How do you rapidly scale a profitable agency in just two years?

Vicky Hope is Co-Founder & CEO at LOOP Agencies. In only two years, they’ve grown to 15 people and are on track to double in size over the next year.

In this episode, Vicky shares how she:

• Used half their original funding to pre-book a Christmas party for a team that didn’t yet exist - giving them something to aim for
• Resigned a disrespectful client in the early days, even though that client was funding the business
• Encourages brilliant work by challenging everyone to be bored with the status quo and excited by tackling hard problems
• Awards spot bonuses privately to acknowledge the small, behind-the-scenes actions that go above and beyond
• Transitioned to an employee-owned business model (EOT) after just two years
• Is already building the next level of leadership to enable succession planning, creating an exit path for herself and her co-founder

Vicky embeds the mantra "It won’t fail because of me" throughout the business, ensuring everyone understands their role in the company’s success.

How do you scale an agency in an industry you’ve never worked in?

Anant Sharma is CEO & Founder at Matter of Form, a design consultancy that works primarily with luxury brands. Over the past 15 years, he’s grown the business to a $10m turnover.

In this episode, Anant shares how he:

• Evolved from being a busy fool with a growth-at-all-costs mentality to fostering a safe, calm culture for his team
• Runs a ‘Know Your Client’ initiative to ensure his team is always aligned with clients’ business goals
• Bought a Design Thinking School so his team could double down on L&D and contribute to teaching
• Invests in business support roles, allowing him to focus on what matters most
• Offers executive coaching to all senior team members
• Uses self-deprecation to encourage everyone to be their true selves

Anant aspires for Matter of Form to be a place where people can transform, allowing them to buy into the company and making it a memorable, important part of their career journey.

How do you launch and scale a business with an average employee age of 24?

Alex Bodini is Co-Founder & Group CEO at Spin, a creative-first social agency. Over 9 years, he's grown the business to 75 people.

In this episode, Alex shares how he:

• Uses the High Challenge, High Support framework to drive supportive performance growth
• Takes on the role of 'Chief Repeating Officer' when introducing new concepts to the business
• Has invested in a 'professionalising the business' initiative for the past 2 years, bringing in senior talent to shape structures and processes
• Shifted the business from being a stepping-stone employer to a destination employer
• Focuses on creating enough headroom for all their talent to continue growing
• Acquired other agencies and worked to integrate their operations and cultures

Alex uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to guide everything they do, from setting Rocks to running Level 10 Meetings, and assessing the team regularly with the People Analyser.