Do you fear missed opportunities if you define a niche or turn away less-than-ideal prospects? Today’s guest started his agency as a college student and pivoted to digital services as the internet barely became a thing. One of the biggest shifts and struggles in his journey has been overcoming the fear of tuning down revenue and letting go of the notion that his way was the only approach clients would respond to. Tune in to learn valuable insights on navigating the agency landscape, committing to a niche, and maintaining a thriving business while prioritizing well-being.

Brendan Chard is the owner and founder of The Modern Firm, a digital marketing agency for solo and small law firms. His team helps attorneys build an online presence tailored to their needs and creates client partnerships at a pace that feels right for them.

Brendan shares his journey of starting initially as an IT business and evolving it into a successful agency serving clients nationwide. He discusses the importance of avoiding burnout in the agency world and the elements you need to find the right balance between fulfilling work and owning your time.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

Overcoming the fear of turning down profit.
Managing workload with forecasting and hiring ahead.
Lessons from a workaholic anonymous.

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Copper: This episode of Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by Copper, a CRM solution built specifically for agencies that use Google Workspace. Its CRM integration works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Drive, so you never have to switch tabs to add leads, track email conversations, find files, or manage tasks in your marketing or sales process. Head over to Copper.com/agencies and get a free trial exclusively for Jason’s listeners!

How the Right Mentorship Turned a Side Hustle into a Digital Agency

Starting out in his dorm room at college, Brendan initially focused on providing IT services for small businesses. He had a knack for repairing computers and his results gradually led to being connected with several law firms that kept recommending him to others in the legal space. This was during the early days of the internet when clients began requesting website development in addition to IT services. Despite initial skepticism about the internet's longevity, Brendan transitioned to website development and digital marketing.

It was a unique time for him to start the agency since being in business school gave him access to a lot of tools and mentors available to guide him through the process. He learned a specific business strategy one day, tried it the next day at his agency, and then reported back to professors.

Overcoming the Fear of Turning Down Revenue for Focused Growth

It took about eight years for Brendan to get his agency to the 7-figure mark. He recalls several bad decisions in terms of clients/projects taken to get there, which he now actively avoids.

In light of this, he focuses more on finding the perfect client fit, although he admits it’s something he still struggles with. While his agency operates in the legal vertical, they eventually discovered that their optimal niche was working specifically with solo and small law firms. They found that collaborating with larger firms resulted in increased stress and less enjoyable projects, as committees rather than individual owners made decisions.

Nonetheless, finding their perfect niche and learning to say no to the wrong clients didn’t happen at the same time. Brendan was very clear on the agency’s focus and knew it was better equipped to work with small forms. When it came to rejecting someone who was just not the right fit, however, it meant turning down potential revenue. It’s taken several misses to learn that, ultimately, not working with the wrong clients leads to a more streamlined and successful business model.

Why Forecasting and Hiring Ahead Is The Best Practice For Manageable Workload

One key moment for the agency came when they figured out systems to filter out unsuitable prospects and hone in on their ideal customer avatar. This shift coincided with Google's rise as the dominant search engine, resulting in a surge of organic leads and referrals. It marked a significant leap forward. However, the influx of work soon outpaced their capacity, prompting a reassessment of their hiring needs.

Until that point, Brendan was focused on growing the business conservatively, with a team intentionally built to manage the workload and balance the work without getting overwhelmed. Brendan knows it is important for businesses to find a balance between taking on new clients and ensuring they can deliver high-quality work to existing clients. At some point, however, it became common to constantly play catch up with hiring new team members as the business grew, which quickly became exhausting.

More recently, they’ve developed systems to hire ahead to avoid burnout and ensure sustainable growth. Hiring ahead of the curve allows them to bring on new team members before they were desperately needed, giving space for a smoother onboarding process and a more manageable workload for everyone involved. This way, new hires can be trained properly and have a smaller workload instead of being thrown into the fire.

Avoiding Burnout: Lessons from Workaholics Anonymous

For agency owners, burnout is mostly the result of comparison with other entrepreneurs and convincing yourself you’re lagging. As someone keenly aware of the risk of burnout, Brendan has made a conscious effort to avoid the pitfall. Nonetheless, early in his days of owning the agency, he did end up attending Workaholics Anonymous meetings, where he learned two valuable lessons:

1. Letting go: The meetings were spaces where he got to turn off all devices and be present. As a result, he was able to focus on something else and the agency didn’t burn to the ground while he did it, proving he had done a good job training his team.

2. Putting things into perspective: At the meetings, Brendan was surprised to see many of the other attendees were pastors. He learned that as spiritual leaders, they support their communities through the hardest times in their lives, including the death of loved ones. This helped Brendan put things into perspective. Agency work may feel like life and death matters sometimes but the sense of being tied to the agency is more the result of poor management.

The Wake-Up Call That Shifted an Agency's Course Towards Better Living

Although it’s not the most popular concept, Brendan believes that lifestyle should be a central focus when building a business. For him, his values around time and autonomy are baked into the core of how his agency operates.

It’s a philosophy that was forced on him after his son was born with a potentially serious medical condition. As it dawned on him that this was something he needed to focus on and that meant delegating, he trusted his director to take over sales, which ultimately led to a positive outcome. Entrusting his director with sales responsibilities resulted in a positive outcome, highlighting the significance of empowering and collaborating with his team. It was a game changer that changed the course of his agency.

As the business grows, agency owners shift their focus from day-to-day operations to strategic vision, team development, relationship building, and understanding key performance indicators. It can be a challenging transition, but it can lead to greater success and fulfillment in the long run.

Letting Go of Control to Find Balance in Agency Operations and Life

Brendan's reluctance to give up control of agency operations stemmed from his firm belief that there is only one correct way to do things or that clients will only accept one specific approach. In reality, granting his team the freedom to find their methods often leads to better results. Moreover, there is far more room to explore and experiment with new approaches than he may have realized. In the end, clients are primarily interested in the outcomes.

This is the first step to giving yourself the space to create balance in your life. For Brendan, that means making a good income, interesting work, with flexibility and autonomy over his time. The balance is crucial for overall satisfaction and fulfillment in both personal and professional life and is something he always keeps in mind when he thinks about the agency and the life he wants to build.

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Avoiding Burnout: Learning How to Let Go, with Brendan Chard | Ep #686

Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies