Strategy.
Practical thinking on profit, pricing, margins and what the numbers really mean for agency founders.
Outsourced vs In-House Accounting for Your Agency: A Cost Comparison
This guide breaks down the real cost of outsourced vs in-house accounting for marketing agencies. You'll learn how to calculate the total price of each option, including hidden fees and opportunity costs. We provide a clear framework to decide which model improves your profitability and supports your agency's specific growth stage.
Agency Profit Reinvestment: How Much to Keep and How Much to Take
This guide shows marketing agency owners how to strategically split their profits. You'll learn a clear framework for deciding how much profit to reinvest in growth, how much to keep as a cash safety net, and how much to pay yourself. It covers specific benchmarks, common mistakes, and how to adjust your strategy as your agency scales.
Third-Party Markups at Agencies: How Much to Add and How to Justify It
Learn how to price third-party costs like media spend, software, and freelancers profitably. This guide gives you clear agency markup third party benchmarks, from 15-20% on media to 25-50% on subcontractors. You'll get a framework to justify these fees to clients, turning pass-through costs into a reliable revenue stream.
Rush Job Pricing for Agencies: Charging a Premium Without Losing Clients
Learn how to price urgent agency work profitably. This guide shows you how to implement a clear rush fee policy that clients accept, protects your team from burnout, and turns last-minute requests into high-margin revenue. Get the commercial framework to charge a premium for fast turnaround pricing without damaging client relationships.
Agency Redundancy Costs: What to Budget If You Need to Let Someone Go
This guide explains the real financial impact of making an employee redundant in your agency. You'll learn how to calculate statutory redundancy pay, budget for notice periods and PILON, and plan your cash flow to avoid a crisis. It provides a clear framework for managing redundancy costs agency owners often overlook.
Profit First for Agencies: Does the Method Actually Work?
The Profit First method for agencies forces you to pay yourself profit first, changing your cash flow mindset. It can create financial discipline but may oversimplify complex agency economics like project cash flow and client retainers. For sustainable growth, agencies often need a more nuanced approach that integrates with their specific pricing and operational model.
Agency Client Retention: The Financial Impact of Keeping Clients Longer
This guide shows marketing and creative agency owners how client retention directly drives profit, not just revenue. You'll learn to calculate the true financial impact of keeping clients longer, including the hidden costs of churn and the exponential value of increasing client lifetime value. Practical strategies help you reduce churn and build a more predictable, profitable agency.
Agency Office vs Remote: The Full Financial Comparison
This guide provides a complete financial breakdown of agency office vs remote models for marketing and creative agencies. You'll learn how to calculate the true cost of an office lease versus remote agency costs, including hidden expenses and productivity impacts. Use our framework to make a data-driven decision that protects your margins and supports your growth goals.
Scope Changes Mid-Project: How Agencies Should Price Additional Work
Learn how to price mid-project scope changes without damaging client relationships or agency profitability. This guide covers clear change request pricing processes, communication strategies, and commercial frameworks used by successful agencies. You'll get practical steps to turn scope creep into a profitable, professional part of your service delivery.
Agency Referral Fees: How to Structure Finder's Fee Arrangements
This guide explains how marketing and creative agencies can structure profitable and fair agency referral fees. You'll learn the standard commission models, how to draft clear agreements, and the common financial pitfalls to avoid. Setting up a solid referral payment structure turns informal introductions into a predictable, scalable source of high-quality new business.
The Financial Model for Transitioning from Freelancer to Agency
Learn how to build a financial model for moving from freelancer to agency. This guide covers pricing shifts, cost structures, cash flow management, and key metrics for profitable scaling. You'll get a clear framework to transition without sacrificing your income or sanity.
Agency Revenue Mix: Finding the Right Balance of Retainer and Project Work
Learn how to structure your agency revenue mix for maximum stability and profit. This guide shows you how to balance predictable retainer income with profitable project work. You'll get specific benchmarks, pricing strategies, and a framework to assess your current income split and make smarter commercial decisions.
