How ArtSmart is Scaling Operations with Levvy

Background

ArtSmart, founded in 2011, is a full-service business consulting practice that helps artists and in the arts industry achieve financial, operational and career success. It provides a wide variety of services including career consulting, bookkeeping, tax planning, grant writing, web design, social media consulting and more.

By 2020, ArtSmart’s structure allowed bookkeepers to independently handle all aspects of their clients' needs. This included payroll, taxes, and even personal requests like mortgage applications. The firm thrived on its reputation for expertise, with minimal collaboration among team members. However, this individualized approach proved challenging as the company began to grow.

Challenges

As ArtSmart began to grow, their business faced several organizational challenges:

Lack of Centralized Systems

With an expanding team and client base, the business struggled with scattered processes and multiple platforms. Each team member worked independently, leading to inefficiencies.

“Quick and fast hires resulted in high staff turnover and our high performing managers were exhausted and disheartened from one onboarding to another. Our core processes were loosely defined and not systemized enough as our management had no capacity due to never-ending staff issues and client fires.”

Micromanagement

As the business scaled, the manager, Saruul, found herself micromanaging because she couldn't trust the quality of work or see the progress of tasks in real-time. The team needed a standardized process of reviewing work quality.

Employee Burnout

Constantly juggling tasks without a clear structure caused burnout among employees, making overall work difficult to manage. The management team needed a clear means of understanding employee workload

Disjointed Communication

Lack of clear communication among team members and between managers and staff caused misalignment, misunderstanding, and missed deadlines. The lack of streamlined conversation was sacrificing work quality.

ArtSmart’s Goal With Levvy

ArtSmart wanted to grow – both internally and externally. Internal growth meant strong standard operating processes so that their services could be predictable and uniform across the board.

They wanted their staff to know exactly what their role and responsibilities were, for work to flow seamlessly, and most importantly, for a feedback loop to exist which would be the foundation of knowledge sharing and individual growth. In short, ArtSmart’s immediate goal was to become a well-oiled machine.

Externally, ArtSmart wanted to service more clients, and bring in more revenue, with the most optimal staff. Being focused in the creative industry, they had a goal to service their target market at an affordable price, and to become a household brand for all creatives, big and small, in the USA.

Solution

The solution came in the form of Levvy, a platform designed to manage tasks, delegate work, communicate, and organize team operations. Levvy was able to:

• Centralize Information: Organize all client data and workflows in one place, accessible by the entire team.
• Improve Workflow Visibility: Offer visibility into the status of each task, reducing bottlenecks and delays.‍
• Reduce Micromanagement: Provide managers with the tools to oversee work without constantly hovering over employees.

“In just 3 months, every single one of our staff were using Levvy and had integrated it to their day to day and I can now confidently say that we would be a little lost without it now.”

Levvy’s team worked closely with ArtSmart to customize the platform to address the firm’s unique challenges. With seamless workflows, Levvy allowed entry-level staff to handle routine tasks more efficiently while providing managers with complete visibility into operations. By integrating time tracking and billing functions into a single platform, Levvy eliminated the inefficiencies of the firm’s previous systems and set the foundation for scalable growth.

Results

Adopting Levvy produced transformative results for ArtSmart. By addressing systemic inefficiencies, ArtSmart shifted from managing individual issues to fostering a more collaborative and scalable work culture.

“Everyone in our firm had so much more visibility than ever through Levvy – everybody’s tasks, client deadlines and “who is doing what” is very clear.”

Entry-level staff can seamlessly manage their tasks, track time, and communicate with reviewers—all in one place. Managers now have a clear, bird’s-eye view of their team’s workload, making it easy to review, provide feedback, and schedule ad-hoc tasks. For directors and leadership, Levvy’s tools have helped them make more intentional, informed decisions about hiring and resource planning.

Levvy not only streamlined operations but also helped ArtSmart embrace a philosophy of automating predictable tasks while humanizing exceptions. This collaboration has empowered ArtSmart to build a business model that is both sustainable and adaptable to future challenges.