Welcome to another episode of eCom@One with Richard Hill! In today’s conversation, Richard Hill sits down with Anthony Barone, co-founder of Studio Hawk and the driving force behind their UK expansion. Anthony Barone shares the remarkable journey of going from a career in hospitality to scaling Studio Hawk from a small Australian team into an international SEO powerhouse with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, London, and Atlanta.

You’ll hear candid stories about rapid growth, building a company culture across continents, and why niche focus has been their biggest lever in sales and partnerships. Anthony Barone also opens up about the role of AI and large language models in the changing SEO landscape—and why mastering the fundamentals is now more important than ever.

Whether you’re running an agency, building your own team, or just curious about the intersection of search, growth, and technology, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons, real-world advice, and a glimpse into what’s next for Studio Hawk. Let’s dive in!

00:00 "Falling Into SEO Career"

05:23 "Building Studiohawk From Scratch"

09:26 Scaling Sales for SEO Success

11:48 "Power of Specialism in Events"

14:03 Shoreditch Cool Commerce Event

17:45 "Building Networks Through Events"

23:12 "Advice for UK Agencies Expanding"

23:55 "Preparation for US Expansion"

26:56 "Planning International Business Expansion"

30:12 "Follow Core Values Intentionally"

35:25 "SEO Opportunities in the AI Era"

38:26 Navigating Marketing Challenges Efficiently

39:55 Shopify, Universal Protocol, Ads Update

43:22 "Ego Is the Enemy" Recommendation

Mads breaks down why most brilliant SEOs stay stuck at the same revenue level year after year, what the "superhero syndrome" really costs your business, and the exact hiring sequence that prevents you from becoming the bottleneck. He explains the four business buckets every agency needs to master, why you should pick ONE marketing channel and go deep, and how to build repeatable SEO processes that scale.

The conversation covers the three critical growth stages where most agencies get stuck (0-10, 10-25, and 25-50+ people), why writing SOPs yourself is killing your time, and how to hire specialists instead of trying to clone yourself. Mads shares real examples, including the roofing SEO who 3x'd his business in 12 months by going to industry events, and breaks down what it really takes to build a sellable, scalable agency.

If you're a talented SEO stuck in delivery or an agency owner trying to break through revenue plateaus, this episode gives you the exact steps to scale without burning out.

Listen to the full episode now, and don't forget to hit subscribe.

**Topics Covered**

00:00 Introduction

02:07 Why talented SEOs struggle to scale

03:13 Mads' background: From IBM to agency consulting

07:03 The four business buckets: Sales, marketing, operations, finance

08:04 The superhero syndrome killing your growth

13:38 Finding your ONE marketing channel

18:05 The roofing SEO case study: 3x growth in 12 months

20:36 Sponsor: Aristo Sourcing

21:38 Key hires for scaling from 5 to 20+ people

24:30 Building culture with your first hires

28:24 SOPs: What the gurus get wrong

34:34 Leadership challenges scaling £1M to £5M

35:05 Three growth stages where agencies get stuck

46:31 Starting an SEO agency from scratch today

47:19 The ONE process framework

50:02 Breaking down processes for specialization

51:40 Hiring specialists vs. cloning yourself

53:26 Book recommendation: First, Break All the Rules

54:14 Where to find Mads Singer

Aaron Hutchinson is a sales consultant and trainer specializing in the Win Without Pitching methodology for creative agencies and professional services firms. Based in the UK, Aaron helps agency owners and their teams move from reactive order-taking to strategic expert positioning through the Four Conversations framework. After years as Managing Director of a creative agency, Aaron founded The Hutch Consultancy to address the industry's most persistent challenge: winning new business profitably without wasting resources on futile pitches.

This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're an agency owner struggling with new business, tired of losing pitches you spent days preparing for, finding it difficult to have confident pricing conversations, or trying to hire and train salespeople who can sell expertise rather than just deliverables. Find out why your pitch win rate is probably lower than you think, what the "three years from now" question unlocks in sales conversations, and why presenting three options beats a single proposal every time.

