Most agency owners I talk with measure their success by looking at one number: revenue. The slightly more sophisticated ones look at total owner compensation. But they’re both using the wrong yardstick.
Your agency’s success isn’t a single metric.
It’s whether the business is giving you what you actually want from it. That includes money, yes—but also the kind of work you’re doing, the flexibility you have for your family, the clients you get to work with, and whether you’re proud of the results you produce.
If you’re making great money but hate your clients and never see your kids, that’s not success.
This week I want to talk about how to think about agency success more broadly—and why getting this right matters more than hitting some arbitrary revenue target.
But first let’s look at what Jen has rounded up for us this week.
— Chip Griffin, SAGA Founder
Latest from SAGA
- Stop letting your website embarrass you (Agency Leadership Podcast)
- Agency time tracking: The complete guide
- Stop chasing AI tools: Start with what actually hurts
Weekly Roundup
The theme this week? Get back to basics. The smartest voices in the agency world are saying the same thing: fundamentals win. Trust trumps novelty. Patience beats panic. And focusing on your value matters more than chasing every lead.
WHAT CAUGHT OUR EYE THIS WEEK:
STARTING FROM SCRATCH — David C. Baker at Punctuation asks what he’d do if starting a new firm today. It’s not just an exercise—it’s a lesson in what actually matters when you strip away the complexity of running an established agency. Meanwhile, Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks drives home why brand trust beats novelty every single time. The through-line? Build something that lasts, not something that gets likes.
STOP MAKING EXCUSES — RSW/US tackles the uncomfortable truth about when “the market” becomes a crutch. Yes, things are tough. Yes, uncertainty is real. But blaming external conditions doesn’t fix internal problems. And speaking of internal challenges, Upsourced published a practical guide to defending your rate card when procurement comes knocking. Because if you won’t stand up for your pricing, no one else will.
PATIENCE IS A STRATEGY — Two podcast episodes this week landed on the same insight about new business development: it takes longer than you think. The Digital Agency Growth Podcast explains why your BD hire needs a year, not a quarter, and Agency Bytes features Ali Mirza from Rose Garden Consulting on building intentional sales pipelines that don’t depend on the founder. If you’re expecting instant results from new business efforts, these are essential listening.
AI IS A TOOL, NOT MAGIC — Three pieces this week took different angles on AI in agencies. For Immediate Release reports that CEOs are wresting control of AI from the early adopters, AgencyAnalytics shows how AI report writing helps without losing the human touch, and Build a Better Agency explores how AI is changing the PR landscape with Brett Farmiloe. The consistent message: AI is a capability to master, not a strategy to adopt.
ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME — Spin Sucks published a PESO Model primer for marketers and communicators (remember, the PESO Model was created by Gini Dietrich—visit SpinSucks.com to learn more). The Innovative Agency features Marc Rust on the value of brand today. Solo PR Pro tackles how to use RFPs to land new business. And if you prefer video, check out RSW/US‘s Under the Hood interview with Doug Lunne and Chris Wilguess and The Sutter Company‘s Peter Kang on Just Ask Jody Live.
THE BOTTOM LINE — When the market gets noisy and everyone’s selling quick fixes, the agencies that win are the ones that double down on fundamentals: trust, value, patience, and doing the actual work.
— Jen Griffin, SAGA Community Manager
Stop using the wrong yardstick to measure agency success
Ask most agency owners how their business is doing and they’ll give you a revenue number. “We’re at $1.2 million” or “We just crossed $3 million.” The slightly more sophisticated ones might tell you their profit margin or what they paid themselves last year.
But here’s the thing: none of those numbers actually tell you whether your agency is successful.
Your agency is successful if it’s giving you what you want. Period. And what you want is almost certainly more complex than a single financial metric.
The real success equation
When you started your agency, you probably had a vision that went beyond just making money. Maybe you wanted more control over your work. Maybe you wanted flexibility to be present for your family. Maybe you were tired of serving clients you didn’t respect or producing work that didn’t make you proud.
Those things don’t disappear just because you hit some revenue milestone. In fact, many agency owners discover that growth actually takes them further away from what they originally wanted. They’re making more money but working longer hours on work they don’t enjoy for clients who drain them.
That’s not success—that’s just a different version of what you were trying to escape.
Beyond the bank account
Yes, compensation matters. You’re taking on risk and stress as an owner, and you should be rewarded for it. Your agency needs to generate enough profit to pay you fairly for the work you do AND distribute profits that compensate you for the entrepreneurial risk you’re shouldering.
But compensation is just one piece of the equation.
A successful agency also gives you:
The right amount and type of work. Not just “are you busy?” but “are you doing work you actually want to do?” If you wanted to build strategies and flex your creativity all day and you’re stuck in endless meetings and HR conversations instead, more money doesn’t fix that dissatisfaction.
Flexibility when you need it. Whether that’s leaving early for a kid’s soccer game, taking extended time off without everything falling apart, or structuring your schedule around what works for your life. You’re the boss—you should have the flexibility that matters to you.
Clients and work you’re proud of. There’s a huge difference between tolerating clients because they pay well and genuinely enjoying the relationships and the work you do for them. Life’s too short to dread client calls.
The Build to Own perspective
This is why I talk so much about my Build to Own approach to running your business. When you build your agency around the gamble of a lucrative exit, you end up sacrificing all these other elements of success in pursuit of a sale that probably won’t happen—or at least won’t be worth what you’re giving up.
But when you build to own, you optimize for what makes the business valuable to you right now. You structure it to give you the work, the schedule, the clients, and the compensation you want. You make decisions based on whether they improve your life as an owner, not whether they might look good to some hypothetical buyer five years from now.
And here’s the irony: agencies that actually work well for their owners tend to be more valuable when they do sell. They’re profitable, sustainable, and not dependent on the owner grinding themselves into the ground.
Getting clear on your definition
So here’s what I want you to do: stop measuring your success against revenue targets or what other agency owners are doing. Instead, get clear on what success actually means for you.
That means asking yourself:
- Am I doing the kind of work I want to do?
- Am I making the money I need and deserve?
- Do I have the flexibility I want with my schedule?
- Am I proud of my clients and the results we produce?
- Is the business building equity for my future?
If the answer to most of those is “yes,” congratulations—you’re running a successful agency, regardless of what your revenue number is.
If the answer is “no,” then you need to make some changes, even if the bank account looks healthy.
Your agency should serve your life. Not the other way around.
Turn ideas into action
Here are some suggestions for concrete steps you can take after reading this week’s newsletter.
Define your real success metrics. Write down what success actually means to you across all dimensions—not just financially but in terms of work, schedule, clients, and satisfaction. Be specific. (My ITCH approach can be a useful way to think of it if you need help.)
Audit where you are today. Rate yourself honestly on each dimension. Where are you hitting the mark? Where are you falling short? This tells you where to focus your energy.
Pick one area to improve this quarter. Don’t try to fix everything at once. Choose the area that matters most to you right now and make a concrete plan to move the needle on it in the next 90 days.
