Sempi: The Method applied to ourselves
Before helping others, we helped ourselves. From a disorganized startup to a structured boutique. The Sempi® Method laboratory.
💡Why this case study is special
The best test for a consulting method? Apply it to your own company. If it works for us (who know where the problems are), it works for clients. This is our "eating our own dog food". Radical transparency: we share what worked, what didn't, and why.
📋The Initial Situation (2019-2020)
Sempi Year Zero: The Disorganized Startup
When Liana Rotariu founded Sempi, she had a clear vision but chaotic execution. Like all startups, the priority was to survive: close clients, invoice, exist. Structure? Processes? Systems? "Later, when we have time."
❌BEFORE - The Startup Chaos
- •No formalized method: each project different, ad-hoc approach
- •5+ disconnected tools: Trello, Excel, email, WhatsApp, Google Drive... zero integration
- •Non-existent documentation: everything in the founder's head
- •No scalability: Liana bottleneck on every decision
- •Wasted time: 15h/week on administrative tasks
- •Limited clients: max 8-10 projects/year (saturated capacity)
- •Unstable team: occasional freelancers, no continuity
✅AFTER - The Structured Boutique
- •Registered Sempi® Method: replicable proprietary framework
- •1 integrated ecosystem: Sempi Plancia (internal use) + CRM + Project Management
- •Complete playbook: 150+ pages of operational documentation
- •Autonomous team: 3 senior consultants + 2 specialists
- •Efficiency +180%: from 15h admin to 5h/week
- •Capacity doubled: 15-20 projects/year with the same quality
- •Stable team: 95% retention, strong culture
"The moment of truth was when I realized: I practice what I don't preach. I was helping clients get structured, but I myself was in chaos. I decided: I will apply my method to Sempi. It will be the first case study. If it doesn't work for me, why should it work for them?"
🎯Transformation Objectives
- Formalize the Method: From intuition to a replicable framework
- Scale without losing quality: Go from 10 to 20 clients/year
- Decentralize decisions: CEO no longer a bottleneck
- Create the tech ecosystem: Proprietary platforms for execution
- Build the team: From freelancers to a stable team
- Document everything: Playbook for each project phase
🔧The Transformation: 3 Phases in 18 Months
Applying the Sempi® Method to Sempi itself
Key action: Brutally honest self-audit
- • Internal workshops: "Where we are, where we want to go"
- • Mapping current processes (spoiler: documented chaos)
- • Identifying bottlenecks
- • Target architecture design
Output: 18-month roadmap + Formalized Method v1.0
Insight: The mere act of documenting the method made it 10x clearer. Writing forces clarity.
Building proprietary tools
Key action: Development of Sempi Plancia v1 (internal use)
- • UX/UI design of internal KPI dashboard
- • Systems integration (CRM, accounting, project management)
- • Recurring workflow automations
- • Beta testing on real projects
Output: Sempi Plancia operational + 60% time saved
Insight: Using the tool internally before proposing it to clients revealed 50+ bugs and improvements. Gold.
Scaling while maintaining quality
Key action: Team hiring + Complete playbook
- • Hiring 3 senior consultants (cultural fit critical)
- • Creating 150-page operational playbook
- • Structured onboarding (3 weeks)
- • Transition from 10 to 18 projects/year
Output: Autonomous team + Capacity doubled
Insight: Hiring seniors (not juniors to train) was a game-changer. Costs more but scales 5x faster.
📊Measurable Results (18 months)
🎯What Worked
- Eating our own dog food: Using the tools before selling them
- Obsessive documentation: Playbook made the team autonomous
- Hiring seniors: Costs more but scales faster
- Culture focus: Cultural fit > technical skills (can be learned)
- Radical transparency: Sharing even failures
- Iterate, don't perfect: Imperfect v1.0 better than v2.0 never released
❌What Did NOT Work (Hard Lessons)
- First wrong hire: Hired junior for "lower cost" → 3x cost in training + errors. Lesson: Never again. Seniors only.
- Plancia v1 perfectionism: Lost 4 months "perfecting" before launch. Could have launched month 2 and iterated. Lesson: Ship imperfect.
- Documentation too soon: Created detailed documentation for still-evolving processes. Threw away 40 pages. Lesson: Stabilize first, document after.
- Too many tools tested: Tested 8 project management tools in 6 months. Team confusion. Lesson: Pick one, commit 6 months, then evaluate.
🔬The Scientific Method
Sempi has become our continuous laboratory. Every new technique, framework, automation is tested internally for 3-6 months. Only after internal validation do we propose it to clients. This has saved us dozens of failed projects. And gives clients confidence: "If it works for them, it will work for us."
🎓The 10 Most Important Lessons
- Structure enables creativity (it doesn't kill it, as commonly believed)
- Documentation is investment, not cost
- Team > Solo genius: Scaling requires people
- Culture is designed, it doesn't emerge magically
- Technology is an accelerator, not a solution in itself
- Seniors cost more, deliver 10x
- Imperfect today > perfect never
- Transparency builds trust (even about failures)
- Method beats talent in the long run
- The best client is ourselves: brutally honest test
🔮2027–2028: European Consulting Standard
The transformation never stops. Sempi continues to evolve:
- •Sempi Plancia 2.0: AI-powered insights and predictive analytics
- •Sempix global: Multi-country accounting expansion
- •Ribkom Intelligence: Data-driven communications automation
- •B-Corp certification: Formal commitment to social impact
"Sempi will never be 'finished'. It is a living organism in constant evolution. Every client teaches us something. Every project improves the Method. Every failure makes us stronger. This is the beauty of being a learning organization."
💬Why We Share This
Radical transparency. Many consultants talk the talk but don't walk the walk. We do. This case study demonstrates that:
- •We apply to ourselves what we propose to clients
- •The Sempi® Method works (we tested it on ourselves)
- •We are not afraid to share even our failures
- •We are living proof that transformation is possible
If it works for us (who know where all the problems are), it can work for you.