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.
← All case studies
Phantom: off spreadsheets, 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.
+64% Revenue growth
-45% Admin costs
14 Months
About the client
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 end-to-end 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.
Notable clients
Simon BrienCBREColliersSavillsUPSColin Graham Residential
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.
The situation
Where things were stuck.
Manual everything
Bookings came in by email. Confirmations went out by text. Invoices raised manually at month end. Scheduling coordinated across the team with no central system. As volume grew, admin grew faster.
Pricing not reflecting value
Fixed rates hadn't kept pace with the complexity of the work. Larger, more demanding projects billed at the same rate as straightforward jobs, squeezing margin 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 handle the volume without needing Richie in the middle of everything.
The insight
Where the value was waiting.
Automate operations
Manual admin volume was the biggest growth constraint. Purpose-built software for scheduling, invoicing, and client management could remove the bottleneck entirely.
Reprice to value
Restructure pricing to reflect real value and complexity. A phased approach to move all clients onto a pricing structure that supports sustainable growth.
Free the founder
Get Richie out of daily photography and into commercial growth. Expand the team, standardise quality through training, build the infrastructure for the business to scale without him.
The work
What we did, phase by phase.
Months 1-3 Diagnostic and financial foundations
Full business diagnostic on numbers, operations, and bottlenecks. Then the fundamentals: pricing, cash flow visibility, and admin support.
- Full diagnostic on 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
Months 4-6 Sales and commercial growth
With pricing restructured and finances visible, turn 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
Months 7-10 Kerb Appeal: custom software build
The operational bottleneck couldn't be solved with off-the-shelf tools. Move at Pace designed and built Kerb Appeal, a purpose-built platform that automates Phantom's entire operation.
- Designed and built Kerb Appeal: AI-powered scheduling, automated invoicing, 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
Months 11-14 Scaling and expansion
With 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
- Kerb Appeal productised as a standalone SaaS platform for the property services industry
The outcome
What changed, measured.
Beyond the numbers
- Custom 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 the 14 months engagement. Percentage changes verified.
"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."
Key takeaways
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.
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.
Price to value
Restructuring pricing across the entire client base was uncomfortable but necessary. Higher revenue without adding a single new client. The pricing just caught up with the value.
The lesson
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 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.
Take the next step
Ready to write your own?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. If we're a fit for the work, we'll talk about how. If not, you'll leave with the next move regardless.