In this presentation, Eric Deeran explains why most agency owners are running a "job" rather than a true business. He defines a job as a model where revenue stops when the owner stops working, relying on personal reputation, skills, and ad‑hoc client work. A real business, by contrast, runs on a brand, auto‑renewing contracts, SOPs, and a team that can deliver without the owner, generating revenue even when the owner is absent. Deeran outlines three concrete fixes to transform a job into a business: (1) create recurring revenue through 5‑10 retainers; (2) outsource sales to a hired closer who can close deals without the owner’s involvement; (3) systematize delivery with SOPs, editors, project managers, and videographers so the team can operate independently. He emphasizes that these changes unlock freedom, leverage, and the ability to build a sellable asset. The talk ends with a call‑to‑action inviting agency owners to apply for his program, noting they have helped over 828 agency owners achieve these results.
Chapters
You built a job, not a business. And here's how to know. If you disappeared for 6 months, would your business still exist? Because a lot of times what you think you have and what a business actually is are two completely separate things. What you have right now is you have your reputation, you have clients who like you because you're you, you have skills that are in your head that aren't templated out, and you have revenue that comes in when you put in the work, which unfortunately means that when you stop working, you make $0. What an actual business has is a a brand that operates without you, contracts that auto-renew without you having to do the work, SOPs that any hire can manage, meaning you can teach anybody what is in your head and how to do it so anybody can do your work for you, which equals revenue while you're not working because you have a team of people working for you. This means that your business is still running no matter how much work or time you put in. One is completely based on your time and effort, and another one is based on the systems that you have built, because if the business is you, you own nothing. Every decision that kept you at the center of this business has actually built a cage with your name on it. And here's the best way to know. Which box are you in? If you have a job, revenue stops when you stop. You can't take a real vacation without bringing your laptop or your phone or checking Slack all the time. You have to close every single sales call yourself, and growth means that you are working more hours and you're terrified of burning out because you're working most of the hours that you're awake every single day. A business means that revenue runs while you sleep. You have people doing the jobs for you. You have people taking sales calls. You have an actual marketing system to bring in new leads. This means if you want to take 3 weeks off, you can, and you'll come back to the business continuously growing. You have a closer that takes the calls for you, somebody who handles all the sales calls. And in this phase, growth means that you're just adding more headcount, more people, not actual hours. And this equals an asset that you can eventually sell one day. A job is worth nothing because when you stop working, it's worth zero. A business is actually worth something because you're building a sellable asset of people and teams and systems that operate without you being involved. But unfortunately, most agency owners built a job. But I will show you 3 ways to fix this. Number 1, you need recurring revenue, meaning you need 5 to 10 retainers, money that's coming in with or without you doing all the work. Number 2, you need sales without you, meaning that a closer can run your calls, you review the calls, and they can close revenue without you being involved. When this first happened in my business, it was a game changer. I was almost amazed that somebody else could close deals for my business besides me. And it's such a great feeling when you can hire someone to do the sales for you. Number 3 is delivery without you. This means you have SOPs, editors, project managers, and videographers doing the work for you, and all of them are operating off of SOPs and systems of how they should be operating. Because when you can do this, you unlock freedom, leverage, and security in a business that you actually love at the end of the day. And if you want our help doing this, you can click the link below, apply to work with us. We've worked with over 828 agency owners to do exactly this so they can grow their agency without hating their agency and actually enjoy their life in the process.
