Acting like the agency you want to be
It's popular for business coaches to suggest that we get rid of our limiting beliefs.
The problem with that is that we have them for a reason.
I'm sure you have made some plans for growing this year. Limiting beliefs have helped you make sensible ones. But they aren't ambitious enough.
Further down, I'm going to give you an exercise to break out of them.
First, the theory.
Let's say your dream client is Apple.
This year you don't believe you can get Apple as a client. So you set your sights on the clients you can get. That's sensible.
The problem is that if you do this every year, then your long-term strategy is just a set of short-term pieces stuck together. Each of those pieces is influenced by your limiting beliefs.
This will stop you ever working with the likes of Apple.
You need a more ambitious long-term strategy, even if it feels unrealistic.
Work backwards and find that path
Achieving big goals takes focused effort over time.
So that's the two ingredients we need. Let's give ourselves the focus and the time.
Grab a pencil, a marker pen, and use this template.
Put yourself 5 years in the future and write out where you want to be in the following areas:
- Clients - Which dream clients do you want to work with? Name specific companies.
- Team - What level of talent do you want to attract? Think about specific roles and expertise.
- Reputation - What will you be famous for?
- Relationships - Which key partnerships and networks do you want to build?
- Finances - What revenue, profit margins, and rates do you want to achieve? Be specific with numbers.
Don't let limiting beliefs get in the way here. Put down high rates, amazing people, famous clients. Be specific with names and amounts. Go big (or stay small, if that's the dream).
Next to your answers for each area (column 2 on the template), list the things you don't want to be so that the business remains a place you want to work. Do you want to stay small and boutique? What type of client do you want to avoid?
In column 3, put down how you would get there. This doesn't need to be something you can currently do. For this exercise, you can do anything.
For tactics, look at the agencies you admire and try to reverse engineer what they are doing. Maybe they built their reputation and network by starting a famous event or through a million-selling book.
Give yourself an event and a book if that's the case. Indulge yourself and give them a name.
Time to get realistic
So far, I'll indulge our limiting beliefs and say that so far what we have is fantasy.
But we are going to call it a vision.
And next let's look at how to get there.
Cut down each of these tactics dramatically to something you could achieve in 12 months.
- If in 5 years you have pivoted your services and are purely strategic then in 1 year go for winning 5 paid pieces of strategy
- If the podcast you imagined has a million subscribers then you want one thousand.
- If your rates are 100% higher than they are today then aim for 20%
Finish by writing the action you are going to take this month to start on that 12 month journey.
Don't get stuck worrying about the numbers you pick. The point of targets isn't to hit the number, it's the change they drive by consistently trying to.
You now have things you believe you can achieve that line up with the place you want to go.
Proof this works
The idea of working with a big dream client probably has your limiting beliefs appearing in your thoughts right now. It doesn't seem realistic. Well, someone is working with them.
One of my early agency heroes was Paravel, a 3-person agency. Back in 2012, Microsoft hired them to redesign their homepage. They were famous in the industry and got to pick their projects.
Small agencies get hired for big jobs all the time. When I started my agency, I would never have imagined working with global brands like Red Bull or businesses worth $44B.
It didn't happen because I'm different from you.
It's in your control
All the ways to cross the divide are in your control.
- You can be more talented if you hire more talented people.
- You can raise your profile if you market yourself.
- You can be better connected if you network.
- You can afford all that by raising your price.
These things improve in small iterations over time. They end up with you in that seemingly insurmountable place with other agencies wondering what magic trick you pulled to get there.
You don't have to get rid of limiting beliefs, you just need a plan to get past them.
Let me know how you get on.
If you fill in the template, share it back with me!