Growing A Self-Running Agency With Simon Isaac

When anyone starts their own agency, they probably got some end goals in mind. A lot of people dream about selling their agency for millions of pounds, but the reality is that it's very difficult to sell a service based business and make a lot of money. But that's a story for another episode. So one of the options people have is to build an agency that is less dependent on them. That is a self running agency. Now you know I'm a big fan of that because I have my book called the Self Running Agency and I also have my mastermind group also called the Self Running Agency. So. So I'm working with a lot of agency owners to help them extricate themselves and be less involved. And that's the topic of today's podcast. And I'm really excited to be joined by one of my clients who's well on his way to building his own self running agency. So let's get on with this show. I'm Rob Da Costa and this is the Agency Accelerator Podcast. As someone who has stood in your shoes, having started, grown and sold my own agency, I know just how it feels in the ups and downs of agency life. So this podcast aims to ease your journey just a little by sharing mine and my guests experiences and advice as you navigate your way to growing a profitable, sustainable and enjoyable business. Hey everybody and welcome to today's Agency Accelerator podcast. Today I want to talk to you about one of my favorite topics which is building a self running agency that is an agency that is less dependent on you, the owner. To bring this to life, I'm delighted to be joined by Simon Isaacs who is the founder and MD of marketing agency Capsule, a full service marketing agency based in Colchester in the uk. Now Simon's sort of nearly as old as me I think and he's got over 30 years of marketing marketing experience and his own Capsule and run capsule for over 10 years and he was involved in all aspects of client delivery and running the operations and business development. But he's slowly divesting himself of some of these responsibilities. Now one of the reasons for that is because outside of Capsule, Simon enjoys yoga, he owns a camper van, he's an ev advocate like me and he is also a passionate photographer and he's working on his exhibition and his book which I'm sure we'll talk about. So with all that going on, no wonder Simon wants to build a self running agency. So welcome to the show Simon and let's start off by having you tell us a little bit about your journey to starting and Growing your own agency.

So I've been running an agency for something like 15 years now. Now capsule has been in existence for 11. Before that, I was MD of an agency in central London. I was invited to join that agency by an associate of mine and I'd recently left a corporate job. So I was head of marketing for quite a large brewery and restaurant group and decided one day, I think I was 35, actually, I decided that I had enough working for other people and wanted to work for myself. So I actually went and did some freelance work for about two years, years. And I was living in Brighton at the time and I'd met somebody who ran an organic skincare company and they were looking to reposition, pivot the brands, create new products. So I decided to go and work with them for a while, amongst other things. And so here I am today. I mean, running an agency is a big job, but I still enjoy it.

Yeah. And I think a lot of our listeners will relate to that journey and it's actually really similar to my journey when I started my agency, where we, for whatever reasons, decide to start on our own. For me, it was kind of arrogant, naive youth, I think, that thought I could do it better than what was out there, but started off freelancing and then grew to a certain point where you have to make that decision, do you want to hire someone? And then before you know it, you've got a whole bunch of staff, a whole bunch of responsibilities, a whole bunch of clients looking at you for all the solutions and a whole bunch of headaches. So if you cast your mind back to those early days, Simon, what were your hopes and plans, you know, in the first year or two of running your agency?

I mean, the first thing I'd say is I actually didn't plan to form an agency and have employees. I thought I'd work as a consultant for the rest of my life because I, you know, at the age of about 35, you're thinking, oh, actually I'm getting quite old now and, you know, and I'm obviously really good at what I do. I could be a consultant and just go in and work for various people when and when I felt like it. But as I sort of got more into agency life and worked as an MD in an agency, I discovered I really enjoyed the sort of people aspect of it. And I've actually got a background in people development as well. So before I worked in marketing, I worked in leadership development for the same organization and I sort of missed that a bit. And seeing people grow and Develop and evolve. So it was just a natural progression really. And then obviously starting my own agency after running somebody else's for a period of time, that was a big step. And you know, I thought, wow, how am I going to do this? But I sort of fell into it really and everything just fell into place. Very hard work. Obviously it took a good number of years to make any profit.

