questions. The platform is now ready to launch and replace the manual spreadsheet process entirely.
The Result
Weekly time savings from optimized spreadsheets for immediate relief before platform adoption
Vendors evaluated with technical guidance to make an informed decision
From chaos to clarity. Spreadsheet optimization to vendor selection to implementation
Platform launching soon to replace manual processes with scalable automation
"...and am LOVING this new system! Saves me so many hours of tedious work!"
- Sara Ho, Founder
What This Demonstrates
Technical advisory for non-technical clients. Not every business needs custom software. Sometimes they need someone who can evaluate off-the-shelf solutions, ask the right questions, and guide them to the best choice for their situation.
Understanding operations, not just code. Optimizing spreadsheets isn't glamorous work, but it solved an immediate problem while buying time for the real solution. Good consulting means solving the problem in front of you first.
Vendor evaluation with business context. Led technical conversations in vendor demos, translated features into business value, and helped a non-technical team make a confident decision between competing platforms.
Two-phase approach: quick wins + long-term fix. Immediate relief (spreadsheet optimization) while planning the sustainable solution (platform adoption). This keeps the business moving while building the right foundation.
Ready to optimize your operations for growth?
From operational audits to the right technology choices, we help businesses eliminate bottlenecks and scale. Let's talk about your growth goals.
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- ✓Identify your biggest growth bottleneck
- ✓Honest assessment of what will move the needle
- ✓Zero pressure or commitment required
- ✓Clear next steps if we're a good fit
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