Agency Problems: How to Overcome the Struggles of Growing an Agency When you want to grow your business, there are common agency problems every owner can experience from the very beginning. In this episode, I chat with Ronn Torossian, founder of 5W PR, the 24th largest PR firm. Ronn tells us about his experience growing an agency, and how to overcome the many agency problems that come along with growth. Success is not a magic formula. Every client, every project is something different. Not all clients want the same thing, so you need to make sure that you are actively listening to what they want. But it's not just about listening. You also need to be communicating with them regularly. Conference calls, activity reports, whatever it takes. Even if you’re speaking with them every day, make sure you are also giving them formal weekly and monthly reports. Relationships matter. Strive for building real relationships. Get to know the person, not just the professional. Nurturing solid relationships will go a long way in helping you keep clients and work smoothly with them. How to continuously add value. You have to stay immersed in the client’s business. Realize that you and your agency are there to help them grow their business. The client doesn’t need to be worrying about what you’re up to, they need to know they can rely on you to help them succeed. Don’t forget your purpose! Overcoming the struggles. If you think being an entrepreneur is easy, you’re insane. Every single day there's something going on. It doesn't get any easier, you just get better at handling it. It’s a continuous learning process, but you need to figure out how to take time to just turn off. Taking a vacation, doing a favorite activity, etc. will help clear your mind and make you a better agency owner in the long run. You also need to become a master of time management. Limit your distractions and accept that you can’t do everything. And since you can’t do everything, you need to hire smart and talented people to help you. Then you need to make sure they are empowered to do the work. It’s hard to let go of control but it has to be done if you’re going to grow. Ronn’s advice for growing. There are lots of different stages of growth. According to Ronn, “What got you here will not get you there.” It’s different going from a handful of people to over ten. It changes again going from 10-20, 20-35, and so on. There are different struggles at each stage. “Just make sure you have surrounded yourself with smart people to help you along the way.” Your business can look like this if you want it to. If you’re tired of getting the less profitable clients… If you’re sick of selling yourself cheap when you know you’re worth MORE… If you TRULY care about your clients and you want to build a business that creates RESULTS for them… Let's chat. Click here to schedule a strategy session, and learn how you too can be on your way to building a multi-million dollar agency. Building Your Digital Agency To create the best digital agency possible, there might be a list of agency problems you are either ignoring or aren't even aware of that needs your attention. Don't worry as I am here to help. I have more than likely experienced all if not most of the different struggles an agency owner experiences through my own experience and I can help you from what I learned. I have covered many topics from what to do with your sales processes to improve them, how you can increase your agency profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency. I have the best ways for your business to stop losing money on projects, how performance based pricing models can be the best strategy for your agency and why including remote teams or freelancers in your team can be beneficial in the long run. Learn more about my career as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. Find more from me like advice from other successful agency experts in my Ask Sw