Yeah, of course. And again, I think people relate to that. And who, what roles were the first roles that you hired for when you started? When you decided that you weren't going to be a consultant but you're going to grow the agency. What were the first people you hired?

Well, originally I worked with three other partners in the business and we, we were predominantly web development agencies. So we had our own CMS platform which was built from scratch. We had, we had, we had a creative director who was a graphic designer, web developer, another guy who was sort of focused on print. So I was the guy that came into bring the sort of qualified marketing experience, I suppose. But hires in terms of. Well, at that time I think digital marketing was just sort of coming to the fore. We were still having conversations with clients and prospects who didn't feel like they needed a website back then. You know, imagine having that conversation with someone today. You just, it wouldn't happen. So we were starting to employ digital marketers because we could see the growth opportunity within that part of business. Really?

Yeah. When I tell people that when I ran my agency there was no web, there was no Internet. You know, we printed our press releases on many sheets of paper and run them through the franking machine. And then people say, what's a franking machine? And then I realized that I'm old and gray. So the world has changed a lot. And it's funny now, I think when you talk about marketing to people, sometimes you have to say, no, no, I'm not just talking about digital marketing. I'm talking about kind of the more bricks and mortar traditional market like PR and graphic design and web design and all that stuff as well. So Fast forward what, 10 or 15 years and you're here where you are now and you and I have been working together. I mean full disclosure, Simon's one of my clients. You and I have been working together for the last couple of years. What was, why did you decide you wanted to start removing yourself from the day to day and you know, following through with this concept of building a self running agency?

Well, I suppose the big one is age. You know, you get to a point in your life where you think, oh, okay. I think I'd like to see some changes. I think the pandemic had a big impact on that as well. But I'm quite entrepreneurial as a person and I don't like to do just one thing. And I'm not a complete finisher, definitely. You know, I'm one of these people that loves coming up with an idea, loves winning a client, you know, handing it over to somebody else, all of these things. But actually I think as I've got older, I realize that there's this whole team of people that I've employed in the background who are so capable and actually quite excited about what they're doing as well. I want to give them an opportunity to shine and to actually run a business as well. So I suppose it's. I feel like a bit of a philanthropist as well. You know, I've created something and worked very hard to create it as well. And you know, what's the legacy of that going to be? And I think, you know, the legacy of any good business is definitely the people that are running it and the people that are working in it.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I always say the thing I'm most proud about the 11 years of running my agency was what those people have gone on to do with their careers. And you know, that's something I'm very proud of. I think it's also worth stating that you have some fairly significant interests outside of work. And so the idea of building a self running agency that isn't dependent on you five days a week enables you to pursue those other interests, is that fair to say?

Definitely. And I think, you know, the biggest part of my life outside of Capsule at the moment is definitely my visual artwork. And I'm a visual artist, been exhibiting since 2012, so I've had exhibitions across Europe, in the US and it's sort of, it's sort of extended beyond photography as well. Now I have an exhibition launching at the end of April this year. I have over 50 pieces of artwork in it, some of them on reclaimed aircraft panels and wings printed directly to that as well. And it's going to be in a, a gallery in London across three floors. So you can imagine. And the work that goes into doing that, you know, any of the people listening who have had to organize events will know exactly what that looks like. And I'm also publishing a book as well. So, you know, that's that really, I suppose it's again coming back to my entrepreneurial spirit. It's something I'm Hugely passionate about, I think, a lot of people for four years.

Yeah. I mean, and if people are watching this on YouTube, you can see the background of Simon, which is in his art studio, not in his office. But I think a lot of people relate to what you've said about, you know, being an entrepreneur in terms of being an ideas person and good at closing the deal, but not necessarily a good detail person, not a great complete finisher. I'm definitely like that as well. And yeah, I mean, and having a significant interest like you have with your art means that you either are burning the candle at both ends or you start putting the systems and structures in place to build a business that is less dependent on you. So talk us through some of the key steps that you've taken so far to be able to not work five days a week in the agency.

