The Agency Growth Podcast

We got a little off track right away in this episode and it turned into an episode of its own.

Everyone has the same amount of time in a day yet some people always seem to get more work done than us. How do they do it?

We talk about the sacrifices we've made in our daily lives to be able to focus on getting work done and scaling the agency. Jake set the Xbox controller down and Cody doesn't own a TV. Sometimes these are the choices we make in order to make ourselves focus on work...

Sometimes work is so important and plentiful that we don't even realize we've put our hobbies down.

Either way, at some point, we have to figure out what is truly most important to us because we aren't getting more time in our days.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

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Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

In this episode, Jake points out some fallacies when it comes to agency owners trying to find work and where they try to find it.

There's a common belief that agency owners should be everywhere at all times (Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc) in order to get in front of your potential clients, but that just isn't true. It's honestly a waste of your time.

When you're first starting out, you might have nothing better to do than to post to every social platform out there and that's okay -- but at some point, you'll see which platforms are most ideal to find work and when you do, you need to double down on that platform.

Different agency models in different industries favor different platforms. It's important for you to find out where your top platform is and we talk about how we found ours.

Jake talks about which platforms worked best for Evergrow to acquire its first clients and Cody brings up freelance websites like Fiverr and UpWork.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

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Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

Cody hates Thanksgiving, and it's only a week away. So I thought it'd be funny if we did a Thanksgiving episode just to annoy him.

First, I get that Thanksgiving episodes are boring; That's why we decided to make an appropriately themed episode that actually provides value rather than get all sappy about what we're thankful for.

The things we're thankful for range from having a partner to take the burden off of your shoulders to having sought out and found a mentor that you can go to with questions regarding your business or industry.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

DISCLAIMER: #1: If you don't want to hear about Jake's engagement story then skip to the 9:45 mark to get to the meat of the content (you're welcome)!

DISCLAIMER #2: Cody is recovering from the flu and Jake is running on 2hrs and 47 minutes of sleep after getting back from Mexico. Both of us sound like we're going to die in this episode.

Today we talk about burnout and how it's inevitable for anyone who wants anything bad enough.

Google defines burnout as:“...a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." However, we both disagree with this definition for different reasons.

Burnout comes in many forms and oftentimes isn't something that's always in your control. This means, you either have to be the luckiest person alive to avoid it, or you really don't care that much about what you're doing.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

Ever noticed how all of the gurus, competitors, or your peers only seem to brag about their revenue numbers? Does it have you feeling like you're not as successful or that you should be doing more?

You might want to pay closer attention to what they're saying -- you might end up feeling better about yourself.

Revenue is one of those numbers that are easy to inflate. If someone spends $1m in ads and makes $10k back, their revenue is $1.01m. That seems like a lot of money until you realize the owner of that company only took home $10k... and that's assuming there were no other expenses. On top of that, they incurred a huge liability! $1m in ad spend!

In this episode, we discuss how the only thing you should be concerned about at the end of the day is how profitable your company is. Revenue means nothing if it's not generating a healthy profit margin. Profit margins are what keep businesses around for the long haul.

Smart people don't buy businesses that have high revenue numbers, they buy businesses that are profitable.

If you're an agency or consultant and don't in inventory or ad spend as much, your profitability comes from your labor hours. Pay attention to how much revenue you're bringing in divided by how many labor hours you're attributing. You may not be as profitable as you think.

If you like tangents, you'll love this episode!

If you don't... well... at least it's a shorter episode...

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

We figured we'd hop on the topical train and today's topic is Halloween!

In this episode, we'll share a few of our spooky agency stories. No ghosts or ghouls -- just genuinely scary moments for us while working in an agency setting whether that's at our agency or the ones we used to work at.

These stories include:

• Arriving to work to learn that all of the founders are quitting
• Sending a mailer to print with a client's competitor's phone number on it
• Being called into an executive's office after telling an account manager to shut up during a business meeting
• Being called into an executive's office after presenting in front of the entire company drunk...
• A story you've probably heard of online that was a client of ours!
• When the agency's biggest client left and people were literally crying
• That time we were served settlement papers

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

We discuss how much they actually work as agency owners -- but more importantly, is the work-life balance worth it versus striving to make a 6+ figure income at a 9-5 working 60+ hours per week?

When you start your own business, you're going to need to put more time and effort into it than a standard full-time job. However, it is yours and it has more potential. You get to decide when you work, for how long you work, and in what direction the business is headed.

Ultimately, you don't have to work long-hour days, you also don't have to make a lot of money.

If you want to start a business because of the monetary possibilities, you first need to think about what kind of commitment you're making and assess whether or not it's worth it.

I would argue you can make 6-figures in a 9-5 faster than you can starting your own business if you don't have any successful, entrepreneurial experience and even without a degree.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

You might think saying "yes" to more jobs and custom client requests may grow your business, but in reality, it can set you up for failure.

One of the hardest things to do is to say "no" to a prospective client who is willing to give you their money for an ask or service that you either don't provide or haven't fleshed out yet.

Jake and Cody go through a few examples of how saying "no" is a much better solution than taking on a task you're either not prepared for or don't have the resources to execute effectively.

The easiest way to know if you should say "no" is if saying it pushes your business in the direction you want to take it. If saying "yes" to something moves your business in a direction that is counter to what your goals are, then you should have said "no".

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

The whole point most of us even started our agencies was to make money; so how can anything be more important than that?

Money doesn't mean anything if it isn't associated with the labor that's put into it. If you made $50,000 in one year, that doesn't seem like a lot -- that seems like a normal full-time salary. However, most people equate that to 40 labor hours per week.

$50,000 starts to look a lot different when you say you worked 80 hours that week to earn it. On the other hand, it looks like the opposite when you say you only worked 10 hours in a week to earn that same $50,000.

That $50,000 is worth a lot more in the 2nd scenario than it is in the first.

That's the whole principle of this episode. Labor Inventory.

If your business is making $100,000 per year but you're clocking in 6,000 labor hours between you and your partner, you two have a better shot at making more money working full-time at McDonald's.

In this episode, we go over:

• A healthy labor rate (including what we are doing)
• How we assess labor hours given a service for a client
• How we allocate available employee labor hours versus leaving space for internal labor hours (60% client, 40% internal)

Knowing our labor rates and available labor inventory lets us know:

• When we're stretching our employees thin
• When we need to hire
• How much we can pay our employees or how high we can give raises
• how valuable and how profitable our company is

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

Whether or not you should have a business partner seems to be a hot topic lately both in our industry and in the industry we serve. It seems like the vote is heavily weighted towards not having a business partner.

Obviously, we don't necessarily agree with that sentiment. We do, however, think there are situations where you probably should partner with someone -- and that includes:

• Friends
• Family
• People with the same skills as you
• People who don't have a good work ethic

The last one is a given, but people typically miss out on the second to last. If you partner with someone who has the same skill set as you, you're not really adding value. You're just adding someone who can do the work you're already doing.

Cody handles all of the internal and operational things (invoicing, processes, training, workflows, etc). Jake handles, sales, marketing, client communication, big picture, etc). Both skill sets are completely different and require different mentalities. Both of which complement each other. 

That's just one reason our partnership works great.

It's worth it to mention that Cody and I weren't friends before we started this business. We were work acquaintances from a few years back. It was through business that we found friendship. Not the other way around; and that's important.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u