Ep 31: Why Most Agencies Fail at Finance (and What to Do Instead) with Eli Rubel of Profit Labs

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Start small, grow fast: Eli’s journey from solo consultant to $4.2M EBITDA agency shows the power of strategic hiring and rapid iteration.
• Agencies break at scale: Key breakpoints tend to hit around 15 and 30 employees, requiring serious process and structural overhauls.
• Don’t delay hard decisions: When it’s time to cut team size, do it decisively and all at once.
• Track time early: Even small agencies should implement time tracking — not for surveillance, but to build the data you’ll need to scale intelligently.
• Monitor client health: Set up per-client dashboards with gross margin and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) to avoid churn and spot profitability issues.
• When things crash, pivot creatively: Eli launched No Boring Design after the 2022 tech downturn to creatively reuse his design team — that move led to another 7-figure business.
• Financial visibility is everything: Profit Labs offers agency-specific financial insights to help founders make smarter, data-driven decisions.

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