Strategic Advice for Independent Branding Agencies
Each stage of growth is unique
10-50 FTE: PATH FINDER
Economic Reality
- Team leading projects but owner(s) still the main sales force
- Many growth experiments, but no quantum leap yet
- You are saying yes to most work that comes your way to cover costs
- Profitability is volatile and feels unsustainable
Strategic Questions
- ?What should the business look like at the next level?
- ?How to optimise the strategic bets?
- ?How do we keep the team engaged on the multiple bets?
- ?Should we keep trying alone or join forces with others?
Does One of These Resonate?
Book a quick call and we'd love to learn more about your agency and your vision.
What you can expect:
- ✓We will do our homework beforehand (include what you can in the inquiry form)
- ✓We will tell you what we learned from similar situations
- ✓We will ask about the types of data available
- ✓We will follow up with a proposal, only if we can actually help
Still not sure? Read below for a more detailed project example.
A 25-Person Branding Agency: From Plateau to Focus
The Company:
Seven years established, 25 talented people, strong client relationships, solid creative reputation in the market.
Surface Issue:
Revenue stuck at £2-3M despite trying new sectors, AI products, and partnership models. Profitability volatile, creating pressure to accept most incoming work.
Root Issue:
No clear positioning meant competing on everything — diluting expertise, eroding margins, and preventing the team from building deep capability in any direction. Classic Pathfinder stage: actively experimenting but not yet finding the formula.
Stage 1 of 4
Clarify Specialty
Goal
Identify what the agency is genuinely best at — not only what they aspire to be good at, but also what the data proves they excel at.
What We Did
- Owner conversations exploring which projects energised them and why
- Win rate analysis across different service types and client segments
- Margin calculation by project type, adjusting for actual hours invested
- Client lifetime value mapping to identify which work led to long-term relationships
- Referral pattern analysis to understand their natural reputation
Result
Their sweet spot:
- Tone of voice and visual identity for professional services firms
- Significantly higher win rates than logo-only work
- Much longer client retention on strategic projects
- Natural referrals clustered in professional services and purpose-driven sectors
- They'd been treating their best work as "just another project"
Heat = composite of win rate, retention, and referrals
Stage 2 of 4
Identify Angles of Attack
Goal
Develop 2-3 focused strategic bets that leverage proven strengths while creating realistic paths to recurring revenue.
What We Did
- Case study review of agencies with similar strengths who broke through plateaus
- Segment-specific positioning identifying how different client sizes prefer different engagement models
- Recurring revenue opportunities mapped across the client journey
- Strategic bet development — narrowed many possible directions to 3 realistic options
- Resource constraint mapping to verify what was achievable with current team
Result
Three strategic options developed:
Communication Specialist for Professional Services
Target Segment:
£100M+ revenue accounting/legal/financial firms with CMOs
Entry Angles:
Brand refresh, talent campaign, industry event support
Why Us:
Abstract propositions requiring succinct and trustworthy voice
Recurring Revenue:
Annual brand audit, landmark report publication (at least annual), investor branding (especially if listed), key industry events, talent campaigns
Target Revenue:
£500K-£1M branding refresh, £150-200K recurring revenue
Full Service for Mid-Size Professional Services
Target Segment:
£20-100M annual revenue professional services firms
Entry Angles:
Voice suitable for enterprise-level operation, multi-channel presence, industry event support
Why Us:
Take the brand to enterprise level, end-to-end rollout across multiple channels
Recurring Revenue:
Marketing campaign management, website support, industry event support
Target Revenue:
£200-500K branding design, £150-250K recurring revenue
Communication for Healthcare Firms
Target Segment:
£100M+ service-led healthcare providers
Entry Angles:
Brand refresh, new service launch
Why Us:
Compassionate and trustworthy voice
Recurring Revenue:
Marketing campaign support, customer service support
Target Revenue:
TBD based on initial engagement
Approach: Try all 3 options for 6 months, then pick the one with highest traction to focus resources on.
Stage 3 of 4
Team Buy-in
Goal
Get practical input from the team and design implementation that fits how they actually work — not an imposed plan from leadership.
What We Did
- Workshops with account and creative teams to surface upselling ideas, IP concepts, and process improvements supporting the chosen direction
- Implementation planning tailored to team structure — who owns what, realistic timelines
- Monitoring design that plugged into existing monthly 1-to-1s (no new meetings)
- Incentive alignment to ensure individual goals supported strategic direction
Result
Team contributions across functions:
| Team Function | Content Ideas | Process Improvements | Individual Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative | Brand strategy templates, Visual system frameworks | Presentation time reduction | Own IP development |
| Copy | Tone of voice toolkit, Industry-specific messaging | Brand guidelines streamlining | Thought leadership pieces |
| Strategy | Market positioning tools, Competitor frameworks | Client workshop formats | Strategic pitch ownership |
| Account | Upsell proposition decks, Client journey maps | Qualification criteria | Pipeline quality targets |
Stage 4 of 4
Plan Finalisation and Roadmap
Goal
Create a concrete 18-month roadmap with clear milestones, financial projections, and integrated reporting that doesn't add administrative burden.
What We Did
- Milestone planning defining targets across pipeline, conversion, upselling, and capability building — aligned to team capacity
- Financial impact quantifying the option into revenue targets, cost base implications, and margin expectations
- Decision triggers built in: clear pivot points if metrics aren't tracking
- Reporting templates designed at both board level (1-page tracker) and team level (individual milestone frameworks)
Result
Deliverables:
- Comprehensive strategy document for leadership reference
- Board-level 1-page tracker for monthly reviews
- Team-level templates for individual milestone tracking
- Reality acknowledged: taking strategic work meant declining tactical inquiries
Implementation Support
- →Plan adjustment: No plan survives first contact with the enemy — continuous refinement as the team learns what works
- →Monthly review: Discuss progress, support key decisions, identify where to double down or pivot
- →Reporting support: Automate reporting where possible to minimise team burden and maintain momentum
This example focuses on the 10-50 FTE zone. Your agency's situation will be different. The point is the approach: start with data, generate options, engage the team, make decisions that align economics with strategy.