How to Value a Creative Agency: The Complete UK Guide (2026)
The 7 factors that determine what your agency is worth, the 3 valuation methods buyers use, and a step-by-step process to calculate your number.
Insights
Ideas for Agency Owners
Articles on building exit-ready agencies, valuation drivers, and strategic growth.
The Owner Extraction Method: How to Remove Yourself from Your Agency in 90 Days
The 90-day framework for systematically removing yourself from agency operations. The Delegation Ladder, week-by-week plan, and what it means for your valuation.
How to Remove Yourself from Day-to-Day Operations
The Owner Extraction Method: a 90-day plan to remove yourself from daily operations so your agency can run without you. Based on how I did it before my exit.
Questions to Ask a Business Coach Before You Hire One
Hiring a business coach is a significant investment. Here are the questions that separate genuine expertise from polished marketing.
Why Time Audits Are Important for Business Owners
How understanding where your time goes reveals what's holding your agency back, and how to reclaim the hours that matter.
Growing Your Agency in 2026 Starts Now
Strategic planning guidance for preparing your creative agency for growth, and why Q4 is your most important planning period.
How to Choose the Right Business Coach for Your Creative Agency
Finding coaches is straightforward. They're abundant. The genuine challenge involves identifying someone with authentic agency experience and evidence-based methodologies.
Top 10 Signs Your Agency Needs Business Coaching
Ten indicators that creative agencies would benefit from business coaching, from being the bottleneck to having no clear exit strategy.
Business Coach vs Business Mentor vs Business Consultant: What's the Difference?
Understanding the differences between coaches, mentors, and consultants to choose the right support for your agency.
The Complete Guide to Business Coaching for Growing Agencies
Business coaching as a strategic partnership for agency transformation, combining external perspective, proven frameworks, and implementation accountability.
Glaze – The Next Chapter
How Glaze evolved from a development house to strategic partners, representing over £20 million in collective monthly client revenue.
Business Coach vs Mentor: Why I Wasted £6,000 (And How You Can Avoid My Mistake)
I spent £6,000 on business coaching, only to realize I needed mentoring instead. Here's the critical difference.
How To Plan Your Day
A day planning system developed through 13 years of running an agency. Success comes from proper planning rather than working harder.
7 Growth Strategies To Scale Your Agency
Lessons from scaling an agency to £220k monthly revenue. Sustainable growth requires systems, delegation, and strategic decision-making.
How to Charge More for Design
There hasn't been one agency owner so far who is overcharging for their work. Here's how to price based on value, not time.
How to Increase Your Prices & Not Lose Clients
Agency owners frequently undercharge due to fear rather than market limitations. Here's how to raise prices while maintaining client relationships.
How Do You Structure a Creative Agency?
Insights from 13 years building a creative agency to exit. A practical two-team structure that enables sustainable growth.
Why Most Business Coaches Are Wrong for Creative Agencies
Most business coaches lack the specialized knowledge needed to guide creative agencies effectively. Here's what to look for instead.
Master Your Action Plan: An 8-Step Framework for Business Success
The 8-step action planning framework I used to go from 100-hour weeks to building a multi-million pound agency. Goal setting, daily execution, and the 80/20 rule.
How To Get More Clients For Your Agency
Comprehensive strategies for creative agencies to systematically attract new clients. Move beyond referrals to implement scalable sales processes.
Why Every Agency Owner Needs Business Coaching
How I transformed a £500k annual agency into a £2.2 million operation over six years through systematic business development and proper guidance.
Beat Sales Objections Every Time
Eight strategies for converting sales objections into opportunities rather than viewing them as deal-breakers.
Agency Owner End of Quarter Checklist
Four critical tasks agency owners must complete before quarter-end to drive sustainable growth and uncover hidden revenue.
Why Entrepreneurship is Lonely
People celebrate the freedom and wealth-building potential of business ownership. Few discuss the crushing loneliness of the role.
Business Coaching For Creative Agencies: 5 Things I Focus On
After scaling my agency to £220k monthly revenue before selling it, here are the five critical areas I address when coaching creative agency owners.
How To Scale Your Creative Agency So It Runs Without You
Eight strategic steps for scaling creative agencies to operate independently. Build something that works whether you're there or not.
