5 Things Kenny Schumacher Learned Building & Exiting 2 Productized Agencies
We’ve interviewed Kenny Schumacher about his adventure of building and selling 2 successful productized agencies. Check out below the 5 things he’s learned, and watch the full video for more insights.
1. Not wasting time trying to make things too personalized
Kenny has learned the hard way that he wanted to create the perfect product for everyone while failing to build an actual product. This is a problem many agencies fall into because they want to retain existing clients.
However, the goal of an agency should be to create a business they can easily manage and scale, while fulfilling the needs of their clients. What Kenny realized was that instead of spending hours on sales calls, he could turn a service (Instagram marketing) into a product.
2. Finding a niche that you’re better at than anyone else
One thing many service providers are struggling with is finding a service they are good at. Kenny knew that he was great at gaining followers and increasing engagement for their Instagram accounts.
Once you find your niche, you might have to let go of any other extra service you’re offering, such as graphic design, or content writing. While those might be a worthwhile addition to your services, and you might be able to sell them as add-on services, ask yourself: do I have the time and resources to offer them? Can I offer the best content writing/graphic design in the business?
Unless you can truthfully say yes to these questions, niche down on your new business venture.
3. Documenting tasks & delegating them to employees
Delegating is one of the tasks many business owners struggle with. Kenny noticed quickly that a lot of his day-to-day tasks are repeatable. So he started documenting them in order to be able to delegate them to his employees and contractors.
In this trial-and-error process, the tasks will trigger questions from employees and contractors which in return can be used to improve the documentation. While business owners will spend a considerable amount of time on their documentation, it will save them a lot of work when they hire new talent.
4. Knowing when to exit your productized business
Exiting a growing business can be a daunting idea for agency owners. However, there comes a time when your business has hit a point where it no longer grows. This might simply mean that you’ve done all you can, and someone more experienced should take over, as Kenny mentions in our interview.
The art of letting go might not be easy for those who’ve build their company from the ground up. However, selling a business at the right time benefits both parties, the owner, and the employees. The former can use the money from the sale to invest in new ventures, while the latter enjoy a secure future powerd by a more experienced new owner.
5. Selling recurring services helps plan for the future
We’ve talked about selling recurring services with SPP already in a blog post. Kenny heavily recommends this business approach because it helps business owners scale their agency. It helps you plan for the future because you know what your revenue will be a few months from now. This allows you to invest in new talent, marketing, and other expenses.
A recurring service also has the benefit that the money is paid upfront, which can be used to invest in the company.
If you want to get in touch with Kenny, visit his website schumacher.jp. You can find a list of projects he’s currently working on, as well as a list of podcast and articles Kenny’s been featured in.
