Podcast: Embed
You built a successful agency. You have the team, the systems, and the revenue to show for it. But the rules are changing fast, and the moves that got you here are not necessarily the ones that will keep you growing. In this episode of the Scaling Together podcast, Josh and Yesenia cover the conversations happening right now at the top of the agency world, from AI adoption to glass ceilings to what to do with the capital sitting in your business. Watch the full episode below.
Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzRGOWxomo
Should You Invest in AI Now or Wait It Out?
It is tempting to sit back and let the dust settle, especially when you already have a profitable agency with healthy margins and a team that works. But waiting carries its own risk. New agencies are being built from the ground up with AI at the core, no legacy processes, no large teams, just lean operations that can do what a 50-person agency does with two people and a virtual assistant.
The agencies that are winning right now are the ones that got their hands dirty early, not by dumping money into every new tool, but by staying tight with a community that is testing things together, sharing what works, and limiting the risk of bad decisions. Experimentation now also gives you something waiting never will: the ability to tell the difference between hype and something that will actually move the needle for your clients.
The Difference Between a Plateau and a Glass Ceiling
A plateau is a sales and retention problem. You either need to bring in more clients, reduce churn, or increase the value of each client. But a glass ceiling is different. It means you have maxed out what your current systems and infrastructure can produce. You keep hitting the same number, climbing a little past it, and sliding back down.
At that point, doing 1% better every month is not going to cut it. Something bigger has to change. What Josh and Yesenia have seen again and again, across hundreds of agencies, is that the thing that breaks the ceiling is leadership. Getting the right person in the right seat for every department, so that questions stop flowing to you and start flowing to them. If you are not sure what your specific ceiling is, the calculator at sevenfigureagency.com/ceiling can help you identify whether churn, new client volume, or average client value is the constraint holding you back.
The Three Plays That Break the Ceiling at Five Million and Beyond
Once you have pushed retention as far as it can go, there are three moves that can take you to the next level. The first is investing in a marketing leader. Most agency owners hold on to marketing longer than anything else, doing the ads, building the funnels, creating the content. Letting go of that and putting a strong leader in that seat can be a significant needle mover.
The second play is acquisitions. At around the five million dollar mark, it becomes realistic to find a smaller agency in your space and acquire them, adding their client base and team to your own. The third is expanding verticals. If you have dominated one niche, there may be an adjacent market you can grow into that opens up a much larger pool of potential clients without starting from scratch.
What to Do With the Capital Sitting in Your Business
A lot of successful agency owners end up with one, two, or three million dollars sitting in their operating account doing nothing. The purpose of the business is not just to generate income but to create real wealth, and that requires putting your capital to work.
The practical starting point is to keep three months of operating expenses in the business and move everything else. That could mean a money market account earning interest in the short term, or longer term investments that compound over time. Josh and Yesenia work with a fractional CFO, a wealth advisor, and several other specialists to make sure every financial decision is intentional. The goal is to stop guessing and build a team of smart people around you who are dedicated to protecting and growing what you have earned.
Why Coaching Is Still the Highest Return Investment at Any Level
The question of whether coaching is worth it at the multiple seven-figure level comes up often. The answer is yes, but not because of the information alone. It is the combination of new ideas, access to people you would never otherwise meet, a peer group to bounce things off, and the accountability that comes from being in a room with people who are ahead of you.
The way Josh and Yesenia approach coaching is simple: take the information and implement it immediately. On the plane ride home from an event, they are already mapping out who on the team needs to be involved, what gaps exist, and what the first steps look like. They do not wait. They cherry pick what fits and move fast. That speed to implement, more than anything else, is what turns a coaching investment into a real return.
