Mon, 13 July 2020
Are you looking for a way to scale up without adding new employees? Do you want to get back to enjoying what you do? When you try providing everything to everyone, you're likely to get burnt out fast. But when you find what you're good at and focus just on that, you'll find freedom and enjoyment in owning your agency. In today's episode, we'll cover:
Today I sat down with Chris Kneeland, CEO of Cult Ideas, a digital marketing agency. Just over 7 years ago, Chris made the jump from a large, publicly-traded US agency to a smaller firm based out of Canada. He's here to discuss what he's learned from the transition and how you can get to a point where you can do what you love. #1 Pitfall of Full Service AgenciesIt's no secret, I'm not a fan of full-service agencies. In fact, you'll find this to be a common feeling among many agency owners. Why? After working for a very large, publicly-traded agency, Chris says there is one thing that stood out. The agency was constantly over-leveraged with staff. It got to a point where Chris began to wonder, "When did my job become keeping our bloated staff billable?" When you try to provide everything for everyone, you tend to hire a bunch of different people to fill all those roles. But if you're not getting the business to support your staff, you'll end up working just to pay your team. 2 Steps to Grow Your Agency Without Bringing on Excess Staff"But Jason, don't I need to expand my team if I expect to grow?" Not at all. Chris uses a strategy that's similar to the one I would use if I could do things differently. He says there are two steps to growing your agency without bringing on a ton of new employees:
When you keep a full staff, you put yourself in a position where you have to focus on payroll. You'll end up taking on a bad client or billing out something your client doesn't actually need. This is not a fun way to work. When you focus on being properly sized, not only will you improve your finances, but you'll also see an improvement in your quality of life. The Only 5 Roles You Should Fill as an Agency CEOThink about why you originally started your agency. If you're like me, it wasn't to see how fast you could grow it was about having the freedom to do what you love. Unfortunately, far too often we manage to get lost somewhere along the way. If you want to get to a point where you love your job and enjoy what you do, there are only 5 roles you should be responsible for as an agency CEO:
Don't worry, your agency and team still need you! When you focus on these 5 roles and let key leadership take care of the rest, your agency won't need you for what you used to do, they'll need you for what only you can do. It's never a good idea to focus on growth over doing what you love. When you narrow in on what you want to do and surround yourself with people who support you, you'll begin to have the freedom to pick and choose what you love. Looking for a Payroll and HR Solution for your Agency?Payroll and benefits are hard. Especially when you’re a small business. Gusto is making payroll, benefits and HR easy for small businesses. You no longer have to be a big company to get great technology, great benefits and great service to take care of your team. For a limited time, Gusto is offering a deal to Smart Agency Master Class listeners. Check out Gusto.com/agency for 3-months FREE once you run your first payroll with them.
Direct download: How_to_Grow_Your_Agency_Without_Hiring_More_Employees.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am MDT |