I think the biggest step change is actually having a team of people that you can really trust and actually somebody who, you know is a good number two for you, a person that can you, you know, that if you want to take time off, you know, things will just happen. And I suppose that's the biggest thing is getting, getting those people in place. And then as part of that, it's actually creating a defined structure for the business as well that's not going to be dependent on you. So, you know, it's. You don't have to be the person that signs everything off. And I think that is something that's really difficult for a lot of business owners, particularly in our world as well, because you, you end up becoming this figurehead that the clients want to speak to. And really there are. If you've got the right people in place and the, you know, people that you trust, people the clients trust, then you don't have to be that go to person because it comes. Becomes quite tiring at the, you know, in time. And I think that's essentially what it's about, having the right people in place and having the right systems and processes in place as well to deliver it.

So I think absolutely. And I think one of the challenges a lot of people have is that as they grow their agency in the sort of first three to five years, they hire the people that they can afford, which is often not a strong number two. And what happens is that there becomes a big gap between the agency owner and the rest of the agency. And of course that means that the client wants the agency lead on their account and the agency owner can't always delegate because things don't get done well enough. So what You've really focused on, I think, is filling that gap through either promoting internal people or bringing in external people that are really strong in operations and in running teams and all that kind of stuff. Is that fair to say?

Definitely. And I think it's having that tier of management, having that tier and of teams that within the business is crucial, even when it's a small business, because it's almost like you have to have that in place, ready to scale up if you like, you know, because as you win more clients and as you get more business and you, if you've got that in place and you know you need to bring another team member in, it's not all on you. And I think the other thing as well is having this really strong bank of external advisors and people who can sit on, I suppose, almost like an executive board that can advise you as a business. So I think that's been a big game changer for me. And having people like yourself, Rob, you know, we have Kim, who works with us as well. You know, having those people there, knowing that you can have confidential conversations, that you can, you know, you've got somebody you can turn to and bounce something off as a business owner, that's like, it's gold, really, because it can be. It can be quite lonely. They say this horrible phrase, it's lonely at the top. You know, it's essentially. It is. And you need those people around you because there's only so many things you can discuss with your partner and before they get bored of hearing the same thing day in, day out.

Yeah, I mean, I've written about that so many times because it's so true. And not only do you need someone that you know has got your back and got your best interest at heart, but also someone who's going to ask you the difficult questions, who's going to hold you to account, and your partner or your friends, whatever, can't really do that because they've got your best interests at heart. But they, you know, they don't have that kind of business aspect to the relationship as well.

I think you're right. And, you know, for every fantastic decision we make in business, there's probably like five bad ones behind it or wrong or wrong decisions behind it. And actually, if you've got people who are not afraid to tell you that something's not a good idea or you've made the wrong decision, that's important. And for you to realize yourself is probably more important and to be able to stand up and say, that was not a good idea. But if you've got those people who will tell you as well and you listen and you listen to them. That's the other thing. Listening is crucial in all of this, then it is. I think that's what's helped create the business I've got today really. And to sort of make it a bit of a game changer for me.

Yeah. And talk us. Another thing that you've done is you've put an SLT or a senior leadership team in place. So tell us about that and how it works and what impact that's having.

So I think the, when you look at the different models of how businesses are created and how leaders exit businesses, it's almost like you sort of, you build up this portfolio of directors that essentially you will make you redundant in the end or you know, sort of make it that you've actually got nothing to do. And I think having an SLT in terms of direct, strategically directing the business is a linchpin for what we've created today in capsule. So bringing in a combination of external, I suppose non exec directors, combining that with a leadership team that are actually running the business as well. So like myself and our operations director. And then I think the other great thing that the SLT does is actually bring. It creates this level of aspiration for the people that work in the business as well to actually move into a more senior role. Because everyone has development, everyone's on a journey of development I think, and growth, including myself. And that will never end. And for me creating that structure where people can see a clear path of growth and opportunity and development for themselves is part, is part of my plan really to create this self running agency.

