Are you ready to scale up your agency, but don’t know where to start? Are you face-to-face with that metaphorical brick wall, trying to figure out where you will get the funds to allow your agency to continue to grow? As owners, often, our goal is to grow our agency as big as we can. But how do you make sure you scale your agency in a way where you don’t fall flat on your face?

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you should always embrace your strengths.
• #1 Reason agencies need to ask more questions.
• Are you standing in your agency’s way?

Today I had the opportunity to sit down with Nathan McKelvey, founder of Army8, a digital growth consulting firm. Nathan is a former pilot and self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur. After growing and selling a few agencies, Nathan now helps other agencies discover the tools they need to effectively scale their agency. Nathan is here to talk about what he has learned along the way.

Why You Should Always Embrace Your Strengths

Nathan’s story is different than many of ours. In the early 2000s, Nathan was the owner of jets.com, a private jet service. After he grew his company to $40 million in annual revenue, he was forced to sell it after the economic collapse in 2009.  A year later, Nathan started another company, and again, found immediate success. So what did he do and how can you replicate his success?

• Reach out to your network. When Nathan started his company, he reached out to his professional and private network, you know, people he flew in his private planes. While we don’t all have access to a bunch of people with deep pockets, chances are you have a network you can leverage. Talk to your friends, talk to your co-workers, reach out on LinkedIn. Use existing relationships as a foundation for building your agency.
• Work to your strengths. Nathan didn’t just bring in his background as a pilot, he also brought in a strong knowledge of SEO and SEM. He was able to use these skills to market his company and scale it at a rapid rate. Think of the unique skills you bring to the table and use them to scale up your agency.

#1 Reason Agencies Need to Ask More Questions

Do you ever stop to ask your clients why they are asking you to do a certain task? Most of the time, when a client is asking you to do something, there’s a bigger reason behind the request.

Does your client want to have a bigger presence on Facebook? Why? Do they want you to set up a new campaign? What are they hoping to get out of this strategy? When you take the time to ask questions and understand what your client is hoping to get out of the process, rather than simply completing the task, you’ll have a better understanding of the approach you should take to help your client meet their goals.

Are You Standing in Your Agency’s Way?

Agencies today have a big advantage that Nathan and I didn’t when we started our agencies — technology. Tasks or projects that used to take months to put together, now come together in no time at all.

One of the biggest problems more established agencies have when it comes to scaling is getting in their own way. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “But, that’s how I’ve always done it.” The hard truth is,  if the competition is coming in and taking advantage of these newer and better tools, you’re going to be left behind. There is so much opportunity waiting to be had. Don’t be that person who refuses to embrace changing technology.

Anyone can scale their agency if they take the time to do it right. And if you hit the brick wall, that doesn’t mean you have to turn around, it just means you have to push harder. When you have the clarity of who you are going to serve, how you are going to serve them, and why they should care, then you have the right foundation to be able to scale your agency.

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