Running an agency doesn’t have to be complicated. In this week’s episode, I am joined by Simon Severino to discuss how to step into the role of CEO in your agency and the 3 habits every great agency owner needs to develop and some that need to be let go of. Simon also discusses why 90-day ‘sprints’ are the right length to plan, focus, and deliver.
Time Stamp
[02:00] The typical journey of a founding agency owner (phase 1: growth, phase 2: scale). Phase 1 is up to £35k and the focus should be operations and sales (build a conversion machine), and phase 2 is beyond £35k where the focus is marketing and branding.
[03:55] Simon’s dream of having a TED Talk and why that was the wrong focus
[04:45] Advice to get through to phase one. There are 2 bottlenecks: 1. The ego of the founder. 2. Your sales approach (farming v hunting)
[07:45] Recognise your clients don’t come for you but they come for the solution (to their problem) and the process you offer
[10:00] The best sales strategy for phase 1. A simple strategy that never changes
[11:00] Learn the 4 parts of a business: marketing, sales, operations and managing these parts
[12:50] Never charge for time at the end of a project but instead, for results upfront
[14:50] Derisking a client picking you to work with
[16:05] Why is 90-day the right length to plan for?
[17:07] Keeping it simple and keeping them updated, there should be 1 vision and 3 goals in each 90-day sprint
[18:07] The success rate of doubling your revenue in a 90-day sprint
[18:54] What could stop someone from hitting this goal?
[22:15] The importance of keeping your plans nimble and reacting to the data in the dashboard
[23:15] 3 habits that a successful agency owner must have
[25:54] If you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be
Quotations
“You, the agency owner, becomes the bottleneck to growth because you are limited by your time.” – Simon Severino
“For every skill the owner brings to get their agency started, they quickly become the roadblock unless they can get out of the way.” – Rob Da Costa
“Focus on the 5% that is in control and not the 95% that isn’t!” – Simon Severino
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Useful links mentioned in this episode: