This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind No blog breakdowns or frameworks today because something bigger happened. We hit pause on our usual content this week. Why? Our first-ever AgencyHabits Knowledge Share brought 27 agency leaders together. 🎥 Watch the full recording📂 Grab the slidesInside, you’ll hear how they navigate time, team, and growth, plus: The 4 high-leverage areas founders should actually spend time on How...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Hey, just a quick reminder: we’re going live in 1 hour for the first-ever AgencyHabits Knowledge Share. Topic: How Are You Spending Your Time? Founder roundtableTime: 12:30 PM ETDuration: 60 minutes If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, stuck in the weeds, or unsure where your time is going, this session will hit exactly where you need it. More importantly, it will help you create time for "forward-moving” work. ⏰ Join the FREE session here See you soon, The AgencyHabits team Who are we? Hi,...
7 days ago • 1 min read
What’s the difference between “paper profitability” and actual cash in the bank? That’s the gap we explore in this week’s The AgencyHabits Podcast. Peter and Sei-Wook break down what every agency eventually learns (sometimes painfully): A profitable month doesn’t mean a healthy cash position. Late client payments can turn a great quarter into a crisis. Project-based work creates lumpy, unpredictable cash cycles. Retainers behave differently, and can actually create float. And yes, taking 50%...
8 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind Want to Step Back Without Breaking the Business? - Most founders wait too long to exit their roles. Here’s the exact process we used to transition out of the CEO seat, without ghosting the business, or imploding it. The faster path to ROI? Trust. - North Street Creative agency added this slide to their proposals. It reframed client expectations, and improved close rates. Bold?...
12 days ago • 1 min read
If we were starting an agency today - no network, no clients, no name - where would we begin? That’s what we dig into in this week’s The AgencyHabits Podcast. Nineteen years after building Barrel from scratch, we look back at what worked, what didn’t, and how we’d do it differently now. Spoiler: it’s less about tactics and more about how you show up. Here’s what we cover: Why your first 10 clients will almost always come from your personal network (and how to grow it intentionally). The...
15 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind Specialization is what you master. Positioning is how you say it. - Most agencies blur the line. This post breaks down why that confusion costs you trust, margins, and growth, and how to fix it. “The way we work today isn’t guaranteed tomorrow.”- Peter Kang said this on a recent panel with Eddie Opara and Julia Zeltser. They also covered the art and business of design, and how to...
19 days ago • 1 min read
Most founders resist narrowing their focus. It feels like saying no to opportunity. But what actually happens when you specialize is the opposite, you create leverage. In this week’s AgencyHabits Podcast, we dig into why specialization is the quiet multiplier behind growth, profitability, and long-term value. Here’s what we cover: The difference between specialization and positioning, and why both matter. Why saying “no” to work outside your niche can actually increase retention and margin....
22 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind Most agencies overcomplicate partnerships. - Here’s the system we use across Barrel Holdings to keep it simple, consistent, and actually valuable. Pitch the team you actually have. - Pretending confuses people. Be real about your size, your people, and your strengths. What We're Organizing Agency life can feel like a silo. Let’s change that. On November 19, we’re hosting our...
26 days ago • 1 min read
We talk a lot about agency profitability. But when you strip the buzzwords and look at the spreadsheets, most founders are miscalculating their numbers, sometimes by 10–20%. This week’s episode of The AgencyHabits Podcast tackles that head-on. Peter and Sei-Wook break down how they actually assess agency health at Barrel Holdings: what 15% EBITDA really means, how they normalize owner salaries, and why SDE and EBITDA are two different conversations entirely. If you’re thinking about selling,...
29 days ago • 1 min read