Aligning personal and business goals
Your agency exists to deliver your goals. Do you know what they are?
Why do you do what you do? Not "great people, great work, great clients" — that describes almost every agency ever started. Why did you go into business in the first place? Why do you run it now? And, most importantly, where do you want to go?
These are the first questions I ask any agency owner, because the answers should be the north star for everything else.
It's easy to get so caught up in the day to day that you lose sight of why you started and what you want to achieve. Without that direction, owners end up working ever-longer hours, juggling more to keep staff and clients happy, and still not making money. Then one day they wake up and wonder what the grind has all been for.
Ultimately, your business is there to deliver your personal goals. That might be buying a house in the country in five years, working four days a week to spend more time with family, or having the headspace to focus on your craft.
Whatever they are, take time at least once a year to reflect on them, write them down and align the agency to deliver them.
It doesn't need to be a long exercise, but it gives you a reference point for every future decision. If something you're doing isn't moving you towards your goals, it probably isn't worth doing.