The Agency Profit Podcast

Quick Links:

• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
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• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog

Guest Links:

• https://www.gohighlevel.com/
• https://gohighlevel.com/podcast
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXFiV4qDX5ipE-DQcsm1j4g
  About Shaun:
  Shaun Clark is a serial entrepreneur, multi-millionaire, and a co-founder and the CEO of HighLevel – the #1 white-label marketing platform for agencies. Serving more than 20,000 agency owners, HighLevel is the all-in-one sales and marketing platform that agencies and consultants can white-label and resell to customers.

Points of Interest

• 01:00 – 01:45 – Guest Introduction: Marcel welcomes back his co-founder, Ben Zittlau, highlighting his expertise in data operations and agency growth strategies.
• 03:35 – 05:50 – Scaling Data Operations: Lessons from Jobber: Ben shares insights from his experience at Jobber, detailing the challenges of building and scaling a data operations team in a fast-growing company.
• 08:43 – 13:14 – Why Agencies Struggle to Get Insights from Their Data: Discussion on how agencies collect vast amounts of data across multiple tools but fail to derive meaningful insights due to fragmentation and inconsistency.
• 13:15 – 16:05 – The Myth of a “Single Source of Truth: Marcel and Ben challenge the common belief that pushing all data into a single platform solves reporting issues, highlighting the reality of messy operational data.
• 19:26 – 21:48 – The Limitations of All-in-One Software Solutions: Exploring why all-in-one agency management tools often fail to deliver on their promise of seamless reporting and data integration.
• 24:43 – 27:44 – The Hidden Costs of Locking into a Single Platform: Discussion on how agencies become “trapped” by software providers, making it difficult to switch tools without major operational disruptions.
• 30:29 – 35:53 – How to Integrate Data Without Sacrificing Flexibility: A deep dive into the challenges of stitching data from various tools while maintaining adaptability and historical accuracy.
• 35:54 – 41:14 – Accuracy vs. Precision: Why Clean Data is a Myth: Why agencies should focus on broader trends instead of pursuing impossible data perfection, and how to handle data inconsistencies effectively.
• 41:15 – 44:15 – A Modern Data Approach: Extract, Transform, Load (ETL): Introduction to the ETL process, which allows agencies to clean and transform data before reporting, improving reliability and flexibility.
• 50:14 – 52:00 – Lessons from Finance: What Agencies Can Learn from Accounting: Marcel compares data operations to bookkeeping, explaining how structured financial workflows can serve as a model for better agency data management.

Show Notes

• Connect with Ben via LinkedIn
• Free Toolkit
• Parakeeto Foundations Course

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Leave us a review here.

Points of Interest

• 00:01 – 00:40 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces the episode and guest Jamie van Cuyk, an expert in hiring and onboarding, who shares her extensive experience in helping entrepreneurs effectively grow their teams.
• 01:20 – 02:43 – Company Overview: Jamie describes her role and the objectives of her company, Growing Your Team, emphasizing its focus on teaching small business owners to hire like professionals.
• 02:43 – 05:12 – Hiring Challenges: The conversation shifts towards the challenges of hiring, the negative impacts of poor hiring decisions, and the potential positive outcomes of effective hiring practices.
• 05:12 – 06:47 – Profitability through Hiring: Discussion on how proper hiring can lead to increased profitability and efficiency within a business.
• 06:47 – 13:56 – When to Hire: Marcel and Jamie discuss the indicators and timing for when businesses should consider hiring new team members.
• 13:56 – 18:45 – Financial Considerations in Hiring: They delve into the financial aspects of hiring, including budgeting and the economic impact on a business.
• 18:45 – 26:49 – Role of Management: Focus shifts to the importance of hiring middle management and its role in business growth and employee management.
• 26:49 – 35:35 – Role Design: Jamie explains the process of designing roles within a company to align with strategic business goals.
• 35:35 – End – Recruitment Strategies: The final segment covers effective strategies for attracting the right candidates and the importance of a respectful and efficient hiring process.

