131 Nick Bennett & Erica Schneider: Scale a Microagency Without Hating Your Life

On this episode of Agency Forward, I'm joined by Nick Bennett and Erica Schneider. Nick and Erica run Duo Consulting, an offer design consultancy for solo consultants and small agencies who want to grow past what one person can carry. Nick came up in demand gen at a HubSpot partner agency and was last on the show in episode 75. Erica is a writer and editor who ran her own content business, Cut the Fluff, before the two of them teamed up. I wanted them on because they have put a name and a shape on something a lot of agency owners want and can't describe: a business bigger than a solo practice that never turns into the agency they hated working at. Their version is one offer, one delivery pod of senior people, around 60% margin, and a ceiling the owner picks on purpose. In this episode, we discuss: What makes a microagency, and why it has a ceiling by design Putting contractors across accounts by skill, instead of giving one person everything on one account Variable pay for senior people, and why junior hires dilute the work Why the founder stays on as principal strategist, so the client never gets handed off "When is enough enough?" with clients cruising at $25K, $140K and $330K a month Which services fit the model (demand gen, content) and which fight it (coaching) The revenue wall most solo operators hit between $30K and $50K a month Why the offer comes first: keep the main thing the main thing Writing a book one monthly mini book at a time, and how it became their most cited source of new deals after LinkedIn And more... You can learn more about Nick and Erica on LinkedIn, at DuoConsulting.co, and at How Solos Scale. ----------- No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway. So what's different? The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content. Access to peers who've done it before. Access to experts who've designed solutions. Access to resources that have been battle-tested. And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year. Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow. You can join at dynamicagencyos.com/community. ----------- Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack. We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency. ----------- And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.