Stories from the industries we build for
A bakery and a relief charity after a flood have little in common, yet they lose time in the same way: orders arrive in too many places and money is hard to follow.
A home bakery that grew into a cake studio, a weekend bread club and festive hampers, all from one kitchen
It started with birthday cakes for the neighbours. Then came a Saturday bread round, and every December a run of hampers. The baking stayed the same. Keeping track of who ordered what, for which day, got harder every season.
A family clinic with a pharmacy next door, where prescriptions and test results went missing between rooms
The clinic has good doctors and a careful pharmacist. A prescription written in one room and filled in another, a test result waiting in someone else’s inbox: that was where patients slipped through.
A small school with an evening study centre and a calendar full of community events
Parents trust a school with their children, and they expect the small things to work, like a fee reminder that arrives on time. With a day school, evening classes and events all year, the small things kept piling up.
A volunteer relief group that has to move fast when the river rises
Floods are coming more often and hitting harder. When they do, a small charity has hours to find its volunteers, open a donation drive and get supplies to the right camp. The rest of the year it runs quieter programmes, and donors expect the same care with their money either way.
Three neighbourhood salons under one name, with regulars who expect to be known at each of them
Each salon has its own stylists and its own Saturday rush. Regulars move between them and expect their history to follow. With a separate book at every salon, that history stayed behind.
A same-day delivery start-up that outgrew its group chats
Two founders promised local shops same-day delivery and a real person on the phone. The vans ran on time. The office ran on group chats and a shared spreadsheet.
A family workshop where the craft is old and the office is catching up
Three generations have made the same fittings for the same kind of customer. The founder ran it from memory. The next generation wants it written down, so the business no longer depends on one person.
A dining room by day and a delivery kitchen by night, sharing one fridge
The restaurant fills at lunch and dinner. After nine the same kitchen cooks for a delivery-only menu under another name. Two brands, one team and one set of shelves made it hard to see which side was paying its way.
A small audio company with a few shows, a paying membership and a live night every month
Listeners want to support the shows they love. The team kept making that harder than it should be, with one tool for members, another for tickets and a third for the shop.
A student turning a side project into a small business between lectures
Plenty of businesses start in a bedroom with a laptop and a good idea. Keeping orders, customers and money straight while still sitting exams is the hard part.
A market trader who sells at the stall on Saturday and online the rest of the week
The stall has regulars who come every weekend, and some of them now want to order on a Wednesday. The trader keeps one list of what is on the van and what is left at home, and the website sells from the same list, so nothing is sold twice.
A community nurse whose visits follow her from house to house
Most of her day is spent in other people’s kitchens. Notes written in the car, a prescription to pass to the pharmacy and a follow-up to book all used to wait until she was back at a desk.
A courier who started with one van and now runs a small fleet
The first year was phone calls and a notebook. As more vans and drivers joined, shops began calling to ask where their parcels were.
A grower who sells straight to restaurants and households in the city
The harvest depends on the weather, and the weather is less predictable than it used to be. When a heatwave brings a crop in a week early, buyers need to hear about it that day.
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