Show Notes

• Connect with Jamie through her profile: Jamie Van Cuyk on LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook

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Points of Interest

• 01:00 – 01:50 – Episode Kickoff and Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Ben Zittlau, his co-founder and the “brains behind the operation” at Parakeeto, highlighting Ben’s instrumental role in shaping the company’s philosophies and tools.
• 01:51 – 04:25 – Ben’s Background and Early Career: Ben shares his journey from studying electrical engineering to becoming deeply involved in startups, entrepreneurship, and eventually co-founding Parakeeto, along with his notable work at Jobber.
• 04:26 – 06:44 – Lessons from Jobber and Shaping Profitability Frameworks: Ben reflects on his time at Jobber, where he observed how businesses transformed when they understood profitability over revenue, a realization that shaped Parakeeto’s focus.
• 06:45 – 07:22 – Parakeeto’s Founding and Evolution: Ben discusses how he and Marcel connected over their shared passion for solving complex problems for service businesses, leading to the creation of Parakeeto.
• 07:23 – 08:35 – Behind-the-Scenes Collaboration: Marcel highlights the depth of thought and iteration that he and Ben have poured into refining their profitability frameworks, setting the stage for their discussion.
• 08:36 – 11:34 – Common Profitability Traps in Agencies: The duo dives into how agencies often fall into traps like relying on cash flow or revenue as proxies for profitability, leading to poor business decisions.
• 11:35 – 14:14 – The Pitfalls of Cashflow-Based Decision Making: Ben and Marcel explain how focusing on cash flow can create illusions of profitability or mask underlying financial issues, illustrated by real client examples.
• 14:15 – 17:04 – Revenue vs. Profitability Decisions: They highlight how agencies often conflate cash flow with profit, sharing examples of businesses choosing lower-margin work due to short-term cash needs.
• 17:05 – 19:57 – Differentiating Revenue from Agency Gross Income (AGI): Ben explains the importance of isolating pass-through expenses to get a true picture of what’s left for an agency to operate and grow.
• 19:58 – 23:17 – Misconceptions About Markup and Rates: The discussion shifts to how agencies often misunderstand the role of markup in profitability and why focusing on average billable rates is key.
• 23:18 – 30:45 – The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All Frameworks: Ben and Marcel emphasize the risks of trying to unify operational, sales, and accounting frameworks, advocating for purpose-built tools tailored to each team’s needs.
• 30:46 – 43:39 – The Future of Profitability Insights: They conclude by discussing how technology is making enterprise-level profitability analysis more accessible to smaller businesses, empowering agencies to make smarter, data-driven decisions.

Show Notes

• Connect with Ben via LinkedIn
• Free Toolkit
• Parakeeto Foundations Course

Love the Podcast?

Leave us a review here.

Points of Interest

• 00:01 – 00:40 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces Audrey Joy Kwan, a seasoned leadership coach and agency consultant, discussing her extensive experience in agency leadership development. Audrey shares her transition from law to marketing, leading to a significant career in agency leadership.
• 06:57 – 08:26 – Leadership Styles: Audrey discusses the selection of appropriate leadership styles for different agency scenarios, addressing common misconceptions.
• 10:24 – 12:33 – Practical Example: Audrey provides an example from event management to demonstrate how leadership styles are adapted based on team competencies.
• 14:51 – 16:00 – Leadership Framework: Discussion on a quadrant framework that helps identify appropriate leadership styles based on team member confidence and competence.
• 18:50 – 20:09 – Flexibility in Leadership: Emphasis on the importance of adapting leadership approaches to individual team member needs and project dynamics.
• 22:35 – 24:59 – Assessing Competence and Confidence: Audrey elaborates on methods for assessing team members' skills and confidence to select the most effective leadership style.
• 226:28 – 27:50 – Do’s and Don’ts of Leadership Styles: Marcel and Audrey discuss best practices for implementing each leadership style to maximize effectiveness and team satisfaction.
• 29:46 – 31:33 – Directive Leadership in Depth: Detailed breakdown of how and when to employ directive leadership effectively within an agency setting.
• 31:33 – 33:57 – Coaching and Supporting Styles: Exploration of coaching and supporting leadership styles, including how to empower team members through these approaches.
• 36:00 – 37:23 – Identifying Leadership Missteps: Techniques for identifying when a chosen leadership style isn't working and how to pivot effectively to support team success.
• 38:25 – 39:28 – Building Team Confidence: Strategies for boosting team confidence through gradual increases in responsibility, helping team members grow effectively into their roles

Show Notes

• Free Live Workshop: https://audreyjoykwan.com/leadershipstyles
• Connect with Audrey through her profile:
  • IG: https://www.instagram.com/audreyjoykwan/
  • LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwanaudrey/
• Website: https://audreyjoykwan.com/
• Marcel’s episode in Audrey’s pod: https://audreyjoykwan.com/podcast-ep86/

Love the Podcast?

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