A few weeks ago, I had 40 notebooks sitting on my event supply list.
Tomorrow, I’ll get to watch people actually write in them.
I’m one day out from our Agency Together Mastermind Mingler in Vancouver, and right now my world is very specific: name tags, host guides, arrival instructions, a microphone, a projector adapter, and making sure everyone knows which door to use.
It’s not particularly glamorous, but I love this part.
Here’s what I’ve noticed after starting something new more than once: coming alongside an agency owner to build and exit an agency, starting a coaching and consulting practice, facilitating and hosting a community.
Every time, starting small was a phase I went through and that’s just how you start anything.
Where the Vision Actually Lives
There’s always a point where the big idea has to become incredibly practical and practical usually means small actions.
“Let’s create a stronger community for small agency owners” eventually becomes: what happens in the first five minutes when someone walks into the room?
“Let’s have better conversations” becomes: what question should be on the table?
“Let’s help people build meaningful relationships” becomes: who should sit together, and how do we make it easier for them to skip the small talk?
The vision stays exactly as big as it was, but someone still has to decide what happens in those first five minutes, or the community stays an idea instead of becoming a room full of people.
I see the same thing with the agency owners I coach.
For agency owners who want to stop being the bottleneck, that usually means making decisions about what they’re actually willing to let go of.
It might mean handing over work they’ve held onto for years. It might mean trusting a team lead to make decisions without checking every detail first.
Project sign-off is a good example. Instead of the owner being the final set of eyes on everything, the team lead gets the authority to sign off with a few simple rules for when the owner needs to be looped back in.
For someone who wants to get back more time, it might mean making those first few hires, which can be one of the scariest transitions a small agency owner goes through.
Of course, not everyone wants to build their business by building a big team. As someone who has always championed small but mighty agencies, that’s not the direction I think every owner needs to take anyway.
The point isn’t that there’s one right way to grow. It’s getting clear on what you actually want your business to look like, and then being willing to make the decisions that support that version of it.
The owners I work with are smart people. What they often need isn’t more information. It’s someone to help them get clear on the next decision that will actually move the business forward, and the structure and accountability to follow through on it.
A lot of my work right now is helping owners get clearer on the future they actually want, then supporting them through the steps required to build it, especially the ones that feel a little scary.
That’s where the business actually changes: when you can see the next step clearly enough to take it, and you have the support to take it even when it’s the uncomfortable one.
The Notebooks, Again
So yes, this week I’m thinking about 40 notebooks and five plexiglass table signs.
But I’m also thinking about how vision doesn’t only live in the big idea. It lives in all the small decisions you make because you believe in it.
This week, mine happen to look like notebooks, table signs, host guides, seating plans, and deciding what happens in the first five minutes someone walks through the door.
For an agency owner, it might look like handing over project sign-off, making the first hire, changing the way a client is onboarded, or finally letting go of something they’ve been holding too tightly.
Big changes rarely feel big while you’re making them. Most of the time, they look like the next decision in front of you.