Aaron reveals the frameworks that separate expert agencies from vendor agencies, introduces RAB (Revenue Above Budget) as the metric that actually matters, and explains why 25,000 UK agencies are competing in a market more crowded than McDonald's locations. If you're serious about transforming your agency's sales process or finally cracking the code on profitable new business without soul-destroying pitch work, this episode delivers practical, immediately actionable frameworks.

Topics Covered:

00:00 - Introduction: The agency world's oldest question

02:28 - What challenges are agencies facing with sales and new business?

04:18 - Why there are 25,000+ agencies in the UK (more than McDonald's!)

07:22 - The two-year email: How long-term positioning pays off

09:32 - Why pitching is gambling (and the real win rates you're facing)

12:44 - What is Win Without Pitching and why does it work?

14:06 - The Four Conversations framework explained

19:50 - The magic question: "We're having coffee three years from now..."

24:58 - Expert vs Vendor: The doctor analogy

28:08 - Pricing conversations: Why money talks are so uncomfortable

31:42 - The secret to avoiding awkward "we don't have that budget" moments

33:19 - The power of options: Why three is the magic number

38:18 - RAB: Revenue Above Budget explained

42:02 - Staying resilient in agency sales: Avoiding soul-destroying work

45:25 - Conversations not presentations: Why we don't use decks anymore

47:45 - Book recommendation: The Four Conversations by Blair Enns

Angelo Zanetti

Angelo Zanetti is the co-founder and co-CEO of Elemental, a web and software development agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. With over 20 years of hands-on experience, Angelo has built a lean team of 25 specialists who focus on creating bespoke software solutions that truly fit how businesses operate, rather than forcing businesses to adapt to off-the-shelf tools.

This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're building software products, running a development agency, scoping MVPs, or trying to understand why that vibe-coded prototype isn't production-ready. Find out why founders bloat their MVPs with non-core features, what happens when someone hands Angelo a Replit prototype with no brakes, and why Elemental's entire team works in-office five days a week in an increasingly remote world.

Angelo shares the realities of digital transformation, the security nightmares hiding in AI-generated code, and why great SEO has driven their lead generation for two decades. If you're serious about building software that scales or positioning your agency to stand out, this episode delivers practical, battle-tested advice.

Topics Covered:

1:07 - How Angelo got into the agency world out of necessity during the dot-com crash

2:25 - Meeting Richard in a Harry Potter-esque location overlooking King's Cross

4:18 - The current setup: 25 people, lean and mean in Cape Town

5:26 - Why COVID was actually good for Elemental's business

6:59 - The advantage of having strong technical backgrounds as co-founders

8:05 - How SEO has been their secret weapon for lead generation

9:51 - Doing exceptional work leads to referrals and repeat business

10:38 - The mistake of trying to be everything to everyone

11:16 - MVPs and the patterns Angelo sees when founders first approach them

12:33 - Why founders jam-pack MVPs with nice-to-have features

14:04 - The "build it and they will come" fallacy

15:55 - Walking through the Change Cars project: competing with Autotrader

18:55 - How the market tells you what features to build next

21:22 - Philosophy: software should adapt to the business, not the other way around

25:18 - Why off-the-shelf tools force businesses into broken workflows

28:21 - The commercial model: discovery, build, then ongoing support and maintenance

32:01 - Why Elemental keeps everyone in-office five days a week

36:06 - The advantages: culture, collaboration, mentoring, and quality control

38:53 - The major challenge: hiring in a world that wants remote work

42:18 - How Angelo stays connected to the technical side without writing code anymore

43:18 - The reality of vibe coding: it looks good but has no brakes

46:32 - Security nightmares in AI-generated prototypes

48:07 - Using AI tools like Copilot and Cursor responsibly

50:58 - Building SEO calculators with vibe coding versus proper development

52:18 - Advice for agencies looking to scale: stop being too generalist

55:23 - Positioning yourself as a specialist and marketing to that niche

57:24 - Book recommendation: $100,000,000 Offers by Alex Hormozi

Learn more about scaling your agency at eComOne.com

Mikey Emery started in a server room with three co-founders and built an agency that's broken through every glass ceiling—staying profitable, debt-free, and people-first the entire way.

