The Businessology Show

Dan Rundle is the CEO of Worthwhile, a 20+ year old software development agency. In this episode, Jason Blumer and Dan cover a number of topics including:-Why Worthwhile eliminated several types of service to focus on software development three years ago-The challenges of developing software (scoping projects, meeting objectives, etc.)-How Worthwhile spends their time at the beginning of a project in order to guarantee their clients that they can create an accurate timeline, budget, and deliver on features-Why Worthwhile says no to so many opportunities-Why Worthwhile has chosen to have salaried employees vs. contractors-How Dan discovered that he needed to communicate the Worthwhile vision with his team

Adam shares his story of freelancer to leader of a team at Image Conscious Studios.Topics included in this episode:-How Adam's relationship with design has changed-How Adam, as the owner, works with the Project Manager at ICS-Why finding the right cultural fit in new team members matters at ICS-How the creative team at ICS works with clients

Ashleigh Ferran, TJ Cichecki, and Abe Garcia share key learning around becoming partners and the challenges of building authentic brands.They address several topics including:- how they decided to become partners- the work they did to start their partnership out right, including discussing how it would end- why merging companies isn't an automatic fast track to bigger or faster sales- the book that helped them create the living document that guides their partnership- how Workhorse helps to build better and more authentic brands

GuavaBox began like many agencies, with strong roots in web design. It didn't take long for Gray MacKenzie and his partner to realize they wanted to go all in with the inbound philosophy and begin partnering with Hubspot, which led to more leads and closing more deals.In this episode hear how GuavaBox developed their own internal process/project management software called DoInbound, which is now their biggest focus. DoInbound exists to help other agencies serve their clients.Jason and Gray discuss several topics, including:- The value of weekly batch days for content production- The choice to use contractors in their business model versus full time employees- Why delegating the sales process too soon didn't work out for GuavaBox- The importance of culture even in a virtual model with contractors- The process of learning who their ideal clients are- Why producing leads for clients isn’t enough to help them succeed

Hear Thom Vest of Studio Seven Consulting share his ideas on a number of topics including:-how his company uses experiences to mobilize influencers for brands-why deciding on a golden purpose at the beginning of a project is critical-who makes up a dream team at Studio Seven Consulting-the role of analytics in building a successful campaign-why he still stays hands on with each client his company serves

Agency Labs is like a swiss army knife for agencies, providing just the right tool at the right time. By finding a major pain point in the design and agency world (and solving it), they found that they can serve agencies of any size with their technology and development needs, helping them to get off the production roller coaster.In this episode, hear Jonathan Soares describe why they don't do remote work, why they work with agency partners only, and how avoiding emotional decisions and remaining analytical helps build trust. We also discuss topics like business development, hiring, and how processes drive quality in the Agency Labs business model.

Raven and Finch helps companies build brands with music and sound, sometimes working directly with clients and sometimes consulting with other branding agencies.Some of the topics discussed in this episode:-Profile and profit projects-The role of digital and technology in musical composition-Helping companies clarify what they hope to achieve with music-Understanding the importance of a competitor’s musical brand-Sound logos-Hearing as an untapped sense in branding-What we can learn about musical branding from the James Bond franchise-The role of first, second, and third screens and how sound can direct a customer from one to another-The importance of knowing your customers’ musical tastes

Rob and Gavin share their journey as leaders individually and as CEOs of Artifact Group. Having recently celebrated thriller company’s tenth anniversary, we discuss how growing to a 60 team member company has required adjustments to their strategies.We also discuss:-What kind of work is so important that even clients can’t interrupt it-How they have transitioned from doing design work (client work) to leading a team-How developing a product for agencies affected them internally and why it became a spin off company (10000ft.com)-The constant adaptations required as they look at emerging technologies-Which kinds of companies need to devote resources to R&D-The new skills needed by leadership as companies reach various stages of growth-What it means to create an organization that will live on after you

Coming from the digital web side of an agency, Luke Summerfield learned that there are a lot of problems in how agencies deliver web deliverables to their clients. After some extensive research, Luke discovered that delivering websites is often unprofitable for an agency. He began to explore how this service could be delivered more profitably, and successfully, and came up with the minimum viable website (a name that did not resonate well with clients!).This idea morphed into experiments within Hubspot's Partner Program that eventually came to be known as Growth-Driven Design. They've now launched a certification in Growth Driven Design in June 2016 to high acclaim.In this episode, we talk to Luke about agency growth, the problems that all agencies face, and how an agency can begin moving toward selling web services to clients in profitable, and more sustainable ways.

We glean huge amounts of information from Mlicki's 15 years of experience in his agency (that has been around for 44 years!). We dive into how Rattleback made decisions around their positioning, and how trying to nail your positioning is always a moving target. We discuss why he chose to focus on a professional services niche, which led to many other questions:- what services are you providing to a narrow niche and is it perceived as more valuable just because you are niched?- does your agency experience increase when you narrow your focus?- does your value and price also go up as your experience goes up?- are tools/philosophies (like Hubspot) required for agencies practicing an inbound marketing strategy?- how can you 'deconstruct' thought leadership content into a digestible website?- how can you get your clients to read long-form content?- how could an agency remain a generalist in this day and age?- how does a focus change your revenue model (from project to recurring revenue)?