Providing “pain relief” for a rapidly growing company through project management VA support
Meet Jay Chopra, founder of Making Shift Happen, a boutique consultancy focused on leadership development, workplace wellbeing, and change management. A period of rapid business growth presented an unexpected challenge: the team struggled to manage the surge in demand, leading to a “pinch-point” where time and structure were in short supply.
Our star team member Victoria Lincoln worked with Jay as a virtual project manager during this pivotal expansion. The goal was to set them up for future success and reduce their admin burden by setting up robust systems and structures.
Jay described his experience of working with us as “pain relief” to the businesses’ “growing pains”, saying that without our support,
“We wouldn’t have been able to survive, honestly. We would have had to turn a lot of business away. The overall impact was stellar.”
Jay Chopra PhD
Managing Director
As the business evolved, so did their needs. Virtually Priceless now provides Making Shift Happen with social media support to boost their online presence and ad-hoc admin to stay organised and in control.
The problem: Business at a “pinch-point” with a lack of time and structure to manage high demand
When a business experiences a surge in demand, even one with years of experience behind it, the influx can quickly become overwhelming if systems haven’t evolved to match the growth. This is exactly what happened to Jay. He had “almost too much business coming in” with “very limited bandwidth”.
With a flood of new business and limited bandwidth, Jay’s team faced overwhelming demands. Manual processes using spreadsheets couldn’t keep up, leading to a chaotic environment where key tasks were hard to manage. Things were “snowballing out of control” and it became increasingly difficult to “juggle all the balls”.
Jay knew a key issue was “not having proper processes to manage the projects and business development”. They needed someone to help – fast.
The solution: Project management systems to suit the emerging business needs
When Jay came to us, “the goal was to put more structure in the business, organising the business systems and processes”. The solution needed “flexibility to be able to pivot to the emerging needs”, but Jay didn’t know what that looked like.
Victoria stepped in as a virtual project manager. After working with the team closely to understand the business and current situation, she began implementing monday.com to streamline operations. This digital tool enabled efficient management of enquiries, projects, and customer follow-ups, significantly increasing the team’s capacity.
Not only that, but we managed the process and implementation to ensure the systems were adopted successfully. Victoria also worked closely with the wider team and Jay trusted her to handle essential tasks to move the business forward, such as liaising with key stakeholders, business development, and admin and marketing support. This allowed Jay to focus on developing client relationships and delivering sessions.
The result: “Stellar” project management support that acted as “pain relief” for the rapidly growing business
Jay described the support as “pain relief” during the company’s growing pains. “We wouldn’t have survived without Victoria’s support, and would have had to turn a lot of business away” he noted. He also said:
“It was great having someone flexible and adaptable. She provided us with a structure that allowed us to rapidly adjust to the rate of growth, which was very valuable both from a systems perspective but also helping keep control of everything that was going on.
I’m usually very slow to recommend people in life, but with Victoria, I wouldn’t hesitate. It was easy to trust her completely and she was almost too efficient – I didn’t have to outline what to do or how to do it.”
Flexible project management for businesses with growing pains
At Virtually Priceless, we love supporting growing businesses with project management and making their lives easier – just like we did for Making Shift Happen. Whether you need regular or one-off assistance, we become your trusted partner, guiding you through the unexpected challenges of running a business.
We offer project-based services to set up structures and systems. This can involve CRMs, workflows, client onboarding processes, task management platforms, and anything else your team needs for maximum efficiency.
We also provide ongoing assistance that can adapt to your needs. As and when you have busy periods or need to expand into new areas, we can bring in additional resources from our wider team of skilled virtual assistants.
Experience seamless growth with Virtually Priceless by your side. Contact us for a free 30-minute consultation to discover how we can help your business thrive amid rapid expansion.
Watch our Behind Every Successful Leader video interview where Virtually Priceless founder Holly talks to Jay about how having a VA meant he could scale his business and reclaim valuable time and focus.