SavvySally

SavvySally Fractional Operations Manager | I sort out your business admin cr@p | All the things you “should” be doing, done!

It's my birthday today! My third as a business owner, not the business's, mine.When you're little, a birthday means pres...
23/09/2026

It's my birthday today! My third as a business owner, not the business's, mine.

When you're little, a birthday means presents wrapped badly by someone who tried, and a party where everyone sings a bit too loud. In your sixties, it means a nice cup of tea and being genuinely pleased nobody's brought balloons.

I'll be working as usual during the day. Invoices don't know it's my birthday, and neither does anyone's inbox. Then in the evening I'm off out for a meal, which at this point is basically the entire celebration, and I'm perfectly happy about that.

I like to think age earns you the right to ask for something practical and useful. What I actually get is scented candles, novelty mugs and smellies I daren't use because I may be allergic to them! I might treat myself to some lovely Penhaligon's perfume, I bloody love it.

Three years running this business and I still get the same small thrill signing off for the day. That hasn't worn off yet, even if candles on a cake have started needing their own risk assessment.

I nearly quit eighteen months ago.Three months with no clients at all. Not slow months, none. Every week I opened my lap...
21/09/2026

I nearly quit eighteen months ago.

Three months with no clients at all. Not slow months, none. Every week I opened my laptop to an empty diary and an inbox with nothing in it worth answering.

I got to the point where I was looking at other jobs and applying for them. Proper, permanent, someone-else-pays-the-wages jobs. I thought the business wasn't going to work, and I was already halfway to accepting that.

Then I went to a networking event and got talking to someone who became my next client. I've been working with them for the last fourteen months.

What kept me going wasn't one big turnaround moment. I kept turning up to networking events even when the last three hadn't led anywhere. I kept posting even when nothing seemed to be landing, and most days it felt like shouting into an empty room.

Nothing dramatic changed overnight. But from around May 2025, the work started coming in properly: steady income, a few more clients, a few more projects, and finally some breathing room.

Now, in September 2026, I can say I'm glad I didn't give up.

What I learned: the work you do when nothing seems to be working is usually the work that pays off later. You can't see which bit it'll be at the time, so the only real option is to keep doing it anyway.

20/09/2026

Today at Feral Fest.

I tried Qigong, but realised my new knee wasn’t up to it just yet. I sat on a swing, I drank delicious coffee, ate gorgeous wholesome food, did some breathe work, had a play in the woodlands (rewild!) and listened to a talk about Big D!ck Energy.

And the sun shone all day!

Really enjoyed it.

18/09/2026

Twenty to thirty warm contacts. That's roughly how many a client of mine reckons she could go back to right now, if she had the time to look.

They're already people who've either expressed and interest in her services or bought from her before. Existing relationship, no cold pitch needed, no convincing them she's legitimate.

Just contacts sitting in a CRM she describes as old and in need of a clean, so nobody's touched them in months. A CRM that was never linked to her email account. A CRM that just contained names, company name, email addresses and the product they were interested in.

That's the story with a lot of small businesses.

New enquiries get all the attention because they feel urgent. The people who've already reached out or said yes once get filed away and forgotten about.

My plan for this one: move the contact data to the new CRM we're building, cross check against emails, add all relevant information and then flag who's worth a call this month versus who's gone cold.

What it's costing her: new business is expensive and slow. It takes time, marketing and a fair bit of luck to turn a stranger into a client.

These twenty or thirty aren't strangers. They're already warmed up, and the only thing stopping a sale is nobody's picked up the phone or sent an email.

That's not a pipeline problem. That's a to-do list problem.

16/09/2026

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We started with a new client this month whose entire CRM is based in email, 2 spreadsheets and memory.Every client conve...
16/09/2026

We started with a new client this month whose entire CRM is based in email, 2 spreadsheets and memory.

Every client conversation lives in someone's inbox. Which inbox depends on who first picked up the enquiry, and there are four addresses doing that job: a general one, two individual ones, and one nobody remembers whether it's still checked or not.

Nothing's lost. It's scattered. Ask where a client's last conversation sits and the answer starts with "let me check a few places."

Then there's invoicing. One person does all of it, from their own inbox, working from memory of who's paid and who hasn't. Its a single point of failure because it works, right up until they're off sick or on holiday, and then nobody else can say whether an invoice even went out.

