I started an agency over a decade ago with no clients, no team, and no clue. Just me, a laptop, a cell phone, and my dining room table.

Today, I own three niche digital marketing agencies, generate over $6 million a year, lead a team of 49 employees, and I'm now rolling out a brand for the portfolio.

The journey has been sometimes smooth, often bumpy, and I’ve had to learn a lot along the way...sales, systems, hiring, delegation, client churn, you name it.

I don't have a creative background. I was a software developer with an MBA who saw a need and jumped in. I made all the rookie mistakes—saying yes to bad-fit clients, undercharging, hiring & firing too fast (and too slow), and not understanding how to manage the chaos that comes with agency life. It wasn’t until I started building processes and focusing on specific niches that things started to click.

One of my biggest turning points was getting clear on who we serve and what problems we solve. That’s when sales got easier, marketing made more sense, and we could finally build recurring revenue. With MRR, I could start to envision a future for the agency. That's when the vision expanded into multiple niche agencies.

I also had to level up personally—reading, writing, getting coached, having difficult conversations, setting boundaries, mediation, counseling, and becoming self-aware. The unglamorous hard work that actually makes you a better person.

I just figured I’d open the door and share what I’ve learned with anyone who’s in the trenches right now or trying to scale without burning out along the way.

Common questions I get often:

• How do you get clients?

• What roles did you hire first?

• What would you do differently?

• How do you deal with bad clients or scope creep?

• How do you balance growth with profitability?

Ask me anything. The more details you provide, the better I can answer your question. I’ll share with you what worked for me and, as importantly, what didn’t.

~ Erik