Gaby Estrada: Poquillo

Poquillo’s services and FLOW Method

We help small business owners (1-12 employees, ideally 6 or fewer) eliminate operational chaos and scale with confidence. Our specialty is service-based businesses in health and wellness, particularly manual therapy practices like chiropractors, physical therapists, and sports medicine clinics. Our core offering is the FLOW Method™ - a proven methodology to transform businesses from chaos to seamless flow.

Eliminating operational chaos

The lightbulb moment came when I noticed successful business owners around me struggling with the same operational issues I had overcome and witnessed at startups and with clients I served as a Customer Success Manager (CSM). They had proven business concepts and good revenue, but they were becoming the bottleneck in their own growth. They kept saying things like "I can't take time off because everything runs through me" or "We're growing but everything is falling apart."

From where I was standing, I could see SO clearly that these weren't insurmountable problems - they were systems issues that could be solved with the right framework. That's when it clicked: these talented business owners didn't need more customers or better marketing - they needed operational systems that could support their growth.

Early steps and breakthrough moments

My business idea evolved from personal experience and observation. I started Poquillo as an Etsy shop in 2015, but the real transformation happened when one of my key mentors sat me down for what I call a "no tiene que ser complicado" conversation - basically helping me see that I was making things WAY more complicated than they needed to be.

Steps I took:

• Started small with side hustles while keeping my day job (bookkeeping, tax preparation, becoming a notary public, working as an executive assistant)
• Each little "yes" built my confidence muscle stronger
• Gained experience working at an early-stage tech startup that grew from 4 to 20+ employees, which gave me firsthand insight into scaling challenges and operational growing pains
• Developed local services in Galveston to serve families and small businesses with documents, education support, and basic business needs
• Began focusing on operations consulting when I realised established practices needed systematic solutions for their scaling challenges
• Listened when business owners started reaching out saying "I need this kind of help! Can you help me get unstuck?"

Overcoming fear through mentoring and side hustles

Challenges I faced:

• Overthinking everything: I was stuck in that analysis paralysis loop
• Fear of not being "expert enough"
• Making things more complicated than necessary
• Deciding between English and Spanish content: Initially worried about limiting my audience

How I overcame them:

My mentor helped me break down every single fear I had about starting a business. One by one, we addressed them until I realised none of my reasons for holding back were actually valid - they were just stories I was telling myself. This breakthrough gave me the push to say "yes" to opportunities I would have normally talked herself out of.

For the language challenge, after joining the Fearless crew, I’ve discovered that my bilingual approach is actually a competitive advantage - there's a huge gap in quality business operations content for Spanish speakers.

Evolution into a systems consultancy

In 2024, I officially transformed Poquillo from an Etsy shop into a service-based business. We went from crafting physical products to crafting systematic solutions for overwhelmed business owners. I specialised in serving established practices ($300K+ revenue) that had outgrown their informal systems.

Bilingual content, storytelling and YouTube growth

Marketing strategies that work:

• Content creation in Spanish and English: I noticed there's a huge gap in quality business and AI content for Spanish speakers
• YouTube and my blog: With practical, immediately useful content focused on systems and operations
• Authentic storytelling about real operational challenges and solutions
• Speaking directly to the pain points of being the bottleneck in your own business

What makes Poquillo unique:

• Bilingual approach: We serve both English and Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs authentically
• "No tiene que ser complicado" and "Scale without the Chaos" philosophy: We make complex operational concepts feel refreshingly simple
• Focus on practical implementation: Not just strategy, but actual systems you can use immediately
• Specialisation in established practices: We work with businesses that have proven revenue models but operational bottlenecks
• The FLOW Method™: Our proven framework delivers results in 90 days or less for most clients
• Understanding of scaling challenges: Having worked at early-stage tech startups, I understand the operational growing pains that happen when small teams try to scale rapidly

Key lessons from scaling

• Your fears are usually just stories: Most of the reasons we give ourselves for not starting are not actually valid obstacles
• Specialisation beats generalisation: Focusing on specific business types (health & wellness practices) made everything clearer
• Simple systems beat complex ones: The best processes are ones people actually use consistently
• Your background is an asset, not a limitation: Being bilingual and bicultural became one of my biggest competitive advantages
• Established businesses have different needs than startups: My sweet spot is helping proven businesses scale, not helping people validate initial concepts

Specialise early and keep systems simple

What I'd do differently:

• Niche down faster: I spent too much time trying to serve all small businesses instead of focusing on my expertise with established practices
• Start documenting my journey sooner: I wish I had begun sharing my lessons learned earlier
• Embrace my cultural background from day one: I initially tried to fit into a more "traditional" business mold instead of leaning into what made me unique
• Charge more from the beginning: I undervalued the transformation we provide to established practices

Straightforward advice for entrepreneurs

1. Just start: The worst that can happen is you lose a little bit of money or face a little embarrassment. But you'll learn so much in the process.
2. No tiene que ser complicado: Don't overcomplicate things. Start simple and improve as you go.
3. Your unique perspective is valuable: Whatever makes you different (cultural background, life experience, industry knowledge) is likely your biggest asset, not a limitation.
4. Test everything cheaply first: You can validate most business ideas for under $100 these days.

Gaby's recommended resources:

• "168 Hours" by Laura Vanderkam: Completely changed how I think about time management and productivity for business owners
• YouTube for learning anything: Free education on virtually every business topic
• Simple text outreach: This is actually how I got my first client in operations: I texted 10 people I know asking if they knew anyone who needed help with business systems‍
• AI tools for systems documentation: Game-changer for creating SOPs and workflows quickly

Future vision for Poquillo

Future goals:

• Expand our reach in the Spanish-speaking market: There's a huge opportunity to serve Latino business owners with quality operational systems education
• Develop more scalable programs: While maintaining our personal touch, we want to help more established practices simultaneously
• Build strategic partnerships: Especially with organizations serving health and wellness practice owners
• Continue innovating the FLOW Method™: Our methodology will keep evolving based on client results and feedback
• Put out more free content: Help those who can't afford consulting by creating more accessible educational content through YouTube and blog posts

Adapting to industry changes:

• Embracing AI tools: We're already helping clients integrate smart AI solutions into their operational workflows
• Staying culturally relevant: As demographics shift, bilingual business support becomes even more valuable
• Focus on sustainable growth: Not just rapid scaling, but building operational systems that owners can actually manage without burning out
• Serving the "missing middle": Established businesses that are too big for basic small business advice but too small for enterprise solution

Feeling Overwhelmed by Operational Chaos?

If you're running an established practice and feeling overwhelmed by operational chaos, know that you're not alone. Growth without systems is just organized chaos - but the good news is you don't need to stop growing to get organized.

The businesses that scale successfully are the ones that build operational systems before they desperately need them. Sometimes the simplest solutions create the biggest transformations.

Whether you're a chiropractor drowning in patient scheduling chaos, a physical therapist whose team can't make decisions without you, or any practice owner working 60+ hour weeks just to keep things running - there's a better way.

¡Vamos juntos! (Let's go together!) 🚀✨

Free Strategy Session

We offer a FREE 60-minute Strategy Session where we quickly assess where you are, where you want to go, and create a clear plan for how you can work ON your business, not just IN it. Perfect for established practice owners who want to stop working 60+ hour weeks and are serious about moving forward with their operational systems.

During the session, we'll work together to identify your biggest operational bottlenecks and give you a clear roadmap for addressing them - whether that's with us or on your own.