Operations-Heavy SMBs & Scale-Ups
Scale your operations before they scale your problems.
You've grown past the point where the founder can touch everything. Operations that worked with 10 people break with 30. Automations built by different people at different times now conflict with each other. When someone leaves, their processes leave with them.
This is the operational adolescence every successful SMB goes through. The question isn't whether to professionalize operations—it's whether you do it proactively or reactively. Reactive costs more and hurts more.
Stratum helps SMBs and scale-ups build the operational foundation for their next phase of growth. Not enterprise bureaucracy—just enough structure to scale without chaos.
Common Pain Points
Founder in the Loop
CEO still approving things, answering questions, and solving problems that should be handled by process.
Undocumented Automations
Zapier zaps, scripts, and integrations built by different people. No one knows what they all do.
Key Person Dependencies
When Sarah is out, nothing works right. When Mike left, three processes broke.
Exponential Operational Load
2x revenue = 4x operational complexity. Growth creates chaos faster than you can hire.
Unmaintainable Automation
"We tried Zapier" but now it's a tangle no one wants to touch. Fear of breaking things.
No Operational Ownership
Systems exist but no one owns them. Problems get fixed reactively. No one watches for drift.
Mistakes We See Repeatedly
Operational Challenges in SMB & Scale-Ups
- —Startup culture resistant to "process" and "documentation"
- —Limited budget for operational investment
- —Speed-to-market pressure conflicting with building right
- —Generalists who built systems now too busy to maintain them
- —Investors expecting growth metrics, not operational metrics
- —Fear that structure will kill startup agility
The Transformation
Before
- -Founder still in operational loops
- -Automations built by different people, undocumented
- -Key person leaves, processes break
- -Growth creates exponential operational load
- -Fear of touching existing automations
- -No one owns operational health
After
- +Founder focused on strategy, not operations
- +Documented, owned, monitored automations
- +Processes survive personnel changes
- +Operations scale with growth, not against it
- +Confidence to iterate and improve systems
- +Clear operational ownership with proactive monitoring
This Is For You If...
This is for you if...
- +SMBs growing past 15-20 employees and feeling operational strain
- +Scale-ups preparing for Series A/B and needing operational maturity
- +Businesses where the founder is still the bottleneck for decisions
- +Companies with revenue growth outpacing operational capacity
- +Organizations preparing for acquisition and needing clean operations
- +Teams that have accumulated automation debt and need to clean up
Where Stratum Helps
In Practice
Case Example
B2B SaaS Company (45 employees)
Situation
Growing 100% YoY. Founder still approving deals, answering support escalations, and making operational decisions.
The Problem
Founder working 70+ hour weeks. Three critical automations built by a departed engineer. No documentation. Customer onboarding taking 3x longer than it should.
What We Did
Audited all processes and automations. Rebuilt onboarding workflow with clear ownership. Created operational playbooks. Established monitoring for critical systems.
Outcome
Founder reduced to 50-hour weeks. Onboarding time cut 60%. Zero automation failures in 6 months (previously monthly). Team confident to iterate on systems.
Typical Results
-30%
Founder Time
Hours reclaimed weekly
-60%
Onboarding Time
Customer time-to-value
99.9%
System Reliability
Zero failures in 6 months
Is This Right For You?
Ideal For
- +SMBs feeling operational growing pains
- +Scale-ups preparing for next funding round
- +Founder-led companies ready to delegate operations
- +Businesses with accumulated automation debt
Not Ideal For
- -Very early startups still finding product-market fit
- -Organizations not ready to invest in operational infrastructure
- -Teams expecting quick fixes without process work
How We Work With SMB & Scale-Ups
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