Building an agency from the ground up takes a lot of work. Getting started is an effort, but driving growth is a huge undertaking. You need to find and close the right clients and deliver results, all while working to attract and train the talent you need to help you scale. Add in trying to market your business with a limited budget and it’s enough to make any agency owner nervous.
But successful agency management can be extremely rewarding when done right and getting the financial return you want isn’t impossible. Many highly profitable agencies overcome these issues, so just what do they have in common? Keep reading for our 11 agency growth secrets for founders.
11 Agency Growth Secrets To Skyrocket Your Business
Look no further than these agency growth secrets to help you successfully scale your agency.
Focus on a Specialization
You might think being “full-service” helps win you more clients, but the opposite tends to be true. Being extremely successful at one thing will help you make a better name for yourself than being average at several things. Studies show that the most successful agencies focus on one vertical. More clients depend on specialized agencies, and an area of expertise can help you stand out in a crowded market. You’ll be able to create better content, develop better processes, and earn better rankings.
Ignore the “Work-Life Balance” Line
It might be painful to hear, but as a founder, the scales of your work-life balance will be tipped towards work while your agency is growing. Agency management means you’ll be putting in extra hours and outworking your team, but this is part of working with a purpose. If growing your agency is your vision and goal, you need to be shouldering most of the workload at max capacity while you can. Knowing your capacity equation is essential to scaling at the right pace. This agency growth secret is one you shouldn’t take lightly.
Project Management Is Key
Agencies, especially new ones, tend to run lean, but some things are too important to forego. Project management is one of those things. If you want to be able to focus on growth, you need someone who is working to make sure every detail of client work goes off without a hitch. Happy clients are the key to repeat business and valuable referrals. Don’t skimp on keeping your projects on track.
Know Your Profit Margins
Working outside of your margins will tank your business, so it is important to know the numbers at all times. It can be tempting to reduce your margins to take on a new piece of business, but you’ll only undervalue your work and set a precedent that makes it hard to make more profit in the future. Instead, think of ways to add value without lowering your margins.
Become Your Own Client
You can demonstrate your expertise, learn new skills, and attract new clients by first becoming your own client. If you are a content marketing agency, your blog should be regularly updated. Whatever you’re trying to do for clients, do for yourself to hone your skills.
Find Strategic Partners to Increase Your Growth
A common agency growth secret among successful agencies is sharing opportunities with strategic partners. Rather than trying to forge your way in a new space, find a strong, established partner to help you bridge the gap. Think about your weaknesses and find a partner who can deliver what you need. But you also must be able to deliver on a need for that partner, too. The collaboration needs to be mutually beneficial.
Hire on Fit, Not Just on Resume
Hiring and employee management are a challenge for everyone right now, and conventional hiring practices just don’t cut it anymore. Poring over resumes and analyzing experience won’t get you what you need in today’s digital marketing world. Resumes won’t tell you if a candidate is going to be a good fit for your agency. Skills today tend to matter less than cultural fit and tenacity. Source and leverage top talent you can see yourself spending time with and who can handle wearing many hats.
Hire and Fire at the Right Time
Beyond hiring the right people, you must hire them at the right time. Planning positions based on need is the only way to successfully scale. Similarly, firing is critical to growing your agency. Making a bad hire happens occasionally. When it begins to impact your resources and culture, you need to act fast. Firing can be an emotional thing for founders, but it is ultimately a business decision and needs to be done.
Build Relationships With Clients and Focus on Referrals
When you build strong client relationships, you’re setting a strong foundation for your agency. Many experts will happily share this agency growth secret and tell you that sometimes it is the right move to work with a client even if it doesn’t make economic sense. Building up a relationship and the potential future referrals makes it worth it.
No matter how much money you invest in marketing, the most valuable leads will always come from personal referrals. Nurture your client relationships and they could become a wealth of potential.
Adopt a Culture of Transparency
Playing your cards close to the vest is a thing of the past in agency operations. Maintaining a culture of transparency helps bolster your clients’ trust in you, which only equates to more profit in the long run. You can be upfront with clients about rates, and you can be open with your team about what the agency is earning. It actually makes employee management easier. Holding back from your employees will only backfire down the road.
Be Selective With Your Clients
Most founders will say that one of the biggest agency growth secrets to success is only taking on work you can actually deliver. Being selective with onboarding new clients means you might have to say no, even if you’re intrigued by an opportunity. If you’re not sufficiently equipped to handle a new job or client, you’re not going to be successful in the long run. Rejecting a client is hard but being selective will give you a healthier roster of clients in the end.
Work With 8 Figure Agency To Help Grow Your Agency
There are many agency growth secrets out there but a lot of agency success comes down to these fundamental agency growth secrets. If you’re working on growing your agency, remember to keep these agency secrets in mind!
Want to know how you can nail your agency management and grow your revenue to eight figures? 8 Figure Agency is an experienced and motivated team that wants to help you take your business to the next level of success. Schedule a free consultation with us today and let us show you how to grow your company’s wealth!
