OVERVIEW
Merakyn is a consulting agency and benefit corporation specializing in supporting SMEs and startups with go-to-market strategies and early-stage scale-ups. Led by Founder & CEO Lorenzo D'Amelio, the company offers services in strategic marketing, grant application support, sustainability consulting, and guidance in becoming a Benefit Corporation and B Corporation.
Despite their expertise in helping other companies grow, Merakyn was facing significant internal challenges related to organization and the scalability of their own processes. The irony was not lost on Lorenzo: they were experts at guiding other companies to success, yet internally they were struggling with operational "entropy".
There was a bit of disorder and some inefficiency, with suboptimal use of my time and the team's time in several areas: project management, sales, economics such as forecasting, communication… the disorder stemmed from a lack of adequately organized systems or strategies. I knew that if we managed these things better, both the team and I would be much more satisfied.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio, Founder & CEO of Merakyn
THE CHALLENGE: AN INVISIBLE CEILING ON GROWTH
The Entropy of Disconnected Processes
Merakyn's main challenge was not about individual tools or skills, but about the fragmentation of their processes. Like many growing agencies, they were using several tools that didn't communicate with each other, creating information silos and operational bottlenecks.
This disconnection led to:
Inefficiency in client project management
Lack of complete visibility in the sales process
Difficulty with financial forecasting
Scattered internal communication
Inability to scale sustainably
But the real challenge was deeper and more systemic, as Lorenzo points out:
If you want to scale, you can't do without a system like this. It's not a matter of lost hours or missed opportunities, it's really a matter of volumes to manage, activities to handle, for which you just can't structure your work without an adequate system.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio
Moving from Tools to Strategy
Before starting the collaboration, Merakyn had already tried to improve their processes with various tools, but without a strategic and integrated approach. Lorenzo recognized that the problem wasn't in the choice of tools, but in the lack of a systemic vision:
It's not a matter of tools, but of strategies and processes. I realized that's where the difference lies. It takes awareness and humility to recognize which partners can help you develop a project that enhances the tools and allows you to choose the ones that are truly useful, rather than starting from the tool itself.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio
THE SOLUTION: A COMPLETE COMPANY OPERATING SYSTEM
1. Business Process Audit
We conducted a complete audit of Merakyn's operations, uncovering entropy across project management, sales tracking, financial forecasting, and internal communications. The core problem wasn't the individual tools, but their disconnection, which created inefficiencies and made scalability impossible.
The initial approach was to "zoom out"—to look at the entire business ecosystem rather than focusing on isolated pain points. This made it possible to identify the missing connections between different business processes.
2. System Design and Implementation
We designed an interconnected ecosystem based on ClickUp with:
Automated project creation
Integrated CRM-to-project workflows
Unified communication channels
Standardized project templates for recurring services
Client onboarding forms integrated into the system
Sales forecasting structure and opportunity tracking
The crucial aspect was connecting previously isolated processes—from deal tracking to project delivery—eliminating manual steps and creating a true digital operating system.
Now, a CRM allows us to register potential clients, active clients, and past clients. It includes a dedicated deals section, where we can monitor offers being prepared, sent, under negotiation, lost, or won. This way, nothing gets lost and everything is tracked. All these elements are interconnected: the projects section is integrated with the CRM. It's a real operating system, where every part is connected and coordinated, resulting in extreme efficiency and effectiveness.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio
3. Training and Ongoing Support
The transition was supported by:
Detailed tutorials for every aspect of the system
Training for the team
Gradual implementation approach
Ongoing support for future optimizations
RESULTS: BEYOND EFFICIENCY, READY FOR THE FUTURE
As agencies grow, they typically hit an operational ceiling where manual processes can no longer support increased volumes. Merakyn broke through this barrier by embracing systems thinking instead of obsessing over tools.
Concrete results include:
Quantifiable time savings (5+ hours per week)
Improved sales forecasting with full pipeline visibility
Reduced missed follow-ups in sales
Greater team satisfaction and self-management capability
Positioning as "automation-ready" and "AI-ready"
But the greatest value goes beyond immediate numbers:
A big bang for our consulting agency. It was the genesis of a shift to an operating system, a major evolution. Is your company automation-ready or AI-ready? Yes or no? To get there, you need a strategy and organized processes. Then you can scale; otherwise, you can't go beyond certain levels.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio
THE KEY: BEYOND TOOLS, THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
CEO Lorenzo D'Amelio captures it perfectly: "It's not a matter of tools, but of strategies, of processes."
While most agencies chase after the latest software, we focused on designing interconnected processes first, then selecting the technology to support them.
This "tool-agnostic" approach means Merakyn didn't just get a new platform—they gained a competitive operating system that makes them automation-ready and AI-ready. In today's market, this isn't optional; it's the difference between agencies that scale and those that stagnate.
Becoming automation-ready, AI-ready, is no longer a choice. We're in a situation like during the pandemic: if you weren't online, you were left behind. Right now, the issue is becoming that if you don't have automation or AI processes in place, you won't be competitive anymore. You can still get ahead because there's still potential for competitive advantage, which you can develop before others if you do things right. Soon, though, you'll start to lose ground to others.
—Lorenzo D'Amelio
NEXT STEPS: FROM ORGANIZATION TO INTELLIGENCE
With a solid operating system in place, Merakyn is now looking ahead to:
Integration with marketing automation tools
Implementation of AI solutions for content creation
Further automation of business development processes
The foundation built makes these steps not just possible, but natural evolutions of the system created.
READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR AGENCY?
If, like Lorenzo, you're reaching a point where your growth is limited by fragmented processes and disconnected systems, it's time to think strategically about your business operating system.
Take half an hour to reflect on these questions:
Would your current processes support doubling your business?
How much critical information is trapped in silos across different platforms?
Is your company truly "automation-ready" and "AI-ready"?
Don't wait to hit the wall of inefficiency. Contact us to discover how to build an operating system that not only solves today's problems but prepares you for tomorrow's opportunities.