Our plan: get client information into one place it can actually live, not just get mentioned in passing, 'a single source of truth'. Redirect every inbox into it, so it stops mattering who opened the email first. Build an invoicing process simple enough to survive one person being away for a week.

What it's costing them now: time spent hunting for information that should take seconds to find, and a business that stalls the moment one person isn't there.

That's not a system. That's two people, chaos and a huge portion of hope.

"That's the sort of nagging I like"A client said that to me last week, after I'd flagged the same unpaid invoice for the...
14/09/2026

"That's the sort of nagging I like"

A client said that to me last week, after I'd flagged the same unpaid invoice for the third week running.

Nobody hires someone to chase up an enquiry that's stalled, remind them an insurance certificate needs renewing before a client asks for it, or flag an invoice that went out three weeks ago and still hasn't been paid.

None of that feels big enough to worry about on its own.

But I've watched enough businesses grow to know how it plays out. One missed follow up is a mild annoyance. A handful of them add up fast, costing hours and money nobody notices leaving.

The bits I nag about:

➡️ An enquiry that came in and never got a reply

➡️ An invoice that went out, wasn't paid on time and was never followed up

➡️ Certificates, licences or insurance running close to their renewal date

And probably a lot more, you know, useful, but small 'stuff'.

None of it is exciting work. It's also exactly the work that stops a growing business tripping over its own feet.

I'll keep nagging.

Next Wednesday!! The 16th September. I’m back hosting Colwyn Bay GET **IT DONE CLUB: connect - co-work - collaborate at ...
10/09/2026

Next Wednesday!! The 16th September. I’m back hosting Colwyn Bay GET **IT DONE CLUB: connect - co-work - collaborate at Bryn Woodlands House

Thanks to Tracey Toulminfor letting us use her lovely space again!

The speaker is Julie Milner and I’m looking forward to hearing her talk!

And our sponsor this month is Caroline Hodson.

It’ll be great to see some local people there and maybe a few from further afield too!

The link to book is in the comments! Let me know if you’re coming!

Do you really need an Ops Manager yet?Maybe not.I’m saying that as someone who does this for a living.You don’t need to ...
10/09/2026

Do you really need an Ops Manager yet?

Maybe not.

I’m saying that as someone who does this for a living.

You don’t need to bring someone in just because your business has reached a certain turnover or because someone on LinkedIn has told you that successful businesses have an Operations Manager.

But there is a point where doing everything yourself starts to become a bit bloody ridiculous.

You’re still dealing with the enquiries, sorting out the team, chasing people, keeping an eye on projects, answering questions, fixing things that have gone wrong and generally being the person everyone comes to when they don’t know what to do next.

You tell yourself it’s fine because you’re managing.

You’re probably spending a hell of a lot of your time doing things that someone else could be taking ownership of.

The problem is that most business owners don’t decide they need an Ops Manager at that point.

They wait until they’re completely fed up.

Until things are being missed.

Until the team are frustrated.

Until clients are starting to notice.

Until the owner is working stupid hours just trying to keep everything moving.

Then they say, “Right, we need someone.”

Of course you do.

But now you’re trying to bring someone into a business that is already under pressure, while you’re still too busy to properly hand things over.

That’s not an easy place to start.

I think there’s a lot to be said for bringing operational support in a bit earlier.

Not necessarily a full-time Ops Manager. It might be someone for a few hours a week who can start taking ownership of the things that are clogging up your head and your diary.

They can start looking at the processes, sorting out the systems, taking things off your plate and gradually becoming the person who deals with the stuff you shouldn’t still be dealing with.

And as the business grows, the role can grow too.

You don’t have to wait until the house is on fire before you decide you probably need a fire extinguisher.

Sometimes the sensible thing is to put one in the cupboard beforehand.

I know. Very convenient advice from an Ops Manager.

But seriously, if you keep thinking “we’re not quite ready yet”, have a look at what you’re actually spending your time doing.

If you’re spending more and more of it keeping the business running rather than growing it, you might be more ready than you think.

09/09/2026

Anglesey this morning was fab! gave a little workshop on smartphone photography and it was so much fun! Here’s my photos and the videos are Lees!

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