Building a thriving marcomms practice goes beyond creative skills—it requires strong business fundamentals. We hosted a webinar presented by Armanino, exploring key strategies for optimizing operations, financial systems, and smart decision-making. Armanino partner Dominic Rovano and director Kelsey Campbell shared insights on how to scale a business effectively, make better financial decisions, build a strong organizational structure, and more. Whether attendees were founders or brand-side professionals, the conversation offered valuable tips for navigating the business side of the marcomms world.

The takeaways: 

• Track budgets and expenses for each client/project to ensure profitability, even for "great" clients that might have hidden costs or scope creep.
• Regularly review client profitability and adjust scope or pricing if necessary.
• Set clear expectations with clients to avoid over-servicing and time drain.
• Use real-time data to inform decisions and respond quickly to issues like losing clients or talent.
• Compare current performance against prior years and budgets to spot trends and make adjustments.
• Use financial data to guide staffing, revenue expectations, and overall business health decisions.
• Track your new business pipeline with a simple tracker to make strategic decisions around labor and investments.
• Incentivize your team to bring in new business through commissions or other incentives.
• Track both incoming and outgoing referrals and nurture these relationships.
• Show appreciation for referrals with gestures like dinner or a bottle of wine to encourage ongoing business.
• Follow up on leads proactively and don’t let weeks pass without action. 
• Consider long-term goals, like succession plans, growth, or equity ownership, and ensure every decision aligns with these goals.
• Be transparent with potential equity owners about the responsibilities and challenges of ownership.
• Protect your brand reputation during growth by ensuring new hires and consultants represent the brand well.
• Engage internal team members early in conversations about potential business ownership and growth.
• Recognize the intrinsic value of your business—clients, reputation, and name—and don’t undervalue what you've built.
• Start simple when forecasting by tracking cash flow by client and category, and build from there.
• Niching down can improve profitability by positioning yourself as an expert in a specific area.
• Define your capacity for growth by understanding how much time you can spend on clients and the revenue needed, and build a basic budget.
• As your agency grows, delegate responsibilities like scope management to avoid burnout.
• Hire financial experts to help with areas outside your expertise as your business scales.

Want to dive in deeper? Armanino is hosting an exclusive roundtable event, 'Strategizing Succession for Creative Leaders,’ in Los Angeles on May 14, 2025. This afternoon session is designed to provide valuable insights on succession planning, growth strategies, and optimizing leadership transitions for creative firms—learn more and register to attend here.