Scale your agency to $1M/year (Like I did)

I can help.

Growing an agency from chaos to calm isn't rocket science…

But there IS a method to it. I'm going to lay out how I went from $10K/mo to $150K/mo:

But first, a little about me:

My name is Sean Lang, co-founder of Social Commerce Club, and former

President & COO of upGrowth Commerce, former co-host (and co-creator)

of the DTC podcast Secrets to Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand,

and current host and creator of The Agency Uplift Podcast.

Ok, lets get into it:

1. Define who you are (core values) and who your clients are (Ideal Client Profile)

2. Get your first clients and work to generate referrals and case studies

3. Create some simple SOPs to get it out of your head

4. Implement a simple financial framework to understand the numbers

5. Based on the numbers:
---pay for new resources and/or make first hires
---adjust pricing to keep cashflow healthy

6. Delegate lower leverage tasks to team using SOPs, take on higher leverage tasks

7. Expand scope and detail of SOPs as processes become more proven

8. Create system of performance management for team

9. As you hit capacity, hire more team members as allowed by the numbers.
If you hit capacity and the numbers DON'T allow - revisit service, resources, team, and pricing.
There is a misalignment somewhere. This step should be a monthly exercise.

10. Train team on SOPs. Manage team with performance management system

11. As client wins increase, and client referrals increase, and service price increases, upgrade your ICP to increase client quality

12. As the agency continues to evolve, assess ALL aspects of the agency against core values and either a) adjust elements of the agency or b) assess whether your initial core values were correct or not. Adjust if needed.

13. When you have a strong identity, a strong team, strong processes, and you're ready to scale even further, don't add anyone to the team yet. Assess current processes. Find inefficiencies, simple manual tasks, and other gaps, and automate. You can often massively increase capacity (and profit) by being diligent with this.

14. Always return back to the numbers. What are they telling you?

15. Know that it is an iterative cycle, and you are never done. Regularly revisit the process to see if you need to adjust.

Bonus step: work with someone who has done this before. (wink wink)

TL;DR

✅ Establish foundations first

✅ Establish operational frameworks second

✅ Establish scaling multiplier frameworks next

Here’s the thing.

Everything written above I learned from experimenting, making mistakes, testing, iterating, etc.

I’ve been in the trenches and I have the receipts to prove it: over the course of 7 years, scaling my agency to a team of 35 people, multiple 7 figures in revenue, and working with global brands.

I vividly remember…

…each time I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it

…realizing yet again we had made another HUGE mistake (so many times)

…the times that regulations changed and results dropped to zero, causing mass panic among clients

…hiring the wrong people and dealing with the massive financial and operational implications

…getting a call from the government to notify us that we owed more money than the agency made in a month

…bringing on the wrong partner and the long-term havoc it caused us

…the sh*tstorm of legal issues brought about by not taking employment contracts seriously

…and so on. In the agency game, you learn or you die 💀

What I REALLY needed back then…

…was a coach. A mentor. Someone who had been there before, who knew the pitfalls, and who had frameworks for dealing with the onslaught of issues to deal with and problems to solve.

Over the last 7 years of failing and learning and failing again and learning even more, I’ve created, iterated upon and optimized a series of what I consider to be incredibly strong frameworks to grow your agency - without these, my agency would have went up in flames very early on.


These frameworks will help you scale:

  • Core values - the biggest lever that NOBODY is pulling, which defines every other item on this list

  • Positioning and Authority - prospects need to understand why they should pick your agency

  • Creating systems and processes - you will never scale without mastering this

  • Cashflow Management & Planning - without this you are literally blind. And your agency will die.

  • Hiring - this will truly make or break your agency

  • Performance Management - greatness starts with your team (and ends with them too)

  • Client Experience - too often an afterthought, leading to client churn, profit loss, and bad reviews

  • "Sean is genuinely one of the best there is at growing agencies. His focus on systems has not only reduced the amount of time I work, but has also improved my client satisfaction and freed me up to focus on generating more clients. I would recommend Sean to any agency owner who’s serious about growing their business."

    —Brennan Tobin, Founder of OddDuck Marketing

  • "I met Sean when I only started my agency journey. And I can say for sure, that he is someone who can give you eye-opening advice. After each Sean call I learned something new and implemented it in my strategy & tactics, which helped me a lot. He helped me to find the right path. I would definitely recommend Sean as a mentor for agencies of all sizes"

    —Pavlo Levchuk, Founder of Pega Agency

  • "Based on your advice in June, we started changing up the audit process... I'm 3/3 in July when doing that approach on closing someone on a retainer."

    —Matthew Holman, Founder of Subscription Prescription & Commerce Catalyst

  • “Sean is one of those unique individuals who is not only highly talented in the metrics and data management side of marketing, but also has the self awareness necessary to continually improve on his skills in the right areas. It has been (and continues to be) an absolute pleasure working with Sean and I highly recommend that if you are looking for a trusted expert in the marketing world that you reach out and connect with Sean.”

    —Peter Holgate, Global Entrepreneur of 30+ Years

  • “When we first started our agency, we were juggling clients without any structured approach to agency operations and client fulfillment. Sean stepped in and helped us implement the frameworks needed to operate efficiently and grow steadily. His insights were invaluable in turning our agency into business that was ready to scale. I can’t recommend him enough!”

    —Jordan West, CEO of Social Commerce Club and host of Secrets To Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand

  • “I had the pleasure of speaking with Sean, who played a pivotal role in refining the positioning strategies for my agency, Sorted. Sean’s expertise was instrumental in helping us gain a clearer understanding of our clients' needs and identifying more effective positioning strategies. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking top-notch expertise and impactful guidance.🙌”

    —Dhiraj Palekar, Founder of Sorted Agency

One on One Coaching

Whether you’re a new agency struggling to find your footing, or an agency stalled at $50K/month, or possibly a freelancer who has just started your agency journey, you can benefit from my experience, frameworks, and expertise.

Book a call to see if we’re a fit.