Blog
Insights on agency profitability, operations, and growth.
The 3 Key Financial Metrics for Agency Success, with Jon Morris– Ep. 187
About this Episode In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel chats with Jon Morris—CEO of Fiscal Advocate and creator of EngineBI—about the three most critical financial metrics every agency owner should monitor: cash reserves, profit margin, and year-over-year revenue growth. They break down how having strong cash positions creates strategic optionality (like M&A […]
Why Most Reporting Systems Fail, & What to Do Instead, with Ben Zittlau — Ep.168
About this Episode In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel and Ben dive deep into the challenges agencies face when managing data across multiple tools. They debunk the myth of a “source of truth” system, highlighting why rigid integrations and all-in-one solutions often fall short. Instead, they advocate for a modern data approach—extract, […]
Breaking Down Earned Revenue to Drive Better Agency Decisions, with Ben Zittlau — Ep.166
About this Episode In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel welcomes his business partner and co-founder, Ben Zittlau, to unpack the hidden traps that service-based businesses often fall into when managing their profitability. They explore how relying too heavily on cash flow or revenue as indicators can lead to misguided decisions, like overestimating […]
The Problem with Benchmarking and What to Do Instead — Ep. 162
About this Episode In this solo episode, Marcel tackles a big end-of-year question many agency owners face: Are we performing well? While it’s tempting to compare your agency to industry benchmarks like rates or revenue per FTE, Marcel explains why these absolute metrics are often misleading and rarely provide real answers. Instead, he highlights the […]
Why Managing Ops Data is so Damn Hard…, with Kristen Kelly –Ep. 158
About this Episode In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, the newest addition to the Parakeeto team. Kristen shares her 20 years of agency experience, particularly in account and project management, culminating in her recent passion for operations as a Director of Operations at a startup agency. Together, Marcel and […]
Why You’re Failing at Profitability Reporting — Ep.156
About this Episode In this solo episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel dives deep into the essential principles of designing effective data systems for agencies. Drawing on six years of experience and hundreds of agency collaborations, Marcel unpacks why so many companies struggle to get value from their data. He explores the key elements […]
Getting Your EOS Scorecard Right, with Mark O’Donnell — Ep.148
About this Episode In this episode of the Agency Profit Podcast, Marcel Petitpas is joined by Mark O’Donnell, the visionary leader of EOS Worldwide. Mark delves into the intricacies of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), a framework many businesses, especially agencies, have implemented to streamline operations and achieve their goals. He highlights the importance of […]
Insights Unleashed: Unveiling the Best Agency Reports of the Year
Introduction As we close out 2023, it felt like the right time to look back and review all of the industry reports published throughout the year. There are many to go through, with lots of insightful, but sometimes inconsistent findings. To save you a bit of time and reading, we thought it would be valuable […]
Increasing Agency Profits with Customer Lifetime Value, with Robert Patin – Episode 128
About This Episode The Agency Profit podcast, hosted by Marcel Petitpas, delves into the intricacies of agency operations, making it a must-listen for agency owners and industry enthusiasts. In this episode, Marcel is joined by Robert Patin, a respected consultant, author, and founder of Creative Agency Success. They discuss the critical concept of Client Lifetime […]
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Agency Billable Rates – Ep. 124
Introduction Rates are always a hot topic in the agency space. In this post, we’re going to cover all of the kinds of billable, target and actual rates you may be hearing about, helping you understand how to differentiate between them. Then, we’ll talk about what your rates should be – benchmarking them against what […]
Cost Variance Calculator
A totally free calculator to decipher your project's cost variance & the theory behind it.
Finding Focus in Your Agency, One Metric at a Time, with Ryan Watson – Episode 122
Ryan Watson of Upsourced joins Marcel to discuss the life cycle of an agency and how you can find focus within yours.
