Running an agency is no easy task. It takes time to establish, and it takes patience to grow. I’ve been working in agencies big and small for most of my career, and there’s a lot that I have learned along the way.
Hopefully, this blog post won’t come across as instructional but rather informative as I dig into my experience in running an agency and share what I believe is a winning formula. Some of the tips I’m about to share are not just for business owners, and I hope that everybody reading this will pick out one or two points to take away.
- Build a team.
This is the most crucial tip of all and possibly the reason I’m writing this post. You can have the most strategic thinking or be the most creative mind, but if you cannot pull a team together and get focused on the same thing, there’s no opportunity to grow your business. Picking my team over the 10 years in the business has been my hardest challenge. Don’t rush the process, trust your gut, and hire people who are brilliant at what they do but who also fit into your culture. You as the agency owner dictate the team spirit; come in grumpy, and you’re going to have a grumpy team. Come in energised and watch that energy rub off onto each one of your team members. - Lead that team.
If you’re brave enough to create a team, be even braver to lead it. A great leader won’t look for ways to only create success for themselves. In fact, if you purposely do the opposite, look after your team properly, and go to all extremes to ensure they succeed, this is where the magic happens. A leader who I believe everyone can learn from is Siya Kolisi, the Springbok rugby captain. A man who experienced the deepest of adversities but still managed to become one of the greatest leaders of modern times. His approach is not to take all the glory but rather to dedicate any success to those around him. I’ve got three of his quotes below:- “There’s no better feeling than helping somebody else”
- “Keep a sense of proportion – it’s only a game, not a war”
- “A good sportsman exercises self-control.”
- Build Trust.
This is such a big point. Building trust doesn’t happen in one or two years. Sure, there will be a certain level of trust during that time, but it starts to feel really good when you’ve connected with clients, partners, suppliers or staff for nearly a decade. Something switches where you find your sweet spot, and so does that other person. You can talk to them about practically anything, and you know they’ve got your back. The key is to be prepared to back them up 100% should they need you. When it comes to client work, never be greedy and always be grateful. This builds trust. - Understand.
Empathy is something that can’t be bought. It needs to be real, and it needs to be present in any business. There’s no blanket approach that you can apply to everyone. My thought pattern is that each person is coming in to do the best they can for your business and when the time comes when someone might need some extra TLC, don’t baulk at the opportunity to give it. You know who your players are in your team, so protect them. - Invest in technology.
There’s nothing worse than a business that offers amazing offices but who can’t get their systems and programs in order. Invest in the technology and storage solutions that will help your team excel in their role. You often hear about people who say “our files are everywhere” or “I can’t find anything”. This is a major turnoff and can often lead to clients jumping ship or staff leaving. - Don’t just focus on results.
I have noticed that if your focus is purely on results, you don’t go anywhere. Results only start to come once all the pillars in your business are aligned. The hard work is not actually generating the results – the hard work is setting up each pillar. Some of the pillars I’m talking about include but are not limited to:- People
- Processes
- Clients
- Systems and technology
- Learning and innovation
- Go hybrid.
Being a creative agency, it was tough working out what the balance would be when thinking about the new hybrid world of work. We often need to get together, chat through new briefs and brainstorm larger campaigns. Too often I hear people outside of our company saying, “Our hybrid model doesn’t make sense” or “I’d rather just work from home”. We’ve picked 3 specific days each week that the team are in the office – collaborating, learning, and attending or hosting client meetings. We encourage the team to set key meetings on these days, and it seems to be working well and we feel like we’ve got the right balance. - Be ready.
Having your finger on the pulse is important for many different reasons. For us, we know we must react quickly to client requests, and it sets us apart. As an agency, if you can produce work fast, accurately, creatively and at a competitive price – you’re in the sweet spot. A lot of commentary has been written noting that these 4 components can’t exist together in a creative agency. I challenge that and have the opinion that if your core pillars (as above) are strong, these 4 components can exist together. It’s tough, but it’s possible, and we do it. - “Don’t fake it till you make it. Own it until you’ve grown it.”
Occasionally I wake up at 2 a.m. and have pure creative freedom. It might be an idea or an extension of an idea that really starts to make sense, and I try to jot it down. That’s why I have used the quote in this point. It really sucks when people try to fake it until they’ve made it. My thought pattern is just to own it until you’ve grown it. You’ll make mistakes, and that’s ok! - Breathe.
You know the drill.
