10 ways to finish the year strong
Somehow we’re already 2/3rds of the way through the year. I’d wager that, like many (including myself), you’ve got a list of projects you wanted to tick off this year that haven’t yet left the ground floor.
Below are 10 of the best ways to use the remaining few months of the year to have the biggest impact in 2026. Some are as simple as picking up the phone, others will require bigger changes. All will put your agency in a great position to tackle whatever next year holds.
1. Understand where your profit does (or doesn’t) come from
Payroll (or equivalent contractors) is almost certainly your single largest cost. We therefore need to know where that time is going, and that we’re being appropriately paid for it.
Whether you use value/output/cost+ based pricing, you should have an understanding of the amount of money (time) you’re spending on your clients. PM platforms often have tools you can use for this, otherwise there are plenty of great standalone options.
Once you’ve got the data, it’s time to rescope/reduce/increase engagements as necessary or possible.
2. Bring in specialised financial firepower
A fractional CFO adds more than spreadsheets (or at least, a good one does). They’ll forecast, stress-test decisions, and help you lead and plan with clarity.
Fractional engagements can be a really cost effective way to get great, senior, specialised knowledge into your business. They do still need good data to work from though – so make sure you’re measuring things like engagement budgets, utilisation, effective hourly rates, and so on.
3. Care about your own marketing as much as your clients’
A Google Ads/Meta campaign is not a marketing strategy. With more than 9000 agencies across Australia, standing out and being top of mind when it comes time to bring on a new agency can be a real challenge.
In my experience, specialist agencies can really struggle with stepping outside their own specialisation and developing something a little more all-encompassing. There are some great freelance marketers out there who could help.
4. Build your profile
I’ve seen first hand the enormous difference adding Public Relations to the arsenal can make when it comes to attracting desirable clients and great talent. So once you get clear on the marketing strategy, look into engaging a PR professional to help you amplify your message.
With the right partner, this can be a surprisingly cost-effective way to build the profile of the agency (or the founder of the agency).
5. Prove the value you create
A great case-study or two can provide content across pretty much every single communication channel you have. Therefore, investing time and energy into developing one that really speaks to your expertise, includes a testimonial, maybe even some imagery/videos from the happy client, can go a long way.
Done well, it can be cut up and repurposed to be used across creds/website/socials/ads etc.
6. Lift the experience for clients and team
NPS or CSAT surveys are quick, easy, and cheap to implement, and can be used to collect feedback from both clients and employees. If you’re not regularly collecting feedback from both, you’re missing massive opportunities for improvements, or to reduce churn.
7. Redefine the founder’s role
Does the founder of your agency have a role description? Might seem a bit redundant at times, but it’s important to at least attempt to to intentionally scope out what you think the role description should be.
By defining what the role should be, we’re able to start to identify the reasons why we’re currently falling short, impacting on your ability to actually complete your role description. Do you need additional mid-level or senior management in your agency? Or do you have the right people, they just need upskilling? Maybe a GM or Operations Lead?
8. Add accountability from the outside
Sometimes it can feel impossible to get out of the weeds of running an agency. It’s fine to go through periods of head-down sprinting, but it’s also important to regularly review how the business is running, and whether it’s actively working on the overall strategic direction.
Having an external party (mentor, advisor board, peer-board, advisor etc) to regularly ‘report’ to is a great way to ensure you stay focused on the bigger picture. It also means you have someone else to go to for advice/support/an understanding ear if you’re working through a challenging period.
It doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive, and can actually help you supplement your strengths by leveraging theirs.
9. Put yourself on a reporting rhythm
Along with accountability from outside the agency, you can create reporting systems to help keep yourself accountable too.
Creating a monthly ‘board pack’ that reviews the most important numbers/projects across your business can be a great way to force yourself outside the day-to-day – as well as keep an eye on how your business is performing a little more broadly.
Even if you feel as though you’re pretty across the numbers, generating a report each month that addresses things like:
- Profit
- Cashflow
- Workload/capacity
- New business pipeline
- Strategy-specific KPIs
- Depending on what your business strategy is, this could include things that speak to market expansion, new product development, or agency repositioning
10. Turn your pitch into a story, not a slide deck
When was the last time you followed a documented pitch process? Or even reviewed the process your agency ‘naturally’ (ie, it’s not documented) took?
If you’re in an agency that pitches regularly, there might be a big opportunity for you to improve the efficiency (cost) of pitching, as well as improve your outcomes (win-rates).
Typically agencies talk too much about themselves in pitches, and not enough about their clients’ challenges and opportunities. And they’ll often bury the lede and build up to a ‘big reveal’ on slide 60 (at which point, eyes are glazing over).
Document your process (and iterate for improvement), make sure your client feels understood and inspired in the pitch-room, and please don’t write full paragraphs on a slide.
–
I’m Sam Wood, an advisor and consultant who helps marketing, creative, and digital agency founders:
- Cut through operational chaos – by building processes that work for your agency, not just any agency.
- Gain financial clarity – so you know exactly what’s driving (or draining) your profit.
- Scale with confidence – with a hands-on partner who challenges ideas, brings solutions, and helps you lead intentionally.
Through my consultancy, OTTESU, I work with established agencies on strategy, structure, and growth. For earlier-stage founders, I run THE LOOM, a peer group designed to strengthen the foundations of their business.
My experience as a former agency CEO means I know first-hand the challenges of growth and how to navigate them with clarity and conviction.
Connect with me on LinkedIn where I write about all things ‘agency.’