For the last decade, I have been living in the perfect home. I love everything about it— from the size and layout to its waterfront location. I thought I would never move again. But everything changed when I adopted my charcoal lab puppy, Heather.

Heather is about four months old right now and she already exceeds the 30lb weight limit for pets, according to our homeowner’s association. It’s safe to say she’s not getting any lighter, so we don’t have any choice but to pack up and move.

Change is a part of life and yet even though it keeps happening, it’s uncomfortable. We don’t seem to get used to it. We get settled into a direction or path. And suddenly, an unanticipated event triggers change that we weren’t prepared for or can’t control.

In my case – this is change I triggered and I can control. But it’s still unsettling and disruptive. I know most of you are feeling unsettled right now too – because of the economy, which is out of all of our control!

Many agency owners are feeling stuck in a state of flux right now, when it comes to the economy. Every day an agency owner brings up the potential economic downturn and admits that they’re anxious because we don’t know if it’s coming, when it’s coming, or how bad it will be.

Let’s take control of this uncontrollable situation by adopting the best offense is a strong defense stance. In this solocast episode of Build A Better Agency, I am going to walk you through some things you can do to protect yourself IF a downturn or recession is coming. And even if it’s not – this will make you stronger as you enter the new year.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

What You Will Learn in this Episode:

How to prepare yourself and your agency for change
How to balance your client roster during an economic downturn
How to manage your agency finances during a recession
How to strengthen your biz dev program for an economic downturn

Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today.

AMI works with agency owners by:

Leading agency owner peer groups
Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams
Offering AE Bootcamps
Conducting individual agency owner coaching
Doing on-site consulting
Offering online courses in agency new business and account service

Because he works with those 250+ agencies every year, Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.”

Ways to contact Drew McLellan:

Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan
Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/

Tools & Resources:

Manual Time Tracker: https://timeular.com/
Mini Audit: https://www.dontpanicmgmt.com/mini-audit/
Billing Utilization Calculator: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/onthetable/
Workshop Calendar: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/advertising-agency-training/workshop-calendar/
AGI Forms: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/agiforms/

EP 215: Recession-proof your agency with Drew McLellan

Build a Better Agency Podcast