Mary Tichelaar

Freelance process & operations partner

Make your business easier to run.

Mary Tichelaar, smiling, sitting against a rock face outdoors
That’s me. I ask “why?” before “how?”

Hi, I’m Mary. I help founders take an honest look at how their business really runs, question the “that’s just how we do it”, and redesign the processes behind it. Sometimes the answer is automation. Often it’s simpler than that.

Already have a VA or assistant? Great. Their time is too valuable for copying and pasting. Let’s free it up for the work that actually needs them.

Find what could run better See what I can help with
One supplier invoice, handled two ways.

By hand

7 steps, 4 tools and one person’s memory

  1. Spot the invoice in the inboxEmail
  2. Download the PDFEmail
  3. Rename it which format again?Desktop
  4. Find the right folderDrive
  5. Type the amount into the tracker typed twiceSheet
  6. Flag anything odd to the founderChat
  7. Remember to check it was paid all in one headMemory

By design

5 steps, and one needs a person

  1. Automated: Invoice recognised as it arrives
  2. Automated: Named consistently and filed in the right folder
  3. Automated: Supplier, date and amount added to the tracker
  4. A person decides: Anything unusual? Your VA takes a look
  5. Automated: Payment reminder scheduled
  • Done by hand
  • Handled by the system
  • A person decides

What could work differently

Your people are busy. But is all of it work that needs a person?

Most of these jobs are necessary. The question is whether a person needs to do every step, every time, by memory.

Below are five everyday situations and another way to handle each. Some steps get automated, some get simplified or dropped, and the ones that need judgement stay human. They’re typical situations, not specific client stories.

  • Rename + file this week’s invoices
  • Copy new enquiries into the CRM
  • Chase Sam re: the contract!!
  • Update the tracker (again)
Each one is quick. Together, they add up.

The Monday invoice ritual

Picture a bookkeeper who spends every Monday morning in the inbox: downloading invoices, renaming them one by one, filing them and typing the totals into a spreadsheet.

It’s careful work. It’s also exactly the same work, every single week.

How it could work instead

  1. Automated: Relevant invoices picked out as they arrive
  2. Automated: Files named and stored the same way every time
  3. Automated: Key details added to the tracker
  4. A person decides: Anything unclear goes to the bookkeeper to check

The bookkeeper still approves payments and sorts out queries with suppliers. They just stop being a filing system.

Downloads

  • invoice.pdf
  • invoice (1).pdf
  • Scan_20260302_0931.pdf
  • INV-0042 FINAL.pdf
  • invoice-copy-v2-USE-THIS.pdf
  • Untitled attachment.pdf
  • invoice (2).pdf

Finance › Invoices › 2026 › March

  • 2026-03-02 Acme Supplies INV-0042.pdf Logged
  • 2026-03-03 Northwind Print INV-1187.pdf Logged
  • 2026-03-03 Studio Lumen 2026-031.pdf Logged
  • 2026-03-04 Bright Hosting 88213.pdf Needs a look
The same invoices, before and after a simple naming and filing workflow. The odd one out gets flagged for a person.

The enquiry that went quiet

Picture a coach whose enquiry form lands in a shared inbox. Someone copies each one into the CRM, pings the team and tries to remember to follow up.

Most weeks it works. The week someone’s on holiday, two good leads go quiet.

How it could work instead

  1. Automated: Every enquiry goes straight into the CRM
  2. Automated: Checked for duplicates and missing details
  3. Automated: The right person is told, with a follow-up reminder set
  4. A person decides: Is this a good fit? A person makes the call

The first real conversation stays human. The admin around it doesn’t need to be.

The same small jobs, every new client

Picture a small agency where every new client means the same handful of jobs: a welcome email, a folder, a contract copied from last time, a project board, a message to the team.

None of it is hard. All of it depends on someone remembering.

How it could work instead

  1. Automated: A signed agreement starts everything off
  2. Automated: Folders, documents and project created from templates
  3. Automated: Standard tasks assigned and the team told
  4. A person decides: The personal welcome and kickoff stay with you

The relationship is yours. The setup can take care of itself.

Friday afternoon, lost to exports

Picture a founder who spends Friday afternoon exporting numbers from three tools into one spreadsheet, fixing the formatting and rebuilding the same chart.

By the time it’s done, there’s no energy left to actually think about what the numbers say.

How it could work instead

  1. Automated: Numbers pulled from each tool on a set schedule
  2. Automated: One dashboard, with the same definitions every week
  3. Automated: Shared with the people who need it
  4. A person decides: Reading the numbers and deciding what to do

Friday goes back to thinking, not copying.

