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Case study · The founder stops being the system

A retainer business that no longer runs through the founder's inbox.

Invoicing, CRM entries, project admin and lead replies all went through one person, so scaling meant working longer. We built one hub and let the admin run around the founder instead of through him.
← All workSquare Studio
Agency
UI/UX agency on high-value retainers
Size
Founder-run
Location
Luxembourg
Stack
Productive.io · Google Drive · Email routing · AI drafting

  • 50h+

    saved every month

  • 40%

    less manual work

  • 30 days

    to measurable results

As reported on the engagement

What changed

The Square Studio engagement, before and after.

Before

  • ✕Invoicing, CRM, project management and admin handled manually
  • ✕No systems or automation behind a growing retainer roster
  • ✕Client work squeezed by operational overhead

What we built

  • Productive.io as the hub for projects, CRM and invoicing
  • Automatic lead capture into the CRM, with reply drafts generated
  • Invoices generated and sent automatically; contracts and invoices auto-filed to Google Drive
  • Email analysis and routing, so only what needs the founder reaches him

Capacity to take on additional clients · The business runs without operational drag on the founder

See it running

Recordings from the engagement: the automations and dashboards as they work.

RecordingPortfolio posting: one finished project is published to the website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Behance, Dribbble, Clutch, Contra, Sortlist and X.
RecordingThe wider system: dozens of connected scenarios around the project tool's API, each handling one job.
The same pattern in a larger agency

As the agency grows, this is the founder bottleneck.

The same problem with more people waiting: discounts, scope changes and new clients queue for the same two people. The fix is policy before software. Approval thresholds are written down, anything under them approves itself with a logged trail, and partners see only what actually needs them.

How the Diagnostic finds it

Working with TINKR has allowed us to improve and exponentially increase our process automation, lightening our workload, saving us a lot of time, and allowing us to interface with new leads.

Nicola Trabace

Nicola TrabaceCEO & Founder, Square Studio

Next caseA signed proposal now starts the project on its own.JUNO Creative →

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Scoped on a call, fixed before we start Measured from your own data Two weeks to a ranked roadmap Run online, around your calendar Your tools stay, integrated EU data, by default Scoped on a call, fixed before we start Measured from your own data Two weeks to a ranked roadmap Run online, around your calendar Your tools stay, integrated EU data, by default