Operations Support without hiring a Full-Time Ops Manager

Operating processes for event professionals, so you can take on more clients without hiring a full-time ops manager or working longer hours.

A young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, blue eyes, and a slight smile, wearing a black textured top, standing indoors in front of a window with sunlight streaming in.

Hi! I’m Sarah Carroll

My vision is to help event professionals spend less time buried in admin and more time growing their revenue.

When your backend systems are organised and automated, business owners are finally free to focus on what actually generates more income, without working longer hours or needing to hire a team.

Are you currently:

Experiencing analysis paralysis choosing “the right” software — so you keep adding more to your toolkit

Spending hours trying to learn and set up systems instead of delivering events

Feeling stressed drowning in admin, and wasting time chasing tasks across multiple platforms

Freelance Operations Manager without the cost of hiring a full time COO

I help event planners & wedding professionals build streamlined, repeatable operating systems across:

  • Marketing Ops – lead capture, follow-ups, content workflows

  • Client Ops – sales, onboarding, service delivery, off-boarding

  • Internal Ops – project management, task ownership, SOPs, reporting

So your business can grow without chaos, burnout, or hiring a full-time ops manager.

The Reality

Right now, your business probably relies on:

  • Mental to-do lists

  • DMs, emails, notes apps, and spreadsheets that don’t talk to each other

  • Processes that change every time a new client comes in

  • You being involved in everything

Which means:

  • You’re capped at how many clients you can take on

  • Every busy period feels stressful instead of exciting

  • Stepping away for a day (or a holiday) feels impossible

The Dream:

Business operations should be built once and reused over and over again.

You don’t need:

  • A full-time Operations Manager

  • A $150k salary on your payroll

  • Complex business systems

You need:

  • Clear processes

  • The right tools set up properly

  • Systems designed for your business model

That’s why a freelance ops manager makes sense.

Business Operation Solutions

  • Attract the right leads, convert them efficiently, and onboard clients seamlessly.

    Content Creation, Approval & Scheduling

    • Content planning & strategy workflow

    • Content batching process

    • Platform-specific content workflows (IG, email, blog, Pinterest)

    • Caption & hashtag creation process

    • Content approval workflow (client / team)

    • Scheduling & publishing process

    • Repurposing workflow

    • Content performance review process

    Lead Generation & Capture

    • Website inquiry form workflow

    • CRM lead intake process

    • Lead magnet & opt-in workflow

    • DM → lead capture process

    • Referral intake process

    • Lead source tagging

    • Duplicate lead handling

    • Consent & opt-in tracking

    Lead Management & Sales

    • Lead qualification process

    • Sales pipeline stages

    • Discovery call booking workflow

    • Proposal creation & delivery

    • Follow-up & reminder workflows

    • No-response follow-ups

    • Sales acceptance / rejection process

    • Handover from sales → service delivery

    Client Onboarding

    • Contract & payment confirmation

    • Welcome email & client portal setup

    • Onboarding questionnaire

    • Kickoff call scheduling

    • Communication expectations setup

    • Client education workflow

    • Internal project creation from templates

    📌 Outcome: Leads flow smoothly into booked, onboarded clients without chaos.

  • Deliver consistent, high-quality events with minimal stress.

    Event Planning & Strategy

    • Event roadmap creation

    • Planning timeline & milestones

    • Budget planning & tracking

    • Vendor strategy & prioritisation

    • Client approvals & checkpoints

    • Scope management & change requests

    Vendor Management

    • Vendor sourcing & shortlisting

    • Outreach & availability tracking

    • Contract & payment tracking

    • Vendor onboarding process

    • Vendor communication workflows

    • Vendor deadline tracking

    • Vendor performance review

    Client Communication & Experience

    • Client update schedule

    • Approval workflows

    • Decision deadline reminders

    • Change request workflows

    • Centralised communication hub

    • Client expectation management

    • Escalation process

    Logistics & Production

    • Run-sheet creation

    • Floor plans & layouts

    • Bump-in / bump-out schedules

    • Equipment & hire tracking

    • Risk management & contingencies

    • Final confirmations

    Event Execution

    • On-site coordination checklist

    • Vendor arrival & setup tracking

    • Timeline management

    • Issue resolution process

    • Client & stakeholder management

    • Live change documentation

    Off-Boarding & Wrap-Up

    • Final payments & reconciliations

    • Vendor close-out

    • Client feedback & testimonials

    • Asset collection (photos/videos)

    • Referral request process

    • Project archiving

    📌 Outcome: Every client receives the same premium experience — regardless of how busy the business is.

