The Hidden Trap Holding Your Agency Back
Let me tell you a story.
There was an agency owner I’ll call TJ.
TJ did everything for everyone. SEO. PPC. Web design. Strategy. Social. CRO. You name it.
More importantly, he didn’t just do everything… he did it for anyone who would pay.
Sound familiar?
Most founders don’t think this is them. But if we’re honest, there’s usually a bit of TJ in all of us.
He believed that offering more services to more people meant more revenue.
In reality, it meant:
Complexity
Endless competition
Long sales cycles
Margin pressure
Zero differentiation.
Clients compared TJ’s agency to every other agency. He was “another option.” Procurement conversations turned into pricing wars. Sales dragged on. Win rates were inconsistent.
And despite working hard, very hard, progress stalled.
This is the hidden trap.
More services do not equal more growth.
More markets do not equal more opportunity.
It usually equals more noise.
The Turning Point: The Star Principle
Then, TJ discovered the Star Principle from Richard Koch.
The idea is simple… and uncomfortable.
Instead of being generous in breadth, be dominant in focus.
Instead of serving everyone, serve one.
Instead of being “a good agency,” become the agency.
TJ stopped trying to cover the entire landscape.
He chose a niche.
Then he narrowed it further.
Then further still.
A niche within a niche.
A specific subset of a manufacturing field.
Suddenly, everything changed.
Clients started seeking him out
Sales cycles shortened
Pricing strengthened
Referrals improved
Scaling became simpler.
Why?
Because he wasn’t competing with everyone anymore.
He owned something.
The Reality Most Agencies Avoid
The most successful agencies we see don’t win because they’re bigger.
They win because they’re clearer.
They dominate one high-growth niche.
Not just participating in it.
Owning it.
When someone in that market asks, “Who should we speak to?” the answer is immediate.
You want to be the undisputed leader in a clearly defined, fast-growing niche.
Not one of the five options.
Not one of twenty.
The one.
The Three Questions That Matter
If your agency feels stuck around a revenue plateau, or you’re hovering in that complexity zone between 8–15 people, ask yourself three hard questions:
1. Are You in a Fast-Growing Market?
This is non-negotiable.
If you’re in a stagnant or declining market, you are swimming upstream.
You cannot outwork structural decline.
Look honestly at your sector.
Look at the subset you serve.
Look at how your positioning sits within it.
Is it growing? Ideally, rapidly?
If not, the strategic move may not be “optimise operations.”
It may be “change market.”
2. Are You the Clear Leader in That Niche?
Not “one of the best.”
Not “highly regarded.”
Clear leader.
When your name is mentioned, does it immediately signal authority in that space?
Or are you still explaining what you do and why you’re different?
Leadership in a niche shows up in:
Case studies that all look related
Messaging that feels specific
Referrals that cluster in one vertical
Content that speaks the industry’s language fluently.
If you’re still broad, you’re invisible.
3. Are You Pricing on Equity, or Competing on Price?
This is where many agencies fall apart.
If you’re interchangeable, you’ll be price-compared.
If you’re dominant, you’ll be equity-priced.
When you own a niche, clients don’t buy hours.
They buy insight.
They buy pattern recognition.
They buy certainty.
That’s what commands premium pricing.
The Hard Truth
Growth through expansion feels safe.
“We’ll just add another service.”
“We’ll just open another vertical.”
“We’ll just hire another specialist.”
But breadth is usually camouflage for lack of strategic clarity.
Depth wins.
Focus wins.
Dominance wins.
The agencies that break through revenue ceilings are rarely the most capable across everything.
They’re the most relevant in something.
So Here’s the Real Question
Which niche will you own?
Not dabble in.
Not test.
Own.
Because the hidden trap isn’t capability.
It’s complexity.
And until you choose clarity over coverage, your agency will stay busy, but stuck.