Here are lessons from scaling my agency to £220k monthly revenue. Sustainable business growth requires systems, delegation, and strategic decision-making, not just passion and hard work.
1. Systems Over Passion
Document processes so anyone can deliver your service without you being present. Passion gets you started. Systems get you scale.
2. Eliminate Bottlenecks
Push decision-making authority down to team members rather than centralizing all choices. If every decision needs you, you’re the ceiling on growth.
3. Track Financial Metrics
Monitor:
- Win rates
- Project profitability
- Client lifetime value
- Cash flow forecasts
What you don’t measure, you can’t improve.
4. Fire Underperforming Clients
Remove clients who drain resources despite low revenue contribution. Not all revenue is good revenue.
5. Build for Eventual Sale
Structure the business to be independent of the owner’s involvement. Even if you never sell, this creates freedom.
6. Price Strategically
If you’re winning over 70% of proposals, increase prices. I raised rates dramatically and improved revenue despite lower volume.
7. Sell Outcomes, Not Hours
Position services by business value and results rather than time investment. Clients pay for transformation, not tasks.
The Warning
Businesses fail when owners work “in” rather than “on” the business, creating unsaleable operations dependent on their presence.
Build something that works without you.