The 6-Phase Framework for Scaling Creative Agencies
A systematic approach to scaling creative agencies, distinguishing between mere growth and sustainable scaling. Revenue should expand faster than expenses.
Building a Sales Pipeline for Your Creative Agency
A systematic approach to constructing predictable sales pipelines. Traditional sales methods fail because clients care about outcomes, not design quality.
Using Agency Consultants to Drive Growth for Creative Businesses
Running a creative agency extends beyond creative work into unfamiliar business territory. Agency consultants help navigate growth, profitability, and strategic planning.
Sales Training Program for Creative Agencies
Most creative professionals didn't start their agencies to become salespeople. Here's how to build systematic sales processes that actually work.
Sales & Marketing Strategies For Creative Agencies
Mainstream business advice doesn't translate to service-based businesses. Selling services requires distinctly different strategies than selling products.
Working on the Business, Not in It
How taking strategic time away from daily operations transformed my creative agency. Growth requires dedicated thinking time.
Sales Has Changed
The sales landscape has fundamentally shifted. People don't want to feel like they're being sold to. Here's what works now.
What Does It Take to Launch an Online Course?
The comprehensive process of launching an online course: over 244 hours and $10,000 before launch. Here's what's actually involved.
How To Scale a Creative Agency to 7 Figures: 3-Phase Framework
The 3-phase framework for scaling a creative agency from zero to £100k+/month. Niche selection, team building, systems, and the shift from practitioner to leader.
Is Productising Service the Key to Scale?
Transforming service-based work into standardized, systematized offerings represents a critical path to sustainable business growth.
End The Year Strong, and Start Next Year Ready
December is critical for business momentum. When everyone else slows down, this is your opportunity to close strong and set up Q1 for success.
A Sale Is Not a Sale Until the Money Is in YOUR Bank
Always deliver quality work and ensure payment is received before considering a sale complete. Here's how to get paid consistently.
How To Start a Graphic Design Business in 2026 (8 Steps)
8 practical steps to launch a graphic design business from scratch. Finding clients, pricing, portfolios, cash flow, and referrals. From someone who built a multi-million pound agency.
How to Scale a Creative Agency
Two universal business owner goals: earning more money and gaining time freedom. Scaling is the solution.
Stressed About Entrepreneurship? Watch This
Five practical strategies for managing entrepreneurial stress. Some stress is beneficial when it maintains motivation without causing burnout.
The Professional Way to Ask for Referrals
Referrals have been instrumental in my business growth, with one particular referral chain eventually leading to a business sale.
How to Sell High Value Creative Services
How to transition from pricing creative services by hourly rates to value-based pricing models. From £150 logos to £20,000+ brand projects.
Daily Habits of Successful People
Seven key daily habits that drive entrepreneurial success, from working with thousands of successful business owners.
What's Stopping You? How Starting a Business Changed My Life
Reflecting on 15 years since launching my business. Entrepreneurship fundamentally transformed my life, offering security and freedom through personal effort.
Networking for Business Growth: The New Way
Modern networking strategies for business expansion. Everyone at traditional networking events is there to sell, not buy. There's a better approach.
Why Every Solopreneur Needs a Business Coach
Solopreneurs make all business decisions alone without peers to brainstorm with. Here's why external guidance accelerates progress.
How to Take Time Off
The challenge small business owners face when taking time off. I took five weeks' holiday and received zero new leads. Here's what I learned.
The Problem with Business Coaching in Northern Ireland
Many business coaches in Northern Ireland have never run a business that isn't their coaching business. Here's what to look for instead.
Seeking a Business Coach in Belfast? Here's What to Consider
Guidance on selecting an appropriate business coach. The ideal coach varies based on individual circumstances and business needs.
5 Ways to Grow Your Business This Week
Take immediate action mid-year rather than lengthy planning. Five actionable strategies you can implement right now.
3 Boring but Effective Ways to Grow Your Agency
Entrepreneurs gravitate toward exciting opportunities, which prevents them from focusing on existing revenue streams. Wealth is built in the boring.
Scale Your Business with Fractional Leadership
How fractional leadership can accelerate business growth without the expense of full-time executive hires.