Agency Scaling Mistakes: Financial Pitfalls When Growing from 5 to 20 People
Scaling a marketing agency from 5 to 20 people introduces critical financial pitfalls that can stall or reverse growth. This guide details the most common mistakes, from mispricing services and poor cash flow management to hiring without a plan. Learn how to navigate these challenges to build a profitable, sustainable agency.
The Agency Owner's Pension Strategy: What to Contribute and When
A smart agency owner pension strategy is about more than just saving for retirement. It's a core part of your financial plan, offering significant tax relief and a way to extract profits efficiently from your business. This guide explains how much to contribute, when to do it, and how to align your pension with your agency's cash flow and growth goals.
Client Credit Checks for Agencies: Protecting Yourself Before You Start Work
Learn how to conduct a client credit check for your agency to avoid bad debt and protect your cash flow. This guide covers practical vetting steps, red flags to spot, and how to build a credit assessment process that fits your agency's size. You'll get a clear framework to decide which clients to work with and how to structure safer payment terms.
Agency Growth Funding: Loans vs Investment vs Revenue
Learn how to fund your agency's growth by comparing business loans, external investment, and revenue-based funding. This guide explains the pros, cons, and ideal scenarios for each agency funding option, helping you make a strategic choice that aligns with your profit goals and ownership plans. Get a clear framework to decide which path is right for your marketing or creative agency's next stage.
Agency Annual Revenue Planning: A Realistic Target-Setting Framework
Learn how to set realistic annual revenue targets for your marketing or creative agency. This framework moves beyond guesswork, using your current team capacity, client mix, and profit goals to build a financially sound plan. You'll get a clear roadmap for sustainable growth that protects your margins and cash flow.
Employee Benefits for Agencies: Tax-Efficient Perks That Attract Talent
Learn how to structure agency employee benefits that attract and retain top creative talent while managing costs. This guide covers tax-efficient perks, salary sacrifice schemes, and practical benefits that improve your agency's value proposition. Discover which benefits deliver the highest impact for your team and your bottom line.
Agency Finance Meetings: What to Review and How Often
Effective agency finance meetings are a regular rhythm, not a yearly chore. This guide shows you exactly what to review each month and quarter, from cash flow and gross margin to pipeline health. You'll learn how to turn financial data into clear decisions that improve your agency's profitability and stability.
Project vs Retainer: Helping Agency Clients Choose the Right Model
Learn how to guide clients between project and retainer billing models. This guide compares the financial and operational impacts of each model for marketing agencies, from cash flow predictability to team utilisation. You'll get a clear framework to recommend the right model for each client scenario, protecting your agency's margins and building stronger partnerships.
The Hidden Costs of Agency Pitching and How to Reduce Them
Agency pitching costs go far beyond just staff time. The real hidden cost of pitching includes diverted leadership focus, lost billable work, and speculative creative output. This guide shows you how to calculate your true new business investment, qualify opportunities better, and dramatically improve your pitch ROI to protect your agency's profitability.
Agency Capacity Planning: Matching Resources to Revenue
Agency capacity planning is the process of matching your team's available working hours to your client revenue and project pipeline. Done well, it prevents team burnout, protects profit margins, and ensures you can confidently take on new work. This guide shows marketing and creative agencies how to calculate capacity, forecast demand, and build a scalable resource plan.
Agency Rebranding Costs: Budgeting for a Brand Refresh
This guide shows marketing and creative agency owners how to budget for a rebrand. You'll learn the real costs, from strategy and design to legal and launch, and how to frame the spend as a growth investment. Get a clear framework to plan your brand refresh without financial surprises.
Financial Red Flags Every Agency Owner Should Watch For
Learn the critical agency financial red flags that signal underlying money problems. This guide shows you how to spot warning signs in your cash flow, profitability, and client base before they become crises. You'll get specific metrics to check and actionable steps to improve your agency's financial health.
Get the thinking direct.
New insights, frameworks and agency finance thinking, straight to your inbox. No noise.