Why So Many Agencies Stall at £1m and 10 People
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the same conversation repeatedly with agency founders.
Different agencies. Different sectors. Different levels of ambition.
Same sticking point.
They’re trying to break the £1m revenue barrier.
They’re trying to grow beyond 8–10 people.
And they’re stuck.
When you strip away the surface-level explanations, the market, the economy, the clients, the team, the same underlying issues show up again and again.
In almost every case, one (or more) of the following is true:
The agency is too complex
The agency is poorly positioned
The agency is too cheap.
Let’s unpack each… because this trio explains why so many agencies plateau.
1. You’re Too Complex
Most agencies don’t fail because they can’t do enough.
They fail because they’re trying to do too much.
Too many services.
Too many propositions.
Too many audience segments.
Too many “we could do that as well” decisions.
Complexity creeps in quietly. It often looks like growth at first.
But complexity kills scale.
When everything is bespoke:
Delivery becomes fragile
Onboarding slows down
Quality becomes inconsistent
Founders become bottlenecks.
Instead of building a business, you’re running a series of exceptions.
To grow beyond 10 people, you don’t need more capability, you need a machine.
A machine that:
Does a small number of things exceptionally well
Has repeatable processes
Can be understood and executed by others
Doesn’t rely on heroics or founder intervention.
Simplification isn’t a downgrade.
It’s the prerequisite for scale.
2. You’re Poorly Positioned
If you sell everything to everyone, you end up selling nothing to no one.
This is harsh, but it’s true.
Many agencies can’t clearly answer:
What do we actually stand for?
Who are we specifically for?
Why should someone choose us over anyone else?
If a prospect has to work hard to understand your value, they won’t.
Strong positioning means that the right people immediately recognise themselves in your message.
“These are the people for me.”
Clear positioning answers three questions succinctly:
Who you work with
What problem you solve for them
Why you’re meaningfully different.
Without this clarity:
Sales cycles drag
Referrals dry up
Marketing becomes noisy rather than effective.
You don’t need to be everything.
You need to be the obvious choice for someone.
3. You’re Too Cheap
This one makes people uncomfortable, but it matters.
Many agencies simply don’t charge enough.
Not enough to:
Cover the true cost of delivery
Invest in leadership
Build management layers
Improve systems and tooling
Create breathing room.
Low pricing traps you in survival mode.
You’re busy.
You’re stretched.
You’re firefighting.
And because margins are thin, every problem feels existential.
Pricing isn’t just about what clients will pay.
It’s about whether the business is worth running.
Your pricing and packaging should:
Be compelling for the client
Reflect the value you create
Generate enough margin to reinvest.
If growth makes life harder instead of easier, pricing is often the root cause.
Usually, It’s Not Just One
Here’s the uncomfortable truth.
Most agencies stuck at this level aren’t suffering from a single issue.
They’re:
Complex and poorly positioned
Cheap and operationally messy
Or all three at once.
Which is why pushing harder doesn’t work.
More leads won’t fix broken positioning.
More staff won’t fix complexity.
More hustle won’t fix bad economics.
The constraint isn’t effort.
It’s design.
The Real Question to Ask Yourself
If you’re struggling to break through the £1m or 10-person barrier, ask yourself honestly:
Where are we unnecessarily complex?
How clear is our positioning really?
Are we pricing for sustainability or survival?
Growth isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing less, better… with clarity, confidence, and commercial discipline.
That’s the work.
And until it’s addressed, most agencies will keep running into the same ceiling, no matter how talented they are.