Mikey Emery

Mikey Emery is the Commercial Director and co-owner of Impression, a performance marketing agency with offices in Nottingham, London, and Manchester. After joining the founders in 2014, Mikey has been instrumental in scaling the business from 4 people to over 120 staff while maintaining a relentless focus on automation, AI, and client-centric delivery.

This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're navigating agency growth, struggling with team structure, or wondering how to invest in automation without losing the human touch.

Find out how Impression restructured from channel-based teams to client-centric pods, why they paused client billing during COVID (and grew 50% anyway), and what it really takes to launch into the US market as a UK agency. Mikey shares the honest truths about leadership evolution, making decisions even when you're not sure, and why learning from pitch losses has driven more change than celebrating wins.

If you're serious about scaling your agency while keeping culture intact, this episode is packed with real, usable lessons.

Topics Covered:

1:34 - How Mikey got into the agency world (and why his e-commerce business failed)

3:37 - From bedroom freelancers to first office in 2014

4:46 - Growing from 4 people to 120+ staff across three UK offices

6:22 - The step changes that pushed through growth glass ceilings

8:00 - Why moving into an office space was a pivotal moment

10:18 - Winning seven-figure accounts that changed the trajectory

12:24 - How servicing bigger clients is less operationally complex than you think

14:13 - Splitting time as Commercial Director across growth, marketing, and client services

15:54 - Using data and forecasting to stay 95% accurate on the next 4 months

18:55 - Leadership evolution: from impatient decision-maker to trusting the team

21:22 - Why "a decision is better than no decision" became his guiding principle

23:22 - The agency's approach to AI and automation (it's been core for 10 years)

26:32 - Launching their proprietary AI content production tool

29:19 - Investing in full-time developers and data scientists to build tech in-house

32:16 - The US expansion: why every state is its own country

34:24 - Going from UK-based clients marketing in the US to building a proper US presence

36:02 - Setting up offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami

40:14 - The biggest challenge: COVID and the decision to pause client billing

43:52 - Why they chose not to furlough staff and how it paid off

46:59 - The importance of having a war chest of cash reserves

47:58 - What's on the roadmap: US growth, AI acceleration, and restructuring into pods

49:41 - Moving from 20+ people on accounts to lean, client-centric pod structures

52:40 - One piece of advice: Make a decision, even if it's wrong

53:47 - Why failures drive more change than successes

54:26 - Book recommendation: The Good Company by Arthur Blank

Adrienn Major is breaking every rule of the traditional agency model with POD LDN — a global post-production powerhouse built on flexibility, speed, and trust.

No retainers. No big contracts. Just on-demand creative firepower that scales up or down instantly.

From managing 80 in-house artists and 1,500 freelancers, to building AI tools and automation into her workflows, Adrienn shows what it really takes to stay lean, reactive, and cashflow smart in a chaotic industry.

This episode is a masterclass in running a modern creative business — from scaling teams globally to rethinking pricing models, leadership, diversity, and the role of AI in post-production.

Adrienn Major

Founder of POD LDN, Adrienn shares her journey from growing up in Hungary to building one of the most agile post-production companies in the world. She explains how ditching retainers and complex pricing in favor of flat day rates created speed and trust with clients, and how a massive freelance pool gives POD the flexibility to handle anything from VFX to CGI on demand.

She also opens up about leadership in a male-dominated industry, why agencies need to embrace automation and AI (including creating an AI version of herself), and the surprising lessons she’s taken from The Wolf of Wall Street.

Whether you’re scaling an agency, exploring automation, or looking for inspiration on building flexible business models, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

Listen to the full episode now and learn how to scale without burning cash or slowing down.

