From Working Non-Stop in the Business to Creating True Time Freedom

Their Challenge

Profitability was a key challenge for this agency. The tried and tested processes already in place lent little room for increasing profitability. Net profit was all but stagnant. And even though revenue was increasing, the agency found itself spending more to deliver its projects, resulting in potential profits getting swallowed up by the work itself.

That wasn’t all.

Project completion times were slipping, leading to issues with client retention. Again, this took a significant toll on the bottom line. Administration tasks also took up the bulk of the team’s time, with 45% being the average for billable team members.

The two brothers were so entrenched in working within the business’s existing systems they simply didn’t have the time to step back and see what was required to give the agency the overhaul it needed.

83?%

Efficiency Gain

$?1,500,000

Net Profit Increase

Their Goals

Cutting administration time down to a 10% average was a priority, as this would allow the team to spend more time on work it could actually bill for. The agency owners also needed to boost profitability while ensuring their teams followed the procedures they created.

Our Solution

We needed to take some time to examine the business to see where the blockages were. So, we ran both time and contact studies, which helped us to see who people were talking to, how they were spending their time, and which processes were inefficient versus those which simply took up time for little return.

From there, we drilled down into the agency’s services. Our reports identified the most profitable offerings, which the agency could then focus on. This cut down on the time spent on projects that weren’t worth taking on in the first place.

Finally, we worked with the owners to overhaul their communication processes, SOPs, and management structure. We created an SOP plan, which created efficiency throughout the agency. The business went from the archaic practice of wasting time printing out documents for review to using a non-paper system which sped up admin considerably. We also used this opportunity to create new Key Performance Indicators, which gave the team more tangible targets while empowering the owners to track the agency’s performance.

The Result

The focus on overhauling the longstanding SOPs and management structure paid immediate dividends by enabling the agency owners to spend less time working?in?the business. Finally, they had the time freedom needed to take a step back and see what they could improve.

And improve they did.

In just over 18 months, the agency saw an 807% increase in profits, amounting to over $1.5 million. Administrative time averages dropped to 8% and the gross profit rose by 16%.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the two brothers got their lives back. They went from working between 80 and 100 hours per week to never needing to work past 4pm again!

If you want to learn more about improving your operations, get in touch with Patin & Associates.?Contact us ?to schedule a profitability accelerator call.

And don't forget to show up to the Livestream Training on Thursday at 10AM Pacific.