The First Leap Toward a Digital Operation

Client Overview

A family-run catering service asked ARCA for help as their administrative workload began to overshadow the personal, relationship-driven nature of their business. The company operated without a CRM or inventory system, relying instead on a collection of Google Sheets containing their pricing, menu variations and basic availability tracking. While this setup worked for years, increasing request volume made it difficult for the owners to keep up with inquiries and maintain the warm, responsive communication that their customers valued.

The Challenge

Behind every catering request was a long and repetitive chain of manual steps. The owners had to search for customer information, review multiple pricing tables, calculate estimates, rewrite similar emails and update their sheets after each message. None of these tasks were complex, but together they consumed a disproportionate amount of time and energy. As bookings grew, evenings and weekends disappeared into administrative work. The business was thriving, yet the owners felt increasingly disconnected from the interpersonal side of their craft. They needed a solution that streamlined their backend process without introducing unfamiliar systems or disrupting their established workflow.

Our Approach

ARCA began by examining how the catering service handled inquiries from first contact to confirmed booking. Rather than replacing their existing structure, we embraced it. Their Google Sheets already contained accurate pricing and menu logic, so we built an automation layer that integrated directly into these sources of truth. This allowed the system to fit seamlessly into their daily operations.

The automation collected incoming requests, extracted the key event details and matched them with the appropriate pricing information inside their sheets. It produced a consistent, accurate quote based entirely on the business’s own data, and generated a polished message draft for the owners to review and send. Each interaction automatically updated their internal sheets, preserving availability notes and relevant tracking information without requiring manual edits. The goal was not to change how they worked, but to remove the repetitive steps that were slowing them down.

Results

The introduction of the automation fundamentally changed how the catering service managed its inquiries. Tasks that once took significant time now occurred in the background while the owners focused on customers. Instead of spending late nights preparing quotes, they could respond within minutes—something clients immediately noticed. The increased speed and consistency improved booking outcomes, reduced stress and restored a sense of clarity in the back office. Most importantly, the owners were finally able to redirect their attention toward the personal conversations, tastings and planning discussions that originally defined their business.

Impact

The automation returned time, energy and focus to the catering service at a critical moment in its growth. It preserved the familiar tools the team relied on, while eliminating the friction that had accumulated around them. By removing tedious administrative work, the system strengthened rather than replaced the human connection at the heart of the business. ARCA’s solution demonstrated how thoughtful, lightweight automation can empower small service providers to grow sustainably—allowing them to operate like a modern business without sacrificing the personal touch that makes them unique.