Ops manager for designers – and when you might need one

I bet I can read your mind right now: What on earth is an Operations manager for designers? 

Honestly, I don’t know about you, but I can’t keep up with the business titles we see on Instagram nowadays either. And my own title might be a part of it…whoops.

Recently, I had a graphic designer reach out to me and ask, “So, what does an operations manager actually do?”

This is a great question, since we all see the title “Online Business Manager” more than anything else in the online space – but it’s not quite the same as an Operations Manager. And if you’re a designer, you do want someone who specializes in working with entrepreneurs like yourself.

 

Here’s what an ops manager like myself does for you:

• Keep client work on track. This means I’m helping manage assignments and deadlines, both for yourself and your team if you have one! Ain’t no one got time for a hodgepodge of tasks that get lost in space. 

 

• QC sites – after your junior designer is done with a project, I step in and make sure there are no broken links and everything shows up the way it’s supposed to. You as the head designer don’t have to go through it yourself.

 

• Making sure the favicon is present for your webpage. Yes girl, I’m ALL about the little things #firstimpressions

 

• Strategizing launches. If you’re throwing your launches together last-minute, I promise you’re missing pieces AND missing out on money. We’re not about either of those things around here.

• Figuring out passive income routes. Eventually time runs out but you still want to grow – this means you have to find another way of making money without adding projects to your own plate. So, that design course or the eBook you’ve let sit in your brain for months…let’s get that out there ASAP, sit back and MAKE THAT MONEY HONEY.

 

• Working on visibility – a lot of this for designers means getting your Pinterest rockin’ and rollin’ mostly because it’s the easiest to implement. In fact, it’s already done because you’re constantly creating new pin-able content with your design work! 

 

• Social media post scheduling, especially strategic scheduling. You’re done with the random schedule when you work with me. Instead, we think about content pillars and content types, making sure they’re varied while also showing your highlight reel of your best work – which let’s face it. All of your work is bomb and you need to share it. This is how we create authority in your niche.

 

• Because I target agency and multi-biz owners, I make sure you have your onboarding process in line with the right forms and contracts for the right client. If you run a coaching business on one side and a DFY side or agency, that stuff can get jumbled quickly, especially if you’re doing it all manually. Talk about overwhelm. It’s okay to admit it. I gotchu with all the automations and labeling your Type A (or non Type A) personality could ever dream of.

 

• Problem solving and analyzing friction points in your business. I had a client once who sent me a long Voxer about how the review process for tasks in ClickUp was basically giving her nightmares. Enter Nikki the problem solver. I sent her a quick Loom video showing her how to filter her tasks in ClickUp to make this super duper easy fix. Done! One less notch of stress. 

 

• Teaching clients how to use the platforms and systems efficiently. If we should ever part ways, I want you to know how to operate it without me. You’re an adult who’s self-sufficient and I’m going to treat you like one 🙂 

 

• Managing client conflicts. One of my clients had a horror moment with someone who purchased a template from her shop, and almost instantly emailed for a refund. They’re immediately downloaded files, so it’s difficult. I took care of this because my client was at her wits end. You’re not alone anymore, sister! 

• Managing junior designers – in terms of meeting deadlines. We’ve had to tweak systems with clients for this because of gaps between what’s visually on the ClickUp checklist and what the junior designers actually do behind the scenes. Clarifying everything with them cuts down on unnecessary communication, and you don’t have to do any of it.

 

• Before design projects start, you need a LOT of info. Not to mention you’re booking months in advance, so the week before the start date on the project, we need to make sure you have everything you need to start the project and stay on track. This means links, passwords to accounts needed, making sure the client has gone into Pinterest and saved inspiration pins, gathering embed codes for Dubsado forms/whatever contact form they do, questionnaires…it’s all my problem now. All you have to do is CREATE. You know, the reason you started this whole deal.

Basically, I seep into all of the cracks and empty spaces that you don’t notice and fill those tiny holes. Think of me as the overseer, the right-hand woman to your empire.

 

So, when do you need an Ops manager?

 

1. Honestly…you need a team before hiring moi.

You need to have a team at some point. I know, I know, you think you can do it all on your own (or at least you want to, in an ideal world), but I promise you it’s worth the time it takes to make it happen.

A team doesn’t have to be big either – it can be you and a Virtual Assistant if that’s all you need right now! Usually someone who’s a strict implementer is the way to go when you’re first branching out. A lot of OBMs don’t implement or integrate, they just give you the strategy. 

I’ll tell you right now, that’s not me. I still like to have my hands in the pot because it lends to better client experience and teaching moments. I still implement the higher level stuff, building a sales page and putting systems into practice. But you need somebody I can assign out the things you need to get done but don’t need to do – like scheduling an email. You’re beyond over that.

 

2. You have a long term vision for your business (or at least a general idea)

You have to know the direction you and your business are going. I was working with a client once who started planning a launch, and we got about ¾ of the way done when she decided to scrap everything. And then she did it again ¼ way through the next one. It’s not the work that’s the issue – it’s the decision on a vision.

But if we don’t have a clear goal of where you’re going, you’re going to be taking a left hand turn and  then a right hand turn and end up in Arizona when you really want to be in Washington State.  

You don’t have to know exact steps, but be aware there is a transition. I’m not a fairy godmother that can read your mind, but I can help your wishes come true when you have a general goal in mind.

3. You can’t have too many voices in your head.

I’ve had clients who have two business coaches, a mentor, and me all on their team. A lot of times business coaches will give you a mile-long list of things to do. This quickly becomes overwhelming and causes you to lose sight of what YOU really want. 

Remember, my job is to strategize how to get you where you want to go, implement, and monitor. If you can’t make up your mind, it’s hard to do this. 

And you have to be open to realness because I’m not going to be a “yes” man for you. I’m going to let you know when you need to make decisions.

Let’s say you’re a designer and you’ve got an agency behind you. Suddenly, you want to come up with a passive income source, like a business coaching course. I’m going to ask you why, because it doesn’t align with what you’re doing now. You and I need honesty with your business moves so we always do what’s going to make the most sense. I have your best interest and growth in mind at all times and am just as invested in this as you are! On the real, I wouldn’t be a good Ops manager if I wasn’t.

 

4. You’re ready to sit in the CEO chair. Like, actually.

If you have a large team, it gets to be really fun because you are truly sitting in that CEO position and trust that your Ops manager can handle everything. And when you get to that level, you have to be able to trust your management to make good decisions.