One of the hardest things about building a business is that the advice that's right today can become wrong tomorrow.
When we first started, we'd take on whatever mandates came our way.
- Tech. Non-tech.
- Junior roles. Leadership hiring.
- Startups. Corporates.
If someone trusted two founders with a mandate, we said yes. At that stage, survival was the strategy.
You don't optimise.
You don't specialise.
You don't sit around discussing brand, ICPs and market positioning.
You just try to stay in business long enough to see another month.
Then the advice changes.
People tell you to focus.
Pick a niche.
Become known for something.
Stop being everything to everyone.
Over time, we realised we genuinely enjoyed working with technology clients. I came from a tech background. Ravi brought deep TA experience. Jilian brought the delivery rigour. We understood the language, the pace and the problems.
By 2022, we started moving in that direction.
By 2023, we had gone all in.
We stopped taking non-tech mandates. We doubled down on what seemed to be working.
The focus paid off.
The business grew.
Confidence grew with it.
For the first time, it felt like we'd figured this thing out.
Until we hadn't.
- Two of our largest clients exited for reasons beyond our control.
- Around the same time, funding slowed down, layoffs became common and hiring froze across large parts of the ecosystem.
Almost overnight, the rules changed and nearly 80% of our business disappeared.
The same focus that had helped us grow had quietly increased our vulnerability.
𝐈𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.
But this time, we rebuilt differently. The concentration risk wasn't as high.
- We diversified our client base.
- We added new services.
- We started building products.
𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫.
Survival requires one set of decisions.
Growth requires another.
Resilience requires a third.
I think most agency founders spend their careers swinging between these extremes.
Do whatever comes your way.
Focus deeply.
Diversify again.
None of them are universally right.
They're simply right for the stage you're in.
I'm curious.
Which stage are you in today?
Are you trying to survive, trying to grow, or trying to build something resilient enough to outlast both?