Topics Covered

00:08 — Introduction: Meet Adrienn Major and POD LDN

01:32 — Adrienn’s journey from Hungary to launching her own company

05:29 — Scaling POD: 80 in-house artists + 1,500 freelancers worldwide

08:31 — Why traditional agencies struggle with reactivity (and how POD solved it)

09:55 — Building a business without retainers or long contracts

12:09 — Flat-rate pricing: £290 per artist per day, £40/hour for smaller tasks

15:16 — How POD helps agencies, in-house teams, and post houses scale flexibly

18:45 — The advantage of tapping into global talent pools

21:41 — Managing a decentralized, international team day-to-day

24:34 — Reinventing workflows: morning check-ins, gamification, and agile leadership

25:25 — How AI and automation power POD’s operations (from onboarding to project setup)

28:52 — Creating an AI version of Adrienn for onboarding and training

32:31 — The future of AI in creative work: threats, opportunities, and collaboration

36:41 — Keeping pace with fast-moving AI tools and platforms

37:11 — Diversity in agencies: challenges and the need for male allies

40:19 — Scaling lessons: staying flexible, keeping overheads low, and cashflow smart

43:16 — Book recommendation: The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort

44:57 — How to connect with Adrienn and learn more about POD LDN

In today’s episode, Richard and Jason explore Jason’s journey from his early days as a self-taught SEO freelancer to building a global team of over 130 people. Along the way, you’ll hear insights on the power of niching down, the importance of agency culture, and how to transition from a lifestyle business to a scalable operation. Jason also shares advice on hiring key leadership roles, leveraging executive assistants to maximize impact, and integrating AI and innovation into agency processes.

Topics Covered: 

00:00 Scaling Agencies: Insights from Jason Hennessey

03:29 Leading Law SEO Agency Insights

08:30 Scaling Business by Hiring Experts

12:22 Documenting Time and Task Management

15:04 Hiring and Business Culture Insight

17:05 "Building a Team-First Culture"

19:59 Hackathon Innovation: HD Translate

25:24 Adapting SEO with AI Innovation

26:32 "Personal Branding for Agency Success"

29:45 "Book as Unique Selling Point"

33:01 Navigating Burnout and Business Challenges

36:29 Balancing Work and Personal Life

39:43 Email Management and Availability

43:07 "My Grandfather, My Greatest Mentor"

46:26 "Balancing Growth and Risk"

In this episode of eCom@One with Richard Hill, Richard interviews Nigel Davies, former WPP design veteran, Co-Founder of 300 Million Agency and now Solo Consultant at Pin Creative. He discusses the dangers of relying too heavily on one large client, the pitfalls of over-investing in admin roles too early and the lessons learned from rapid growth & hiring. 

Nigel reflects on how agency work has evolved, the significance of having a physical office and the value of building long-term client relationships versus chasing short-term projects. Now thriving as an independent consultant, he emphasises clarity in branding, using even his 6,000-strong vinyl collection to explain branding simply. 

The episode offers candid insights into the highs and lows of agency life and the importance of adaptability and brand clarity.

Topics Covered

00:00 - How Nigel became a brand consultant after years of running an agency

04:20 – Formed a band as a playful bet, highlighting team camaraderie and creative bonding

08:18 – Launched his business by leveraging contacts, securing early clients and establishing credibility with a standout office in Exmouth Market

12:28 – Experienced profitable early growth with minimal advisors/admin. Scaling from 12 to 20 staff brought operational and managerial challenges

16:31 – Community workspaces enhance well-being and appeal to businesses by offering vibrant team and client hubs, more effective than remote setups

19:26 – Emphasises billing senior staff time to maintain profitability and quality; over-reliance on junior teams can lead to inefficiencies

22:21 – Monitoring utilisation rates across roles is essential for balancing workloads and maximising billable hours

25:09 – Long-term client relationships are key to stable business; balancing creative branding with routine delivery is an ongoing challenge

