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What to Measure to Run a Healthier Agency

Published 4 days ago • 1 min read

Most agencies obsess over dashboards.
Charts. Graphs. 47 KPIs.

It feels productive, but it rarely leads to better decisions.

In this week’s The AgencyHabits Podcast, we narrow it all down.
Peter and Sei-Wook talk through the handful of metrics that actually help you run a steadier, clearer, more predictable agency.

Here’s what’s inside:

  • The difference between lagging metrics vs. leading metrics
  • Why recurring revenue matters more than project spikes
  • What gross margin really signals (it's two things!)
  • The most important predictor of agency health
  • Why numbers alone can’t make decisions

If you’ve ever stared at your reporting and wondered, “Which of these numbers actually matter?”, this episode will reset your entire mental model.

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, this is a great moment: each week’s episode builds on the systems that make agencies easier to run and grow.

Who are we?

Hi, we're Peter and Sei-Wook, co-founders of Barrel Holdings, a portfolio of agency businesses. We also run AgencyHabits, a resource for agency operators featuring lessons learned from our various agency businesses.

Thanks for being a subscriber. If you or anyone you know is interested in selling their agency business, please check out what types of agencies we're looking for and email hi@barrel-holdings.com.

Also: Peter posts a lot of agency content on LinkedIn, give him a follow!

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AgencyHabits

Go behind the scenes of real agency businesses.

AgencyHabits provides learnings, ideas, and templates for agency operators drawn from Barrel Holdings companies. Barrel Holdings incubates, acquires, and grows agency businesses.

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