This weekend my wife celebrated her 43rd birthday with a birthday bike ride and a barbecue. One of the conversations I had during the party was with a friend who is working in a job she doesn’t like, but is sticking with it because the salary is good. Her plan is to pursue the things she really wants to do later in life after she’s earned a bunch of money (sort of a FIRE-esque approach.)
I told her that though money is important, there’s a huge risk in spending your life doing things you don’t enjoy. It’s a “this for that” trade where the cost is certain and high, and the desired payout is only one possible outcome.
Recently, I also spoke with a consultant, David C. Baker, about my goals with our agency. My aim has been to step out of the agency when all the systems are locked down and pass the reigns to a general manager or partner. Baker told me that, for whatever reason, that rarely worked. He said that the only two options for growth were to grow into a highly profitable agency I enjoyed running or to scale it to a size that I could sell. He estimated that scaling and selling was a five-year arc if everything went well (three years building and a one to two year earn-out.)
I don’t hate agency work, but I don’t particularly like it either. For me, growing an agency that requires you at the helm is similar to working as an employee, just that you have greater control and a higher possible salary.
However, like my wife’s friend, the agency is what pays the bills. Due to this, it would be really easy to choose one of the two options David presented.
Instead, I’m still going to work to grow the agency, but the target isn’t selling or stepping out. Rather, it’s limiting my time involved while figuring out how to maximize the return on my involvement. I want to create space and resources to look for the next business.
It’s important to have a personal vision of where you’re intending to go. It provides you with an evaluation that you can make choices from, to close the gap between where you are today and where you want to be.
What’s your end game with growth? What will it do for you?
Featured image is Dr. Fausto by Jean-Paul Laurens. Used under public domain.