29:41 – High-value projects can stretch teams, drive profits, and spur financial growth

32:46 – Profitability is boosted by mixing project work with retainers and forming strategic partnerships (e.g., printing deals)

36:48 – Managed internal challenges with care, always prioritising team dynamics and relationships

37:46 – Running an agency requires resilience; Nigel left agency life for independent work but stayed in the branding space

41:11 – Staying personally connected to clients helps leaders remain attuned to real-world issues as teams grow

47:10 – Recommends "A Technique for Producing Ideas", a short, classic creativity guide by a New York ad professional

Amanda gives an honest and frank account into the journey of launching Cedarwood as a solo venture nine years ago to growing it into an award-winning team with impressive client retention and a thriving agency culture. 

You’ll hear Amanda’s insights on why specialising beats trying to be everything to everyone, her go-to strategies for scaling boutique agencies without losing your soul and the real frameworks that help keep both clients and staff happy. 

Plus, Amanda opens up about the challenges of managing growth, building a standout agency brand and her approach to handling client relationships, even when things go wrong. 

Whether you’re building your own agency, leading a team or seeking inspiration from those who’ve been there, this conversation is packed with real-world advice you won’t want to miss. 

Listen now!

Topics Covered

1:39 - Journey of Cedarwood Digital 

5:14 - Investing in your people and helping them do their best work 

6:30 - Building a buzz around your brand

8:12 - The 6month appraisal process 

11:46 - Getting speaking gigs 

16:15 - Retention starts at acquisition 

20:50 - Why Amanda doesn’t ask for client referrals 

23:50 - Client challenges

29:20 - Tools to run the agency 

34: 22 - 3 years until they won one award and how they finally secured their first one

45:24 - The next 6 months for Cedarwood Digital 

48:08 - Book recommendation

Host Richard Hill revisits the memorable stories and strategies shared by a stellar line-up of agency founders and industry leaders, from the explosive growth tactics of Stephen Kenwright at Rise at Seven to Chris Thomas’s authentic niche-building at Cake Agency and Nathan Lomax’s whirlwind 45-event networking marathon.

We’ll hear powerful lessons on trust from Richard Mawer, explore how cultural alignment led Simon Penson’s agency to a £37 million exit and get a candid take on resilience and focus from Ady Collins after his personal battle with cancer. 

Kelly Evans shares her passion for leading a purpose-driven B Corp at Social Change, while Adam Pearce reveals how his focus on community and CRO helped Blend Commerce achieve an impressive client retention rate.

Tune in as we celebrate these moments of bold risk-taking, genuine relationship-building and transparent leadership, all culminating in our double-digit milestone. 

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your agency, this episode is packed with the wisdom and motivation you need for the road ahead. Let’s dive in!

In this podcast, Adam goes deep into Blend’s service focus and how they work strategically with specific partners. He shares how they navigate the competitive UK market, how to manage capacity planning and hiring talent who all work on the same mission for the longevity of his agency. 

With his years of experience running events, Adam generously discusses how he secures sponsorship, how to attract the right people to your events and how to build a successful and supportive community.

Scared of posting online? Adam shares why you shouldn’t give a shit, own your voice and share your expertise to build an online personal brand. 

Of course, Adam shares his challenges of scaling an agency and why a 70+ man agency isn’t the right fit for Blend Commerce. 

Topics Covered 

1:34 - Start of the agency journey 

4:18 - Navigating the challenges of the first year in agency world

6:51 - Reacting to the market, narrowing down and finding their specialism 

10:18 - What actually is CRO?

