You’d be surprised at the number of leaders who say they want to scale without having a considered strategy, or even knowing why they want to grow.

No business truly grows ‘organically’, and there’s a reason why so many agencies stick at between 20 and 40 people. Growth is tough! Above this sweet spot, you step into a no man’s land where you’re competing against agencies that are either more specialised or more full-service than yours. An obvious way forward is to work from your niche down. Killing services to double down on your niche sets you up to grow by becoming famous for that specialism.

Some agencies completely reset their vision for serious growth, and some start by buying in talent alone. Others grow through acquisition to add new services, or set up in new geographies to service new clients. Each strategy brings a unique set of challenges that may include merging disparate teams and nearly always means managing client expectations around your offer.

Regardless of the growth ambition, keeping bread-and-butter clients and a considered strategy smooths the way towards longer-term change. With a clear business plan in place, the next step is to have a rock-solid people plan to support each stage of growth.