  • Keep the business profitable, compliant, and scalable.

    Financial Operations

    • Pricing & package management

    • Quote & invoice workflows

    • Accounts receivable tracking

    • Accounts payable tracking

    • Expense tracking

    • Budget forecasting

    • Cash flow management

    • Tax & GST compliance

    • Financial reporting & reviews

    HR & People Operations

    • Role definition & capacity planning

    • Contractor onboarding

    • Access & permissions management

    • Task delegation workflows

    • Performance tracking

    • Contractor payment process

    • Offboarding workflows

    Systems & Tools Management

    • Tech stack documentation

    • Tool setup & configuration

    • Automation workflows

    • Data hygiene & backups

    • System audits

    • SOP creation & maintenance

Every business is different, so pricing is based on your specific process needs and a custom quote will be provided after we review your requirements.

The Outcome

Less admin. Reduce operating costs. More time to grow your business.

I act as your Ad-Hoc Operations Manager to:

  1. Build simple, streamlined operating systems using only two core platforms

  2. Reduce admin to less than 15 minutes a day

  3. Book more clients without working more hours

  4. Scale without hiring staff

Are you ready to reduce your admin and start saying yes to more clients?

👉 Book in for a free Q&A session to ask me your business operation questions!

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or book in a free Systems Strategy call.

  • Carroll Consulting is a business operations and OBM consultancy that helps event planners streamline their sales, client onboarding, service delivery, and off-boarding processes so they can save time, reduce stress, and grow revenue.

  • We work primarily with event and wedding planners, as well as other small service-based businesses looking to simplify their workflows and systems.

  • We help you identify inefficiencies, implement practical systems, and create repeatable workflows that save time, reduce mistakes, and improve the client experience — without you feeling overwhelmed by complicated software or processes.

  • We offer business systems audits, workflow mapping, CRM setup, process automation, and ongoing business operations consulting.

  • Yes! We help you set up, integrate, and optimise your existing tools to reduce admin, automate tasks, and improve visibility across your projects.

  • Full system build takes 2 weeks once the client provides us with all relevant business details.

    You will then be invited to an implementation video call where I teach you how to use your new system.

  • That’s fine! We focus on your biggest pain points first and build solutions that are relevant to you — you only pay for what you actually need.

  • Start with a free Systems Strategy Call where we review your current workflows, identify inefficiencies, and discuss potential solutions.

    From there, we create a tailored proposal, with scope of work and timelines.

  • Yes! We can create training documentation, guides, and sessions to ensure your team knows exactly how to follow new systems and workflows.

Not sure if you need help with your business operations?

Next Steps

Step 1: Book in a free Systems Strategy Call
Complete the contact form and book a time that suits you.
During this video call, we’ll map your current bottlenecks, identify opportunities, and confirm whether we’re the right fit.

Step 2: Secure Your Spot
If we decide to move forward, you’ll receive a service agreement to sign along with your payment link.

Step 3: Onboarding
Once your payment is complete, you’ll receive a client onboarding questionnaire so I can gather everything needed to build your system.

Step 4: System Build
Sit back, relax and focus on doing what you’re great at, while I design and build your complete CRM system behind the scenes.

Step 5: Implementation & Training
Once your system is ready, we’ll meet for a private implementation and training call so you feel confident using it day-to-day.

A young woman with shoulder-length wavy red hair, smiling in an outdoor setting with blurred trees and sunlight in the background, wearing a teal long-sleeve shirt.

Maddy - Wedding Celebrant & MC - I Do By MW

Sarah was an absolute game-changer for my business. She held space to understand my business problems and re-engineered not only my back-end, but my packages in a way that reduced my workload by 6 hours a week, and increased my revenue by 15%.

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