Why time always runs out in your studio (and how to get it back)

You can’t buy more hours but you can stop wasting the ones you already have. Here’s how content studios are doing just that with Lets Flo.

Introduction

Every studio day starts the same. The calendar’s booked, the set’s ready, and the team’s prepped.

Then reality kicks in: a missing sample, a delayed sign-off, a stylist who can’t find an outfit, a retoucher still waiting for approved selects.

By midday, you're playing catch-up — and by the end of the day, you’re wondering where the time went.

If your team works across hundreds of products, multiple sales channels, and complex styling briefs, losing time can be frustrating and expensive. This article shows how studios are taking time back by making smart changes across their workflows.

The invisible ways studios lose time

It’s rarely one big thing — more often, it’s a thousand small ones that add up:

• Styling teams digging through racks looking for the right version of a sample

• Confusion over whether a product has already been shot

• Sample duplicates arriving late or not at all

• Last-minute shoot briefs in Slack

• Copy and imagery that don’t align in timing

• Endless renaming and uploading of files post-shoot

Every delay eats into your margin, schedule, and your team’s energy.

Time management isn’t just a calendar

A calendar is a useful tool — but when content is produced at scale, calendars alone can’t keep up with the interdependencies between shoots, samples, stylists, assets, and feedback.

What you really need is a workflow — connected systems rather than just timelines.

Here’s how studios using Lets Flo do it better:

1. Get ahead with workflow tiles

• Visual workflow tiles show the real-time status of every product and task: sample readiness, copy progress, shoot status, and post-production.

• Colour-coded statuses (green / amber / red) show at a glance what needs attention.

2. Streamline the admin that slows you down

Automate repetitive tasks that previously ate up hours:

• Call sheet generation

• File naming & folder creation

• Post-production tracking

• Resource bookings synced to calendars

• Cost tracking done automatically as bookings happen

• Outfits captured and barcoded via mobile app

Less admin means more creative time.

3. Track samples like inventory

With Lets Flo’s sample-tracking system you can:

• See where a sample is — and where it should be next

• Confirm the right size and condition

• Track duplicates, production changes, and model suitability

• Scan barcodes to check availability and location

In high-volume studios, sample chaos is one of the biggest time-wasters — and Flo fixes that.

4. Style without the spreadsheet

Styling teams can ditch the manual recording and instead:

• Create and capture styled outfits on the go

• Scan barcodes to auto-log product IDs

• Add notes and visual references

• Send for fast sign-off from styling directors

No more juggling spreadsheets and chat tools for approvals.

5. Schedule smarter

Integrated studio and resource calendars let you:

• Book shoots with custom fields (product source, model, set, notes, etc.)

• Assign only available team members with auto-conflict detection

• Sync events with personal calendars instantly

• Track hours and unit costs per project

This isn’t a static calendar — it’s live, responsive scheduling backed by real-time data.

6. Centralise the entire studio brain

Bring together everything: creative briefs, references, CADs, shoot notes, annotations, retouching feedback, cost lines — in one system.

• Post-production sees annotated contact sheets the moment selects are ready

• Copywriters can reference imagery, product data, and brand guidelines in one place

• Everyone works off the same “source of truth,” avoiding duplication and manual tracking

7. Use performance data to refine time use

Reporting tools reveal:

• Cost per image

• Time spent per stage

• Resource utilisation

• Shoot timelines vs. actuals

With this visibility, you’re not just fixing time problems — you’re preventing them.

Conclusion

You can’t buy more hours. But you can stop wasting the ones you already have.

Lets Flo isn’t just a tool — it’s a mindset shift. It connects all the moving parts of content production into one automated system. The result?

Less chasing. More clarity. And a studio that finally runs on time.