Yeah. And you know that the, the SLT gets together once a month and I think it forces all of you to, well, for everybody to do some prep work for it, but it also forces you to sort of put the pause button on the day to day craziness and just stop and take a breath and say, hey guys, are we investing our energy in the right way? And are we all on the same page? Are we all clear about our priorities for the next month? And then everyone can go back and get on with their work and know that, you know, we're all heading in the same direct direction and we have a bigger picture vision that we are focused on implementing in that slt.

I mean what's been quite interesting for me is if I go back 25 years I sat on SLTS in the large organization I worked in and it's really strange because it's not like I'd forgotten all of those things because things come back to me very quickly. But really moving into a creative world from a corporate world, I sort of left a lot of that stuff behind because you focused on the, you know, working directly with a client and delivering on projects and doing creative work and to sort of go back to this whole building this system, these systems and building this structure. It's not alien to me, but I, you know, for me, it's definitely something that has made the business what it is today and allowed me to do what I want to do.

Yeah, it's interesting that some people feel like those two things are oil and water, like creative work is stifled by systems. And of course, that's not true. Or in fact, if you put the right structures and systems in place, they aid creative work. They don't get in the way of it. But of course, if you put the wrong ones in place, then they do become bureaucratic and. And they are all in water. So tell us a bit about your future plans, like where are you in this journey and where do you want to be by whatever the end game looks like, you know, just over the next year or so.

So obviously continue to grow the slt. So I've got. I have a plan with terms of the people that are working in the business. I very, very much see my role as aiding their development to allow me to sort of have this freedom to go away and focus on my career as a visual artist. But for that to happen, I have to be. I'm there to support them now over the next 12 months, you know, all the senior people in the business have access to an external mentor so that they can have conversations. And, you know, the mentors are there and they're handpicked based on the development needs of each of those people. So I suppose in a year's time, you know, that I want to be more focused on my art. The business will continue to run itself. I mean, the things that have changed just in the last year, really, you know, I used to have a list, a to do list of about 30 or 40 items I'd work on each day. That's like five or six items now. And encouraging people to be more pragmatic, more autonomous in terms of what they're doing has been probably one of the biggest challenges for us. But once people know that you trust them and you trust them to make mistakes as well as get things right, they do flourish and they fly. So I suppose my focus is about keeping the development and growth of these people to create the agency of the future. Really?

Yeah. I think as an entrepreneur, it can be an anathema to us to let go and relinquish control and actually know, actually believe that other people can do things as well or better than us. Because of course, we all think we're, you know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs are very controlling and they're very alpha type characters, so they believe they're right. And so we have to learn to change that behavior. Because I always say what got you to where you got in the first few years becomes the thing that gets in your way to growth further down the line. So what advice would you have for an agency owner who might be listening to this? They might have three or four staff, they may be listening to this and thinking, God, what Simon's done is amazing. I wish I could get there. What advice would you have to them if they're today completely entrenched in their client work still and the operations, what advice would you give them?

I think the big piece of advice is trust your people. And I suppose it's have high expectations of them. The things that people can achieve when you give them free rein just is incredible. And I think one of the biggest issues for business owners, particularly smaller business owners, is putting your trust in your team and thinking that they can't get it right or I'll always get it right, that's what I would do. And invest in them, invest in their development, invest in your trust of them and then you will see things change. That's exactly how I've done it.

Yeah. Let me just be awkward and devil's advocate for a moment and say someone again might be listening to this and going, well, Simon actually did that. And they proved me right that I shouldn't delegate because they screwed it up and I had to jump in and rescue the situation. I mean, we've probably all been there in that situation. So if someone again is that small agency, they've tried to delegate, but they've had to to kind of launch themselves back into rescue a situation, what would you say to them?

