Own an agency you don’t have to run
Get a COO + an Operations Manager to turn your operational engine into a performance and profit driver so you can scale.
– You don’t have to figure out how to delegate
– You don’t have to build your own processes & systems
– You don’t have to project manage your client delivery
We pull things out of your head and magically make it happen.
Get Out of Your Ops
Double Your Profit
Focus on Your vision
too busy to get less busy?
You ARE your business, and you’ve hit a growth ceiling. You’re leaving money on the table because you don’t have time to say yes to more clients. You’re a visionary, but you’re constantly being pulled back into the weeds by your team. What now?
They say, “streamline your systems” – but with what time, exactly? Also, you’d rather jump in an icy lake than create an SOP
Then you hear, “hire a VA.” A VA needs systems you don’t have time to build…and managing someone sounds like more work
Do you need a COO? But how do you make sure there’s an actual return on that hefty investment, and will they actually implement their strategies?
Are these the only options?
Turns out, you can get the strategy you need AND the implementation that will keep things off your plate for good.
We’ll build your engine and Run it
We designed Smooth Operator to free you up to scale while never requiring more than 2 hours of your time each week. Here’s what you can expect working with us:
First, we’ll extract your operational processes and systems from your brain and refine them into a powerful and documented engine for performance and profitability.
Then, we’ll match you with an Operations Manager who loves to relentlessly wrangle chaos into order and is excited to get things done for you from day one.
Finally, we’ll systematically move you through the 5 stages of building a scalable business. We’re going to be the COO brain in your business to refine your engine and give you all the structure you need for scale.
What do you have to do? Show up, and answer our questions. That’s it. You don’t have to figure out how to delegate, or how exactly your systems work, or how to make things better. That’s our job.
You deserve to be the face of your business and focus on the big picture
We’ll do the work to get you there
Our Founder: Ashlee Berghoff
Ashlee Berghoff is an MBA and systems strategist with the mind of an architect and the heart of an entrepreneur. She started her company in 2017 on a quest for freedom and autonomy.
Entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful tools we can use to take back our time and express our deepest strengths, but Ashlee quickly discovered that growing a business beyond yourself is far from automatic. In fact, making the transition from ‘being’ the business to building something beyond you can be harder than getting started in the first place.
So, what’s the solution? Ashlee discovered that entrepreneurs need solid workflows, operational strategy, and someone in the trenches to get things done.
They need just a bit of a COO’s brain, documented systems magically extracted from their brains, and an operations pro in the co-pilot seat who they don’t have to manage. From that discovery and her experience supporting over 100 entrepreneurs, Ashlee created Smooth Operator – a done-for-you program to give entrepreneurs every element they need without having to shell out for a team of internal hires.
Ashlee is the author of Eureka Results: How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Their Best Ideas into Reality, which is an essential field guide for anyone who struggles with overwhelm and shiny object syndrome.
You don’t have to become a productivity nerd to bring your best ideas to life, but you’ll get there faster when you have someone like Ashlee in your corner.
“I don’t have to think about a damn thing except my actual job…My admin load will be a fraction of what it was because I have benefited from the genius of Ashlee Berghoff who is some kind of Moses, parting the sea to create a clear path through my admin/system/to-dos I was drowning in…. I cannot believe how streamlined my system is now any more than I can believe I just made a biblical reference.”
– Caroline Mays, Writer, Switchblade Lemonade
Now [my business] feels like a legit business. Before, I was a freelancer who wasn’t sure how to grow things in the right ways. Now, after working with A Squared, I have those skills, I have those tools. I know what I need, I know what that needs to look like, and I know how to ask for it and support those who are supporting me.
I’m a lot more professional, my business is more professional, and we’re able to maintain a tight ship as we go into uncharted waters. It feels like a professional outfit.
– Doug Pohl, Founder of HealthTech Content
Get our playbook for owning a business you don’t have to run
If you know you want to scale but have no path forward and the common advice is getting under your skin, this is the playbook for you.
We’re not going to tell you to ‘just delegate’ or ‘hire a VA’ or ‘build some SOPs’. You deserve a deeper answer than that.
This playbook captures, step by step, the process we’ve refined to extract founders from their operations for good.
It’s 100% free – we believe your operations can be the most powerful driver for profit and performance in your business, and this is a great first step.