You’ve hired all this help — and somehow you’re still the one who has to make it all work together.
Rooted Operations helps founders of scaling service-based businesses untangle themselves from the roots of the business by building and running an operational foundation until it’s ready to hand off to a permanent operator (that isn’t you). Ilana Moreno brings 13+ years of experience across creative agencies, small businesses, and nonprofits, specializing in the growth stage where the founder is ready to stop being the only thing holding the business together.
Who This Is For
Founders of service-based businesses who have outgrown being the operating system for their business. You'll recognize them when you hear:
“I'm in meetings all day but have no idea what my team is actually working on"
"I’m constantly fixing client deliverables that got scrambled or missed at the last minute"
“I’m the keeper of the client relationships, the history, priorities, and answers to every question.”
"I’m ready to grow but I can’t handle coordinating one more tool, hire, or project."
Our clients typically reach out after a period of growth - a hiring spree, a new client load - when the old way of operating stops working. Most are running teams of 3–20 people with $1–5M in revenue, or organizations experiencing similar growing pains.
How We Work Together
Ilana embeds as your interim operator to diagnose, build, install, and run the systems that power your business — until it stops routing through you and the work is stable enough to hand over to a permanent operator.
We start with a diagnostic across the four operating systems of your firm — delivery, growth, team, and founder — to find the three-to-four highest-leverage fixes. Then I build them and run them alongside your team, so you’re not handed another set of systems to manage yourself.
2 weeks | $3,000
Operations Audit
A focused diagnostic that gives you where time and energy are leaking, what to fix first, and what to tackle later.
Best for leaders who want expert assessment and direction before implementing change.
6 - 8 Weeks | Custom Pricing
Systems Build
Diagnostic plus implementation: uncover what's broken or at risk, then build the fix.
Best for leaders tackling a specific operational problem who need both the thinking and the doing.
6-Month Min. | Starting at $6,000/month
Fractional Support
Full operational partnership — audit, planning, system design, implementation, and ongoing support.
Best for leaders who need someone to build and run the operational machine alongside them.
What changes when operations are rooted for growth
You can step away — a vacation, a family thing, a sick day — without the business wobbling.
You can see what’s happening across the business without chasing people for updates.
Routine decisions, questions, and fixes get handled without routing through you.
You finally know whether the business is profitable, and why.
Your team has clear ownership, quality control standards, and escalation, so work stops landing incompletely and at the last minute.
The agency becomes ready for a permanent operator to step into an environment that already works.
I’m a strategic operations consultant and Fractional COO with 13+ years of experience leading operations, marketing, and communications for mission-driven organizations.
I specialize in translating vision into structure — connecting people, systems, and strategy so leaders can tend to what matters most.
About
Let’s talk.
If you’re ready to strengthen your operations and position your organization for sustainable growth, let’s start with a conversation.