11:30 - Retainer vs one-off projects

12:23 - Losing a client due to not being their perfect fit ICP 

15:22 - Events as a tactic for new business

16:53 - Birth of eCom Collab Club 

21:02 - Building an event partnership ecosystem 

22:02 - Using brands to speak at events to attract other brands to events 

24:05 - Securing sponsorship and proving ROI

27:42 - Building a community 

29:30 - Gamification and community groups 

31:34 - 2024 being the toughest year that Adam has had 

35:09 - Recruiting and retaining top talent 

40:02 - UK vs US market

44:34 - Unexpected things that he has seen in a pitch, yoghurt is involved 

46:58 - Finding your own voice in the personal branding world on LinkedIn 

50:31 - Book recommendation 

In this podcast, Kelly outlines how she niched down and found her passion after being made redundant. As the first BCORP certified agency in Lincolnshire, Kelly outlines the process and impact of going through this journey. 

As a behavioural science agency, Kelly discusses the biggest shifts in human behaviour and how fully remote work is impacting people’s mental health. Find out what keeps Kelly up at night, how being risk averse helps the sustainability of her business and how she focuses on utilisation rates to secure the dream £100K a head figure for her team.  

If you want to make your agency more profitable, this is the podcast episode for you.  

Topics Covered

1:45 - Influencing human behaviour with the power of understanding behavioural science 

3:32 - How Kelly secured her first client after being made redundant and the types of campaigns Social Change works on 

8:05 - The shift/behaviour change since pandemic 

9:04 - Working fully remote isn’t good for anyone’s health 

11:20 - WHY and the process of becoming a BCORP

16:39 - Advice to anyone going through a BCORP

18:55 - What to do when things are tough 

21:40 - How being risk averse helped Kelly navigate tough periods 

25:44 - Keeping cash reserves 

27:20 - What keeps Kelly up at night

29:13 - The pipeline challenge, getting and converting new business

34:44 - Utilisation rates and how Social Change is hitting the £100K a head number

46:30 - Book recommendations

Ady Collins is the CEO of Knotted Commerce, a specialist agency on a mission to help brands simplify their integrations using iPaaS. Using his years of eCommerce experience in the tech side and at Patchworks, Ady is tying tech together to make things easier for retailers. 

In this episode, Ady shares how he is scaling his team using global talent in an ethical way. He shares his mission and WHY Knotted Commerce exists. 

Are you a full service agency? Well, Ady tells you why you could be falling short in this episode. Find out his pricing strategy, his lead generation tactics, the challenges he is facing around scaling, the process of venture capital and the EOS framework he uses to grow the agency.

Ady shares something incredibly personal in this episode. While he was setting up his agency, he got diagnosed with testicular cancer. A sentence nobody ever wants to hear. Ady gives an honest account of this experience and the symptoms that led to his diagnosis. 

We want to personally thank Ady for sharing his truth with our audience. It’s a story nobody ever wants to have to tell, but one that is so important to do so. 

Listen in! 

After securing successful growth and merging with Stickyeyes, Simon sold his business for an impressive £37M. Then Scaled was born. It is his latest venture, where he consults other agency owners to build and grow profitable businesses all the way to exit and beyond. 

In this episode, Simon gives an honest account of the deal structure that resulted in that impressive valuation. As a journalist at heart, Simon stresses the importance of owning and understanding your audience to talk to them in their language to build that meaningful connection.

Listen to find out how he built and scaled his agency from 1 to 250 team members, how his opinion on culture changed throughout this period and the challenges he faced along the way. He also shares the secret to how his team’s content managed to become the most viewed on Moz. 

Simon discusses the shift in content marketing, shares his advice to agency leaders who are interested in selling, his opinions on options pool & team investment and the power of honesty and transparency during those challenging months.

Would Simon do it all again? Find out by listening to this podcast episode! 

Topics Covered: 

1:40 - Journey into Agency life 

6:40 - Championing content marketing as a business

9:01 - Initial acquisition conversations

10:43 - Merging and buying process of his agency 

11:47 - Growth of his agency 

15:30 - Launch of B2B SaaS fund 

20:40 - Most viewed content on MOZ. How the agency achieved that. 