Is Cash Flow Keeping You Up at Night?
A sale isn't a sale until the money's in the bank. I nearly lost my business in its first 12 weeks despite strong sales. Here's what I learned.
5 Common Exit Strategies for Your Business
Running a good business and one that is in a position to be sold are two parallel journeys. Successful exits require advance preparation.
Foundations of a Successful Business Exit
Building a good company and building one to sell are parallel journeys. Businesses running smoothly attract better offers than those requiring restructuring.
Common Reasons to Sell a Business
The motivation we had to start and build a business is not the same as that required to take it into maturity. Here's when selling makes sense.
Building an Effective Sales Pipeline In 8 Stages
A well-structured sales pipeline enables you to sell more with unrivaled efficiency and ensure the correct procedure is followed with every sale.
Agency Consultants – Your Unfair Competitive Advantage
Sometimes you lack clarity on next steps or need support with critical decisions. This is where agency consultants become valuable partners.
What Does a Business Growth Strategist Do? (And When You Need One)
A growth strategist helps agency owners break through revenue plateaus. Here's what they actually do, how they're different from consultants, and what results to expect.
What Are Business Advisory Services? A Guide for Agency Owners
Business advisory services combine financial analysis with strategic guidance to accelerate growth, plan exits, and fix operational problems. Here's when to engage one.
Selling a Business in Northern Ireland
Preparing your business for sale is not the same as maximizing value. Here's the standard process that makes selling easier.
Sales Training For Creative Agencies
Good salespeople in our industry are incredibly hard to come by. The solution isn't finding them. It's developing them internally.
How to Stay Motivated as a Creative Entrepreneur
Superhuman consistency is unrealistic. But intentional systems and self-deception about motivation create sustainable progress.
The Reason You Can't Sell Design
The reason you can't sell design isn't because your design isn't good enough. It's because you can't demonstrate how it supports commercial objectives.
3 Tips to Increase Your Productivity as an Agency Owner
Agency owners spend 80% of their time firefighting rather than driving growth. Here's a framework for systematic task management.
Design Agency Sales Strategies: Social Selling
Social selling is like farming: plant seeds, tend to them over months, harvest when ready. More often than not, this promotes significant inbound activity.
How to Grow a Design Agency
Five strategic steps for growing a design agency. Retention proves more cost-effective than acquisition. Love the ones you're with.
Creative Agency Margins: What Should They Be? (2026 UK Benchmarks)
What net profit margin should a creative agency target? UK benchmarks, margin by agency type, the 5 margin killers I see in every agency, and how to audit yours.
Setting Revenue Targets for Your Agency
As creative business leaders, set revenue targets before the current financial year ends. Four methods to consider.
5 Ways To Supercharge Your Agency's Growth
Agency growth is a priority for most business owners, yet many struggle to achieve it sustainably. Five strategic approaches to accelerate expansion.
8 Tips To Grow Your Agency Fast
Practical strategies for faster agency growth, from narrowing your service offering to knowing when to fire clients.
What Is The Business Diagnostic?
An extensive evaluation to understand your current business state, identify growth opportunities, and establish strategic objectives.
Creative Industry Benchmark
Selling creative services operates under fundamentally different conditions than other industries. The sector suffers from limited transparency that hampers efficiency and profitability.
How to Get More Clients on a Monthly Retainer
Building a stable revenue foundation through monthly retainers is essential for sustainable agency growth. Stop starting from zero each month.
How To Scale Your Design Agency In 4 Steps
True scaling encompasses much more than increasing revenue. It's the ability to grow all aspects of the business sustainably and profitably.
Social Selling: Selling Design Without Cold Calling
The sales process gives us the ick. Social selling offers a lead generation strategy that doesn't require aggressive cold calling.
Time Management For Agency Owners – The 3 D's and an A
A straightforward productivity framework to escape endless meetings and administrative tasks. Do it, delete it, or delegate it.
What is a Business Diagnostic?
The Business Diagnostic helps creative agency owners understand their current position, identify growth opportunities, and develop actionable plans.
When to Bring Creatives Into the Selling Process
Should billable creative staff participate in sales? Sustainable agency scaling requires reducing their involvement, with strategic exceptions.
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