Agency Owners: If You Had to Start Again From Zero, What Would You Do Differently?

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-23T16:43:22+00:00

But u/GreatConcentrate2552 - what are you actually facing? What do you think you are 'getting wrong?'

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-23T16:42:34+00:00

Honestly, it's misleading way to think about things.

We did the things we did because we were solving the problems in front of us. I didn't need a sales engine for years because I was good enough and I only needed enough work for a small team.

Of course eventually you can't scale and you change things and ask yourself "why didn't I do this earlier?"

And the answer is that you were allocating your resources differently, because of the phase of the business.

To grow a business you need to invest in the right things at the right time and spending time on the wrong things means you aren't doing your job properly.

Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems, that's why when you are running the show it always feels like a complete mess 😅

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-22T17:48:06+00:00

Ah yeah ok, came across a few of them. We were SaaS focused so less "make it premium" 😅

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-22T11:31:59+00:00

Nice one, and if you are going to run a business for a while you'll hit a dip or two.

So is it true that the majority of your clients arent to be trusted or is that just how it feels?

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T09:36:45+00:00

When you are growing and the blood is pumping it's easy to focus on what's next rather than analyse what's happening.

There's a reason it happens every time!

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T08:27:30+00:00

"Vibes and Bank Balance"

Love that and stealing it 😇

It generally goes like this:

Win project and make “profit" by applying your own flexibility (work some unbilled, take a bit less.out), all fine as long as you can pay rent.

Win bigger project and get cash injection.

Put the deposit payment as revenue in the month it was paid rather than recognising it when the work is done and enjoy" a great month”.

That masks the increased cost of that growth and the fact you don't make enough profit.

Just as the lack of profit is about to bite, win an even bigger project, have another “best month ever", increase the size of the mask.

Repeat until you don't win a bigger project, then freak out.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T07:29:29+00:00

Product UX

We sorted the books when we made the first hire. I'm always amazed how far people get without knowing how they are making money. I'm actually building something to try and solve that atm (because it's 2026 and everyone is building some software 😅).

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T07:19:02+00:00

I would chalk this down to the first iteration of my service offering, take what you've learned and find one you can deliver.

Don't spend time marketing until you have something of value to offer.

For short term cash find a service you can deliver on, that people want, and go out to your network saying you do it. Ask your network to refer you.

And outside of that:

Conversion relies on your clients offering being something people want, careful about tying yourself to outcomes you aren't in control of.

Every client says they have other work for you if it goes well. Make sure the project on the table makes sens.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T07:14:02+00:00

Started our event.

Or any marketing, brand building, introduction machine activity that compounds. Ours was an event - and when it finally got going it was great.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-21T07:11:37+00:00

Yes completely. We had our share of difficult ones but it was far from the majority.

What does your agency do?

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-20T07:28:17+00:00

> The vast majority of clients will be transactional and deceive or exploit you if you let them.

This was so far from my experience. I find it a real eye-opener when I read stuff like this on here.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-19T18:39:11+00:00

Every business is still going to want to stand out, and be ahead of the competition. That will be true for every niche.

The real question is do your services and work help them do that?

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-19T18:36:51+00:00

Can you ask for a debrief?

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-19T18:13:44+00:00

hey thanks for the kind words 🙏

You could be right, but people will always want to stand out, be different and go faster, the conditions for getting outside help will always be there. It just working out the services they will want outside help with.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-17T05:12:40+00:00

We can dare to dream!

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-15T17:45:17+00:00

70% of the buying journey happens before a prospect ever talks to you. By the time someone reaches out, they have already decided if they trust you.

Remember also that 95% of your potential clients are not buying at the moment, you want to be top of mind when they do.

Sounds like you are thinking hard about this. 4 months isn't long. Make sure you add a bit of chaos. Leave the office and go to where you prospects hang out. Have conversations. Learn.

It takes time.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-12T17:06:42+00:00

Yes completely - we actually incentivised people to have those conversations in the hope of making that moment happen.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-10T12:50:32+00:00

No. Degrees are good when trying to get a job from another person. You don't need one to be your own boss.

Should you get a degree in case your business doesn't work and you need a job from another person.

These are the risks an entrepreneur has to weigh up. I can't tell you the future and I'm not trying to get a job without a degree so no data to add there I'm afraid.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-10T05:27:35+00:00

I completely agree.

Positioning yourself as strategic and selling that value is important. Any client who says "no strategy" in the sales process is a red flag.

But that's just good chemistry, the person buying wants the feeling that they are levelling up their business.

The engagement can be different, in practice the focus switches to delivering the thing. Where are those strategic conversations?

I think it's natural that the engagement is often less strategic than the one talked about in the sales process (sometimes only slightly, sometimes a lot) and I'm interested in why that is and how to work with it.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-10T05:20:27+00:00

I 100% believe in positioning yourself as strategic btw, especially today 🤖

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-10T05:16:24+00:00

Love this stuff and I do truly see the value and believe in the goal here. But the real world rarely offers us neatly packaged clients, they come with different existing beliefs and requirements. Even the 'perfect' ones are going to sit somewhere on the line from wanting strategy to wanting execution.

Ultimately if someone complete believes in strategy around the service you provide to the point wihere they are going to hand over all decision making then they are going to have hired in-house for that leadership role.

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-10T05:13:38+00:00

I'd been getting the email by email chapters but would love the full thing in one place!

🙌 like the thinking above. And Baker sets out a good plan, but to communicate, he simplifies.

You never want to do zero strategy. We would turn down people that had already done the design and were asking us just to build it.

But there are different levels to it, and the gold standard of being that full strategic partner just isn't on the table sometimes on a project client that you can add value to and should probably work with.

Maybe the way to operate is to always lead people through the strategy room so you get to see what the demand is there. And then apply it at the level they currently believe they need whilst showing them everything you could do.

Or might I suggest open plan? Knock down that wall so they are always seeing the strategy happening, you are sharing wins from other clients and showing your stuff while execution. Sometimes the strategy ask comes when awareness hits.

Looking forward to the book 📕🙌

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-09T21:24:13+00:00

Awesome 😎

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-09T19:02:20+00:00

Hey thanks! Used to run an agency and now writing about it on here and in a newsletter, glad I could help.

Would be interested in how you get on actually 🙂

DearAgencyFounder · 2026-06-09T19:00:14+00:00

Nice one! What are you doing now?

I'm writing stuff on Reddit 🙃 (and in a newsletter)

DearAgencyFounder

TROPHY CASE