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About the Company
Saphineia is a manufacturing consultancy built by practitioners, senior leaders from P&G, Unilever, Tyson, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Mars, Kraft, and more. They bring big-company best practices directly to middle-market manufacturers, with deep expertise across operations, supply chain, plant management, finance, and food safety. When they came to YSO in early 2025, the firm was growing fast and needed operational infrastructure to match.
The Business Challenge
As co-founders of a rapidly scaling consultancy, Craig and Elliot were doing everything themselves, onboarding employees, running payroll, managing IT issues, and updating financial trackers, seven days a week. The work wasn't just time-consuming; it was the wrong work for two senior operators trying to grow a firm. As the team and client roster expanded, the gap between what they were doing and what they should be doing kept widening.
They were also cautious about outside help. Saphineia's work involves sensitive financial data and operational decision-making, so trust wasn't optional; it was the baseline requirement. A VA who was merely competent wasn't enough; they needed someone reliable, discreet, and detail-oriented enough to handle live financial systems and interact directly with their internal team.
"Before we brought in a VA, my co-founder and I were doing everything ourselves, seven days a week. It wasn't sustainable."
The Solution
YSO assigned a dedicated VA to Saphineia, supported by Account Manager Jenna, who mapped the firm's pain points and transferred that knowledge efficiently, saving Craig and Elliot hours of training time. The VA stepped in and took immediate ownership across:
Employee and contractor onboarding: Managing the process as the team scaled from 13 to 34 members
Financial tracking: Updating Excel-based forecasts and financial trackers with accuracy and consistency
Invoicing and billing: Creating and sending invoices in QuickBooks and tracking expenses in Expensify
CRM maintenance: Keeping Pipedrive records current as client volume grew
Scheduling and coordination: Managing calendars and internal logistics for the leadership team
IT coordination: Interfacing with customer support on technical issues so the co-founders didn't have to
Process documentation: Capturing internal workflows to support continuity as the team expanded
The VA became a trusted operational resource not just for Craig and Elliot, but for the broader team, reducing the leadership bottleneck and adding consistency across the firm's back-end operations.
The Results
In the months since the VA joined, Saphineia hasn't just gotten more organized; it's scaled. With back-end operations handled, Craig and Elliot were able to stay focused on client delivery and growth:
161% team growth: Scaled from 13 to 34 members with structured onboarding support throughout
Zero onboarding time lost: Jenna's structured process transferred operational context to the VA directly
7-day workweek eliminated: Co-founders got back their weekends, no longer buried in admin work
That operational stability didn't just reduce stress; it created the capacity for Saphineia to take on more clients, win bigger projects, and grow the team without the wheels coming off.
"We didn't really shop around for admin help. YSO came so highly recommended, we didn't feel the need. And they've exceeded our wildest expectations. Jenna and her team are incredibly organized, detail-oriented, and committed. Now, with our VA on the team, things are running smoother. She's taken work off our plates and even helps our team directly, which has been a huge time-saver. The whole onboarding process was efficient, transparent, and super clear, just like everything they do. We trust YSO completely and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them."
Craig & Elliot, Co-Founders of Saphineia