How We Took Phantom Off Spreadsheets and Onto Their Own Platform
A Belfast property marketing agency that went from manual operations and founder dependency to a systemised, software-powered business with 64% revenue growth in 14 months.
About Phantom
Phantom is Northern Ireland's leading property marketing agency, providing photography, videography, drone, 3D virtual tours, and floor plans to estate agents across the country. Founded by Richie Lavery, the business has built a reputation over 20+ years for fast delivery, high quality creative output, and comprehensive property marketing services.
Working with clients including Simon Brien, CBRE, Colliers, and Savills, Phantom covers residential and commercial property marketing with a growing team of photographers and videographers operating across Northern Ireland.
Why They Came to Move at Pace
Richie had built a strong business with a solid reputation across Northern Ireland's property market. But he'd reached a point where he was working harder than ever with no clear path to scaling. He needed someone who had been through the same growing pains to help him build the business beyond himself.
Challenges
When we first connected, Phantom was growing but the infrastructure behind the scenes was holding the business back from its potential.
Founder as the Bottleneck
Richie was across every part of the business. Photography, scheduling, invoicing, client management, content delivery. The business couldn't operate without him, and stepping away felt impossible.
Manual Everything
Bookings came in by email. Confirmations went out by text. Invoices were raised manually at month end. Scheduling was coordinated across the team without any centralised system. As volume grew, so did the admin burden.
Pricing Not Reflecting Value
Fixed rates hadn't kept pace with the complexity of work being delivered. Larger, more demanding projects were being billed at the same rate as straightforward jobs, squeezing margins on the work that mattered most.
The Real Problem
Phantom had the reputation, the client base, and the demand. But every part of the operation ran through Richie. The business couldn't grow because the founder couldn't be in more places at once. The answer wasn't to work harder. It was to build systems that could handle the volume without needing Richie in the middle of everything.
Opportunities Identified
Through our discovery process, we identified three levers that could transform the business and free the founder.
Automate Operations
The volume of manual admin was the biggest constraint on growth. Purpose-built software to handle scheduling, invoicing, and client management could remove the bottleneck entirely.
Reprice to Value
Restructuring pricing to reflect the real value and complexity of work delivered. A phased approach to bring all clients onto a pricing structure that supported sustainable growth.
Free the Founder
Get Richie out of daily photography and into commercial growth. Expand the team, standardise quality through training, and build the infrastructure for the business to scale without him.
What We Did
A 14-month engagement that evolved from fixing foundations to building software and scaling the business.
Diagnostic and Financial Foundations
Months 1-3Started with a full business diagnostic to understand the numbers, the operations, and the bottlenecks. Then addressed the fundamentals: pricing, cash flow visibility, and admin support.
- Full business diagnostic covering revenue, profit, client concentration, and operations
- New pricing structure developed and communicated to all clients
- Cash flow forecast built to replace guesswork with visibility
- Admin support brought on to handle invoicing and accounts
Sales and Commercial Growth
Months 4-6With pricing restructured and finances visible, we turned to growth. A proactive sales approach replaced the referral-only model, and commercial property work opened as a new revenue stream.
- Structured sales outreach to estate agents across Northern Ireland
- LinkedIn strategy implemented, generating new leads and conversations
- Commercial property work expanded with major new clients
- Team member cross-trained to expand geographic coverage
Kerb Appeal: Bespoke Software Build
Months 7-10The operational bottleneck couldn't be solved with off-the-shelf tools. Move at Pace designed and built Kerb Appeal, a purpose-built platform to automate Phantom's entire operation.
- Designed and built Kerb Appeal: AI-powered scheduling, automated invoicing, and client portals
- Route optimisation to minimise travel time across photographer assignments
- Automated Google Drive folder creation, calendar sync, and Xero integration
- Phased onboarding of all estate agent clients onto the platform
Scaling and Expansion
Months 11-14With operations automated and revenue growing, focus shifted to scaling the team, expanding into new markets, and productising the software that transformed the business.
- Revenue targets upgraded as original goals were exceeded
- Recruitment of additional photographers to meet growing demand
- Richie transitioning from daily photography to commercial director role
- Kerb Appeal productised as a standalone SaaS platform for the property services industry
Results
The transformation delivered measurable results across revenue, operations, and business capability.
Beyond the Numbers
- Bespoke software (Kerb Appeal) built and now productised as a standalone SaaS platform
- All major clients onboarded to automated booking, scheduling, and invoicing
- Richie moved from daily photography to commercial director role
- Pricing restructured across entire client base without losing clients
- Team expanded with new photographers and standardised training programme
- Commercial property work opened as a significant new revenue stream
*Results achieved over 14-month engagement. Engagement is ongoing.
"I'll be honest, the investment made me nervous at the start. But within a few months I could see exactly where the money was going. Connor didn't just give me advice. He built us a platform that runs our entire operation. The revenue growth alone paid for the programme several times over, and that's before you factor in the admin costs we've cut. I'd have paid double knowing what I know now."
What Made This Work
Systems Before Scale
You can't grow what you can't manage. Building Kerb Appeal gave Phantom the operational backbone to handle 64% more revenue without proportionally more admin. The systems came first. The growth followed.
Build What Doesn't Exist
When off-the-shelf tools don't fit, build your own. Kerb Appeal started as a solution to Phantom's operational problems and became a product in its own right. Sometimes the best competitive advantage is the one you create.
Price to Value
Restructuring pricing across the entire client base was uncomfortable but necessary. The result: higher revenue without adding a single new client. The work hadn't changed. The pricing just caught up with the value.
The Lesson for Agency Owners
Most service businesses hit a ceiling because the founder is the system. Phantom proved that when you replace manual processes with purpose-built tools and shift the founder's role from delivery to strategy, the business doesn't just grow. It transforms. The same founder who couldn't take a day off is now focused on commercial expansion while the platform handles the operations.
Results shown are from real clients but are not typical. Individual results vary based on your business, experience, effort, and market conditions. We do not guarantee specific outcomes.
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