Chief of Outsourced Ops — CO3

Cut costs, not corners.

A senior US-based operator and a vetted offshore team — running the work that's burning out yours.

What we take over

The functions you've been meaning to offload.

Pick a defined operational function. We take it over — soup to nuts. You stop managing it. We just deliver.

Customer Operations

Support that scales.

  • Tier 1 support, helpdesk & ticket triage
  • Live chat & email response
  • Customer onboarding & success motions
  • Renewal & QBR coordination
  • Knowledge base maintenance
Back Office

The work nobody wants to own.

  • Bookkeeping, invoicing & AR follow-up
  • Data entry, cleanup & enrichment
  • Vendor & contract management
  • Calendar, inbox & travel coordination
  • Document prep & file management
Sales Operations

The grind that fills the pipe.

  • Lead research & enrichment
  • CRM hygiene & data quality
  • Outbound prep & list building
  • Proposal & contract drafting
  • Pipeline reporting & forecasting
Content & Production

Production at volume.

  • Video editing & post-production
  • Graphic design (decks, social, ads)
  • Transcription, captions & repurposing
  • QA, proofreading & copy polish
  • Asset management & template systems
Why offshore alone fails

You've tried this before. It didn't stick.

  • The Upwork hire who took six weeks to ramp, then quit the day they finally got it.
  • The agency that promised a dedicated team and gave you a shared inbox in three time zones.
  • The VA you trained for four months — until your competitor poached them with a $200/month raise.
The model

An onshore brain. An offshore engine.

A senior US-based operator owns your relationship, builds your SOPs, and guarantees quality. They run a vetted offshore team that does the actual work — at a fraction of the cost.

01 — Onshore

Your senior lead

A US-based operator who owns your account end-to-end. Builds the SOPs, runs the team, sets the bar, and is on a Slack message away when something needs judgment.

02 — Offshore

Your dedicated team

Vetted operators in low-cost geographies who execute against your SOPs full-time. Not gig workers. Not shared. Yours.

03 — System

The Smarty bench

A pre-vetted bench of replacements, a documented escalation path, and a QA layer baked into every workflow. When someone leaves, the work doesn't.

Why ours actually works

All the muscle. None of the management.

Most offshore arrangements break because they push the management overhead back onto you. We absorb it.

Senior US ownership

A real operator on your account — not a CSM, not an account manager. Someone who'd be your COO if you hired one.

SOPs as your IP

Every workflow we build is documented, versioned, and yours. Take them with you if you ever leave.

We absorb turnover

If a team member moves on, we replace them in days — same SOPs, same ramp, no interruption. You don't even hear about it.

Quality guaranteed

Spot QA on every deliverable, weekly metrics review, and a no-questions credit if work doesn't meet spec.

Our promise

We hire the team. We train the team.
You never see the team.

The reason we exist

It's 11pm. Your best person is doing data entry. Again.

That's the moment your CO3 starts paying for itself.

Hand it off
How it works

Three steps to handing it off.

01

We map the function.

Discovery week. Your CO3 lead shadows your team, watches the work, and writes down everything. By Friday, you have a documented SOP for a function that's lived in someone's head for two years.

02

We build the team.

We pull from a vetted bench, match the right operators to your function, and ramp them on the SOPs. Your CO3 lead trains them, runs the QA loop, and signs off when they're ready to ship.

03

We run it. Forever.

Work flows through your normal tools — email, Slack, your CRM, whatever. You see weekly metrics, monthly reviews, and your CO3 lead on demand. You never see the team, the timesheets, or the turnover.

Built for lean teams

Built for businesses that can't waste another payroll dollar.

Founders, COOs, and operators who know what they need but don't have the bandwidth (or the budget) to hire and manage another full-time team.

The cost

What you'd pay vs. an equivalent internal hire — fully loaded, including the manager.

0
Hires you make

No HR, no payroll, no recruiting, no offer letters. We handle every person on the team.

2w
To live work

From kickoff to your first SOP shipped and your team running production work.

"

We've outsourced before — VAs, agencies, the usual. They all required the same thing: my time. CO3 is the first thing I've handed off and actually had it leave my plate.

B
Birch Operations
CO3 client, 8 months in
The smart choice

How CO3 compares.

DIY offshore
BPO agency
Internal hire
Smarty CO3
Time to start
4–8 weeks
2–4 weeks
3–4 months
2 weeks
Onshore manager
× You
Sometimes
× You
Senior US lead
SOPs documented
×
Theirs, not yours
Maybe
Yours to keep
Cost per FTE-equivalent
$25–35K
$50–80K
$80K+
$30–50K
Replace on attrition
× You re-hire
Slow
× 3 months
Same week
Quality guarantee
×
×
Up to you
Credit if missed
You manage the team
All of it
Some
All of it
Never
The payoff

A function that runs itself.

Each engagement starts focused, then quietly absorbs more — at no extra management cost. The SOPs compound. The team gets sharper. The function disappears from your weekly review.

Week 1
  • Function mapped end-to-end
  • SOP v1 documented
  • Team selected from bench
  • Tools & access provisioned
Week 2
  • Team ramped on SOPs
  • QA loop running daily
  • First production work shipped
  • Weekly metrics dashboard live
Month 3+
  • Function off your weekly review
  • SOPs versioned & evolving
  • Team running asynchronously
  • Adjacent work absorbed naturally
No-risk start

Pick a function. Hand it off.
Forget about it.

We start with a 30-min scoping call and a 14-day pilot. If it isn't running smoothly by day 14, you walk — no contract, no clawback.

Hire on easy mode
Questions

Things people ask.

Where is the team based?

Your senior lead is US-based — typically a former operator from a real company, not a career consultant. The execution team is in low-cost geographies (Philippines, Latin America, South Asia) — vetted, full-time, and dedicated to your account.

How is this different from hiring on Upwork?

Upwork hands you a candidate. We hand you a working function. We do the recruiting, vetting, training, QA, and replacement. You hand off a workflow on Monday and never think about it again.

What if quality drops?

Spot QA runs on every deliverable and your CO3 lead reviews the metrics weekly. If we miss a spec, you get the work re-done and a credit on your next invoice — automatically.

What if a team member quits?

We replace them in days, not months. Because the SOPs are documented and we run a vetted bench, the next person ramps on the work — not on your business. Most clients don't even notice the change.

How is pricing structured?

Monthly retainers from $5K depending on team size and scope. Month-to-month, no annual contracts. We start with a 14-day pilot so you can see the work before you commit.

Do I have to use your tools?

No. We work in your stack — your CRM, your inbox, your project tool, your file storage. The team plugs into your existing workflows so the only thing that changes is who's doing the work.