25:15 - Maximising cross-channel content strategy 

27:45 - Maintaining a collaborative culture during rapid periods of growth

36:00 - The deal that generate the agency sale

44:19 - Advice for agency owners who are thinking about selling

49:30 - Options pool & team investment 

51:50 - Honesty and transparency. Testing things along the journey.

53.40 - Would Simon do it all again?

54:20 - Roadmap for Simon 

This podcast episode is relevant to you if you have challenges with managing difficult clients & retaining your staff and unsure what tactics will add longevity to your business.

Find out how to build long-term strategic partnerships, improve the productivity amongst your team members and how to secure perfect fit attendees to your events.

It can’t be ignored that this business has been around longer than a lot of Founders in the agency space. There’s heaps of value and credibility to help you with your agency journey in this episode of Agency Intensive.

Topics Covered: 

5:46 - Why Absolute Design are pulling away from Magento 

9:22 - Niching down and choosing a specialism 

12:34 - Recruiting the right people and attracting talent

16:25 - You will lose talent if you don’t offer flexibility

19:01 - Office vs remote working

21:40 - Selecting the right partners

29:01 - Scaling up the team and how to manage the process

30:45 - Building a community with events

34:47 - Getting the right people to your events

38:01 - Measuring productivity across the business 

43:58 - Prioritising marketing time and budget

46:50 - Tools that his company can’t live without 

51:34 - The biggest mistake he has made at the agency

54:30 - Firing clients!

57:54 - The roadmap over the next 12 months 

He’s a man with an obsession, to be the best serving agency for website migration for Shopify brands. 

From 400 calls a month to niching down on what Quickfire Digital are best at, Nathan shares the tactics he is using to scale his multi-million pound business. 

A team of 29 tenacious humans all on the same mission, to build a community of people that support each other during the turbulent times of business growth. 

Find out why Quickfire set out to smash the events market, how they add value to their clients and their positioning journey. 

Nathan touches on sponsorship, targeting perfect fit businesses, building a self-sufficient leadership team, how going from £1M to £2M is easier than £0M to £1M, the importance of remembering the opportunity cost of meetings and empowering the team to solve their own problems. 

Not only is this episode full of insight on how to scale your business with a humanistic approach, it’s full of honest life talk too. Growing any business doesn’t come without sacrifice. He shares how he manages to juggle a hectic family life with a growing business and his own sanity. 

If you are serious about scaling, this is the podcast for you. You will finish this podcast with real insight from somebody who is relentless in his pursuit of growth. 

Topics Covered:

00:15 - The story of Quickfire Digital

08:43 - Niching down to a Shopify agency 

10:36 - Identify adding value, focus on key differences

14:11 - Find your niche and what you are good at

16:50 - Doing 400 calls a month to build reciprocity 

20:50 - Importance of reaching goals through specific numbers

24:46 - Indecisiveness, obligation, and sacrifice in eCommerce

28:46 - Busy days, events, struggle for work-life balance

31:19 - Work dynamics evolve from informal to hierarchical

34:27 - Building new structures, learning as we grow

37:31 - Difficulty following systems, easily distracted by emotions

39:23 - Fear of loss as business identity risk

42:04 - Book recommendation

And that’s exactly Richard Mawer’s mantra when it comes to agency growth. Put your clients first and you will inevitably win. Build a product that answers their pain points. Talk to them how and when they want to be spoken to. Listen, adapt and improve. 

Richard has been growing agencies longer than some of our team have been alive and he shares how you can too.

Listen to this episode as he shares how to nurture lead from initial interest to client, his tools & tech stack that keeps him organised and how to build trust in the crazy world of partnerships.

We all know that if you hire and promote the right people to deliver a good service, you can grow your business. 

Topics Covered:

00:00 - Richard’s extensive experience in the agency realm 

03:29 - Sponsorship led to unexpected virtual agency development

07:13 - Being remarkable and differentiating attracts bigger money

11:33 - Focus, depth and determination led to success

14:28 - Experience positions and quality attracts interest

17:40 - Identify heroes, serve, engage, and promote.