What’s going out next week?

Picture a content calendar in a spreadsheet, drafts in documents, approvals in email and reminders in someone’s head.

Everyone’s busy, and nobody’s quite sure what’s going out next week.

How it could work instead

  1. Automated: One place shows where every piece is
  2. A person decides: The approver hears when something is ready to sign off
  3. Automated: Calendar and tasks update when the status changes
  4. Automated: Publishing reminders go out on time

Ideas, writing and the final yes stay with your people.

Mary Tichelaar laughing, sitting on a rock with her arms around her knees

About me

I’m the person who asks why that spreadsheet exists.

I’m Mary Tichelaar, a freelance process and operations specialist. My work sits between how a business runs day to day and the tools it runs on.

I’ll look into your organisation with you, follow the work through every handover, and ask a lot of questions. Many businesses have a fixed idea of how something should be done. I’ll respectfully challenge it before optimising or automating anything. Not to be difficult, but because “we’ve always done it this way” is often where the biggest improvements are hiding.

Then I get hands on: I design the improvement, build it, and stay involved until it works in practice. I’d rather remove a step than automate it, and I’d rather build something your team actually uses than something impressive that sits idle.

Say hi on LinkedIn

  • 1 Question before changing anything
  • 2 The simplest solution that does the job
  • 3 Built to be used, documented to be kept
  • 4 People decide; systems repeat

Ways to work together

Start small, or start with the whole picture.

Most work begins with one specific problem. I don’t start with tools: I start with how your business runs, and improve that. Automation is one way to get there, not the goal.

And AI? I use it where it genuinely helps, like reading the details out of a document, and always with a point where a person can check the result.

  1. One task

    Identify the opportunities

    We look at one repetitive task or workflow together and work out what could be simplified, automated or left alone.

    Often: your assistant’s recurring tasks, a process nobody has written down, a “why do we do it this way?” review.

  2. One problem

    Solve a specific problem

    A defined improvement, built and working, not just recommended.

    Often: invoice and document filing, lead capture and follow-up, client onboarding, a dashboard or automated report, a website form that feeds your CRM.

  3. Connected processes

    Improve the bigger system

    A look at how your processes, people and tools fit together, so operations feel coherent rather than patched.

    Often: handovers between sales, delivery and admin, tools that don’t talk to each other, SOPs, reporting you can trust.

  4. Over time

    Ongoing operational support

    Continued refinement as the business changes and grows.

    Often: adjusting workflows and automations, new processes as the team grows, keeping documentation current.

Questions

Things people usually ask me.

Something else on your mind? Just ask.

Do I need to know which tools or automations I need?

Nope. Honestly, it’s often better if you haven’t decided yet. Tell me what’s annoying you or eating your week. Figuring out the fix is my part.

Will you just build what I ask for?

I’ll listen, and then I’ll probably ask “why?” a few times. Not to be awkward! Sometimes there’s a simpler way to get the same result. And sometimes your idea is exactly right, and then I just build it.

Can you work with the tools I already use?

Usually, yes, and I’d much rather start there than sell you something new. Some tools play nicely together and some really don’t, so I’ll tell you straight what’s realistic with your setup.

I already have a VA. Can you still help?

Yes, please! Your VA knows exactly where the repetitive stuff is. We work out together which bits a system can take over, so they get time back for the work that actually needs them.

Does everything need to be automated?

No, and I’d be a bit worried if someone told you it should. Some steps should just be deleted. Some need a human, because they need judgement or a relationship. Working out which is which is half the job.

Can you build dashboards?

Yes. A typical one: a founder opens four different tools every Monday to answer one question, “how are sales going?”. Instead, they get one page that pulls the numbers in overnight, uses the same definitions every week, and shows what’s changed. Monday starts with the answer instead of the exports.

And websites?

Those too, ideally connected to the rest of your business. A contact form that drops straight into your CRM and tells the right person is worth more than a pretty page that sends emails into the void.

My processes are a mess and nothing’s written down. Is that a problem?

Not at all. That’s most businesses, honestly. We figure out how it really works first, mess and all. Writing the better version down is part of the job.

Work with me

Want to work together?

I’d love to hear what you need help with. A few lines is plenty: what’s taking too much time, what keeps going wrong, or what you’d like to set up.

Heads up: this form isn’t connected yet. Email or LinkedIn work in the meantime.

For example: “Our client onboarding is all copy and paste” or “I’d like one place to see how sales are going.”