You have the tools.
But your business is still running out of your inbox, four half-written notes, a text you sent yourself on Tuesday, and one sticky note that's now basically emotionally essential.
Maybe you've already decided the problem is your systems. Maybe you've decided the problem is you, and that you're just bad at doing the admin stuff. Either way the part where you get stuck is the same: you can't tell which thing to fix first, so nothing ends up getting fixed.
What I hear most
“But Molli, I bought all the software everyone recommends. Why am I still overwhelmed?”
Because having the tools for things to work and setting up a system with those tools so you're actually supported are two different things.
A system is just the way things get done. The order you do them in, where the information lives, what happens after a client says yes. I'm 99% sure you already have one (hell yeah you do!). It might live in your head, or on that sticky note on your external monitor, and that absolutely counts. It just isn't written down anywhere, so you can't hand it to anyone, including future you.
It's usually the number of places the work lives in
When people say they're overwhelmed, this is what they usually tell me about:
The multiple email accounts they check
Calendars that aren't synced, so you're never 100% sure if a time will work
The same client detail typed into three tools and yet somehow not current in any of them
The amount of work is rarely the part that stalls the brilliant founders I work with. Most of that scatter traces back to a tool decision made somewhere along the way, usually a setup built around the product designer's idea of how people work.
When that kind of setup fails, it fails slowly: you say you'll do it tomorrow, then again, until you stop opening the tool and you're carrying the whole thing in your head without noticing it happened.
By that point everything looks equally broken, which is why it's so hard to tell where to start.
What we actually look at
Show me the backend you're too embarrassed to show anyone else.
We'll skip the part where you apologize for it, but you may see me get giddy with how much potential I see in what you're struggling with.
We'll chat about all kinds of systems things for ninety minutes:
How work moves after someone says yes, and where it stops moving
Where the same information is getting entered more than once
What should be automated, and what absolutely shouldn't
Where your files live, and whether you (or a team) can find them under pressure
The tools you're paying for and not using, and what that's telling us
The other half
Getting you from point A to point B is the visible half. While we're in there I'm also working out which parts of your setup were built for how someone else works, and what you'll keep doing once I'm off the call.
What you leave with
The recording
The full video of the session with the screen share, so you're not taking notes while we're working. Come back to it whenever you're ready to build.
A map of how your business actually runs
Your whole business, or the specific systems we chat about. Current state first, so you can see where things stop. Then the state we're aiming at, so you know what you're building toward. It's a visual, and you can hand it to whoever helps you.
A fix-first plan
What to do this week, what can wait, and what to hand off as soon as you have help. Ordered against your real capacity, because if we didn't, we'd have just created an even bigger recipe for burnout.
Anyone can hand you a list of everything that's wrong with your systems. The useful part is knowing which one, fixed first, makes the next three easier.
And the point of doing it in this order is that we want you to build the foundation for systems that you can maintain, grow with, and iterate on. You should be able to come back to it in a few months to tweak it without feeling overwhelmed again.
What this looks like from the other side
“I can't even call her my OBM because she does so much more than that for us. She's my right hand. I couldn't imagine having this business without her.”
That's an ongoing working relationship rather than a single session, and the thinking behind it is the same either way. On a call you get ninety minutes of it, and the plan is yours to keep.
“I've tried systems before and they didn't stick”
Probably true
Most people booking this have a graveyard of abandoned tools behind them. I'm not going to let you feel bad about that. In fact, I'm right there with you. I am the number one kind of person who abandons tools.
We're even going to be grateful for those times where we've given up systems and tools and software because now we have data for what doesn't work.
Why starting over doesn't hold
Starting over feels good. Everything is fresh, nothing's broken yet, and the setup itself gives you a real hit of dopamine. Then you hit the same problems again, because whatever broke it the first time was never addressed.
So we iterate instead of rebuilding. We change the one thing that's causing the friction, in the place it's causing it, and leave the rest alone.
It's also why the plan is ordered. If you walk out of ninety minutes with fourteen things to fix, you'll do none of them, and honestly, neither would I. Well, unless it was a really fun-to-build automation.
Book the Consulting Call
$397. Ninety minutes, on video, and even with your screen shared. Pick a time that works for you, and afterwards you get the recording, the map and a custom plan.
If you'd rather we chat and then I full on build it too, that's The Build, which starts at $1,200, and your Consulting Call fee applies toward it if you upgrade.
If you're not sure yet, the questions below cover most of it, and you can always email me at molli@virtuallymolli.com before you book.
Questions people ask
“I have a really specific way of doing things.”
Hell yeah you do! And that's what we build around. I love when people come opinionated about what they do and don't like. Most of what feels like your specific way is worth keeping. Some of it is a default setting you never changed and have been finding ways to work around ever since. Part of us chatting is taking the time to tell those two apart.
“Couldn't I figure this out myself?”
You probably could. Most of my clients could. The question is whether a few evenings or even weeks of figuring it out is worth more to you than the work you're actually in business to do, and whether at the end of them you'd have picked the right thing to start with.
Do I need to use Notion?
The deliverable I build for you lives in Notion, because it's the most flexible tool for this kind of work. The strategy applies to whatever you're already using. I'm not here to blow up your tech stack.
Will you actually fix my systems on the call?
This is a mapping and strategy session. We map the fix so that you, or whoever helps you, can build it. If you'd rather I build it, that's The Build, and your Consulting Call fee applies toward it.
What if I don't know whether I need this, a VA, or an OBM?
A VA executes what you direct and needs your direction to do it. An OBM sets up the strategy behind your operations, owns the work, and builds the system as the need shows up. If you can't tell which one you need, it's usually because the work hasn't been mapped yet, and that's what this call does.
What if my business is truly a disaster?
Shame has no place in operations. I've seen the 47 browser tabs, the client information spread across four apps, the system that's actually just your memory. Bring it as it is and we'll sort it in a way that will actually work for you.
What if I'm not sure I'm ready?
If nothing in the backend feels sustainable and you can't name what to fix first, that's exactly the stage this is built for. You don't have to have it organized before we talk. Talking it through out loud with a systems specialist is part of the reason why people book the call with me.