22:27 - Strategic mindset and specific growth goals approach.

23:38 - Managing clients, converting leads and proposition 

26:11 - Initial call focused on prospect's goals

31:30 - Agencies should prioritise transparency with clients

33:11 - Balancing costs and tools for agency retainers

36:03 - Customised reports provide vital information for teams

40:40 - Stepping back and focusing on high-value work

42:27 - Challenges of retaining staff in a changing work environment

45:42 - Entrepreneur focuses on scaling consultancy business effectively

49:48 - Podcasting, interviewing, live streams - powerful networking tools

52:14 - Tool for success

He has developed his agency to ensure that the constant frustration and disappointment he felt with his agency partners doesn’t happen with his clients. 

Chris acknowledges that the success of an agency comes down to the people. Your staff are your product, they are the ones that clients buy in to and deliver the service. Therefore, shaping a growth culture is one of his biggest priorities as an Agency Owner. 

He shares the decisions he has made over the years to impact the culture positively, how he engages his staff to retain them and how hiring superstars has yielded success. His day 1 and day 2 team are still working with him and that definitely accounts for something. 

Does your team talk about salaries? A heavily debated topic in the business world. Chris shares how he manages expectations by having transparent salary bands across the agency. 

Find out how he has changed his tech stack for efficiency, what he is using now for optimum productivity and what past software he is retiring. 

Everyone knows that being an Agency Owner is a rollercoaster of emotions, with a lot of ups and downs. Chris has transformed his life over the last few years by focusing on his holistic health and most importantly, his sleep quality. He shares how you can do this too! 

It’s time to innovate, deliver and delight your clients for success. Be two steps ahead of them. Embrace failure and engage in Black Box thinking.  

Topics covered: 

00:23 - How he went from Store Owner to Agency Owner 

04:39 - Skepticism of the traditional agency model

11:32 - How focusing on a niche has yielded success for his agency 

14:31 - Innovation and change vital for staff retention

18:25 - Black Box Thinking

22:30 - Retailers faced challenges in 2022 and adapted.

25:29 - His opinion on the impact of events 

28:55 - Anticipate client needs for successful marketing strategy - be two steps ahead of them 

30:46 - Retain clients and grow their business 

34:04 - Building client relationships leads to mutual success and referrals 

38:40 - Project management software: Switching to Teamwork, retiring Asana for 2024

41:15 - Launching new products, supporting businesses in 2024

43:01- Business and health book recommendations for success

But, that’s exactly what led to Rise at Seven’s impressive growth. Love or hate them, you can’t argue with the fact that they dominate the Digital PR & Search Agency space. From day one, they were working with big and established global brands. Clearly they were doing a lot of things right. 

But, growing a business to £7M a year doesn’t come without its challenges. 

Stephen Kenwright is generous enough to share an honest and unfiltered account of Rise at Seven’s rollercoaster journey to the top on this podcast. 

He touches on recruitment, marketing, targeting, positioning, whether industry awards are just smoke and mirrors, how to attract your ideal client, exiting Rise at Seven and what’s next for his career.

If you are an ambitious agency owner who wants to scale, this episode is for you. 

Topics covered: 

00:00 - His agency background

05:57 - Positioning, marketing and recruitment 

08:50 - Client perspectives

12:24 - Identifying potential clients and their fit, commercially and culturally

14:16 - Client budgets and partnerships

22:30 - Identifying key hires for company culture

25:21 - Managing talent is challenging 

26:56 - Late hiring of HR caused a flood of issues

32:05 - Balance between human and commercial factors and the value of awards for agency owners

34:24 - Rise strives to prove an SEO agency can compete creatively with the best

38:58 - Why Kenwright exited Rise at Seven

42:17 - Advice for Agency Owners…get a good accountant 

45:44 - 18 months of change, renovating, catching up and mini MBAs

49:11 - Kenwright’s next steps 

50:19 - Book recommendation 

Listen to this short trailer episode to find out whether these honest conversations will add value to your life.