How One Agency Grew to $5.5 Million By Investing in Leadership

<p>Do you have the crystal clear vision needed to take your agency to the next level? John Quinton-Barber describes himself as a visionary and accidental entrepreneur. He had 30 years of experience in the media and communications industry when he decided he wanted to set up his own business. After eight years, <a href= "https://www.social.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Social</a> is now a top 20 UK agency. He joins Jason to talk about how he remained focused on the future and the crystal clear vision needed to continue growing your agency, some of the hurdles he has found along the way, and the importance of investing in leadership to focus on the key aspects of your agency’s past, present, and future.</p> <h2>3 Golden Nuggets</h2> <ol> <li><strong>Invest in the right people.</strong> The first years of a digital agency are about survival. John focused on keeping the agency running but, after hitting one million pounds, he realized it was no longer necessary or efficient that he took care of every aspect of the business. He started to invest in people to take care of yesterday (the processes, HR, IT, legal), someone to take care of today (making sure the agency creating great quality campaigns, working with clients, giving them the best service), and then focused on <a href= "https://jasonswenk.com/agency-plan-for-success/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking care of the future</a>, which is about strategy, vision, and where you want to go.</li> <li><strong>Crystal clear vision.</strong> After deciding that he was not running a lifestyle business and getting serious about making something really special, John said he never looked back and never experienced doubts. A crystal clear vision will help your business thrive in hard times. If you don’t have that vision, you won’t get to the next stage. John admits he made many mistakes and that, by year four of his agency, he was barely making any profit and plowing every penny back into the business. But now, in year eight, he is reaping the rewards of invest