Well, again, it's trusting them to resolve things that aren't right. I think a lot of business owners, and I've worked with them as well, and business people feel like they need to. Some people set people up to fail so they can ride in on their white charger and put things right. It's never a great, great way to lead. And I think that, you know, sit down with people and say, okay, this hasn't gone to Plan, how are we going to resolve it next time? They'll have the answers. You know, if somebody's, if somebody's made a mistake, if somebody has not got something right, they'll know why they got it wrong and they'll know what they. What they're not going to do next time. So, you know, it's giving those people space to get it wrong because it will happen and actually knowing that that's going to happen as well and then getting them to resolve it.

Yeah. And I think my advice would be hire the best people you can absolutely afford, because you can't make someone, you can't trust someone to do something if they don't have the skills to do it. You've got to, like you said earlier, you've got to upskill them and give them training. So I would say hire the best you can afford and then don't talk.

Yeah.

Don't tolerate poor performance for too long. Do something about it. So if you've genuinely got the wrong person in your business, then do something about it. But I think your advice on letting people make mistakes within a sort of controlled environment and learning and let people do it their way is also, you know, good advice that too many people don't follow.

I think that's right, Rob. And business owners generally are there big. You know, they're in that position because they've generally got good instincts and they get things and they can see opportunities. Think about people like that as well. And, you know, when a person is good and you know, when that person is right for your business, of course, we all make mistakes on that one. But ultimately surround yourself with the best people you can. Surround yourself with people who are more skilled than you and surround yourself with people who are cleverer than you and, you know, all the things that you can't do, then that's how businesses flourish, I think. And I, I've seen business people over the years not hiring people because they might be, you know, they might have a bigger skill set than them and they don't want to feel threatened. But I've never thought like that. I'd, you know, the people have to be people that have skills that I don't have and, you know, enough in many ways are better at some things than me.

So, yeah, I think one of the mistakes people make is they often recruit in their like, so they recruit people they feel comfortable with. But sometimes we need to recruit people that we are challenged by and like you say, no more than us, and maybe pushing their boundaries a bit, which we find uncomfortable. But that's how you grow and that's how you move forward. So I think that's all really, really good advice. My last question before we wrap today's episode up is if you could go back in time and give younger Simon just starting out in business a piece of advice, what would it be?

Gosh, I think have no limits really for what you want to achieve. Lots of people, they're failed by the education system, they give up. And for me that doesn't mean anything because some of the best people I employ have been in that position. I have myself and whatever I've wanted to do, I've always gone and worked really hard to get it and nothing has stopped me doing that. And I've always, always got what I wanted, but I've always pivoted and my career has been quite zigzag. I've moved across different things. Try things, don't be afraid to do them, but always go after the goal and don't make it money, make it happiness and, you know, something that you're really passionate about and the money will follow.

Absolutely. You take the words out my mouth. That's good, good piece of advice. And you know, I guess when we're younger we're influenced by lots of people who are putting the mitts on us. Our parents or our teachers or whoever it is who are saying, oh, you can't do that, that's too risky. But you know, hey, we just, you know, we did it anyway and we're still here to tell the tale. So. So if people wanted to find out a bit more about you, maybe your exhibition and also obviously capsule marketing as well, where would they go?

So the best way is to go to Simoniser.co.uk and you'll be able to find all three of my websites there. Capsule marketing, my current project, David Come Home, which is all about an astronaut who's been living on another planet in the future, and my general photography website, warning shot. So. Simoniser.co.uk.

Okay, so we'll include that link in the show notes and just want to say a big thank you for joining us today and sharing your story and hopefully inspiring some people to make some changes and do a few things differently so they too can start building their own self running agency.

Pleasure. Good luck everyone.