I started my marketing agency back in the early 90s with exuberant youthful optimism of growing a business that would give me control, flexibility, freedom and fantastic income.

Over the next 11 years we grew the agency to have 25 staff with turnover of about £1.5 million. However, as we grew, instead of giving me more flexibility and freedom, I found myself tied to the agency more than ever - with clients and staff looking at ME to solve their problems and support them.

I recall sitting in my corner desk and every day having 'wheelbarrows of crap' pilled onto my desk. I was dealing with tasks that didn't excite me (quality, HR, finance etc.) and felt I was taking one step forward and one step back - all the while with this feeling that my success was dependent on continued growth.

Something needed to change!

What I needed to do was first change my mindset and then focus on getting the structures in place to build a self-running agency. Now that doesn't mean an agency that could run without me but rather, an agency that would be more self-sufficient and less dependent on me, giving me the flexibility and freedom that I so craved!

Instead of making that change, I decided the best option was to sell the agency and move on. Now I don't regret that decision but if I could do it all again or go back and give my younger self some advice, I would say "focus on building a self-running agency that gives you flexibility, control, income and freedom."

The Self-Running Agency Implementation Group is born out of my own experience as an agency owner plus my time working with many hundreds of agency owners over the past 14 years, and seeing that they all share in the same aspirations and challenges as I did. Challenges we tackle in The Self-Running Agency Implementation Group.