Why Most Agencies Don’t Have Power- And What to Do About It
Here’s a brutal truth: if your agency relies on hustle, heroics, or hope, you’re not building a business - you’re running a high-stakes treadmill.
You might be winning clients, growing revenue, or even collecting awards. But chances are, you don’t have Power.
Not the real, structural, compounding kind. The kind that makes competitors irrelevant, clients stickier, and margins fatter. The kind that makes your business scalable, saleable, and strategic.
So what is “Power,” and why does it matter? Let’s break it down.
Understanding Power: The 7 Powers Framework
Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers model isn’t just another positioning tool or marketing acronym. It’s a strategic lens asking one simple question:
Why do customers keep choosing you — and why can’t your competitors stop them?
If your answer is “because we do great work” or “because of our people,” you’re missing the point.
According to Helmer, Power exists only when your agency meets three conditions:
It delivers real benefit to customers.
It’s hard for competitors to replicate.
It lasts over time without constant reinvention.
Most agencies fail one or more of these tests. Let’s look at the seven types of Power and why most agencies don’t have them… yet.
1. Scale Economies: Size That Actually Helps
What it is: Larger volume reduces cost per unit, giving you pricing advantage and higher margins.
Why agencies fail: Growth usually comes through adding people, not standardizing output. Work is bespoke, delivery varies, and more clients often mean more complexity — slower results, bloated management, and thinner margins.
When it works: Productized offers, templated delivery, and internal systems create repeatable efficiency. Think SEO packages, design sprints, or onboarding toolkits delivered consistently.
2. Network Economies: Value Grows With Use
What it is: More users make your product more valuable for every user (think Uber or LinkedIn).
Why agencies struggle: Work is confidential, insights stay siloed, and client knowledge doesn’t transfer.
Possible path: Some agencies build shared benchmarks, proprietary dashboards, or internal datasets that turn knowledge into compounding value. But real network effects in agencies are rare.
3. Counter-Positioning: The Boldest (and Most Achievable) Play
What it is: A business model your competitors can’t copy without hurting themselves.
Why it matters: This is the most accessible Power for agencies - if you’re willing to be bold.
Examples: Fixed-fee, productized strategy offers; AI-first delivery models; execution-only agencies. Anything that forces legacy firms into an existential crisis if they try to follow.
Most agencies stick to hourly rates, vague retainers, and “full-service” offerings. Structural advantage comes from changing the model, not the font.
4. Switching Costs: Make Clients Stay
What it is: When leaving your agency creates real friction — financial, operational, or emotional.
The trap: Agencies assume relationships alone are enough. They’re not. Structural switching costs require platform dependencies, embedded workflows, custom integrations, proprietary data, or unique IP.
If a client can replace you in under three weeks, you don’t have Power… you’re just a line item.
5. Brand: The “Soft” Power That Still Bites
What it is: Price premium and trust based on mental availability.
Misunderstanding: Brand isn’t design. It’s a client’s shortcut for choosing you.
Brand Power works when you:
Own a narrow category
Show consistent proof
Deliver a distinct POV
If your site reads like everyone else’s (“We’re creative, strategic, results-driven…”), you’re blending into the noise.
6. Cornered Resource: The One Thing Only You Can Get
What it is: Control something scarce and valuable others can’t access — talent, IP, licenses, or partnerships.
In agencies: Rare, but possible. Exclusive partnerships, licensed tech, unique datasets, or a founder’s audience are examples. Your “awesome team” isn’t enough. Protect what’s unique.
7. Process Power: The Engine Behind the Curtain
What it is: Internal systems that create structural advantage - speed, accuracy, and margins others can’t match.
What it’s not: A project management tool or half-documented SOPs.
Real process power: Makes complex work look effortless, builds reliability clients can’t replicate, and boosts margins without adding headcount.
The Hard Truth: Most Agencies Don’t Have Power
They have presence, personality, or persistence - which works… until it doesn’t.
When founders burn out, leads dry up, margins erode, or clients churn, the lack of Power shows.
Power is how you stop reacting and start leading.
Building Power, Step by Step
You don’t need all seven Powers. Most enduring agencies have one or two.
Here’s how to start:
Audit your structural advantage
What real edge do we have?
Would it exist without the founder?
Can competitors replicate it in 12 months?
Pick a Power to focus on
Counter-positioning if you’re bold
Process Power if operationally mature
Brand if you have time and proof
Commit to structural difference
Work differently, not harder. Build leverage so your agency grows easier over time.
The Real Shift
Agency owners who build Power move from:
Operator → Owner
Doing the work → Building an asset
Short-term wins → Enduring advantage
Confidence comes from the leverage built into your business, not just daily victories.
Final Thought: Power Ends Hustle
If your strategy depends on:
The founder always selling
Teams working late to hit deadlines
Getting lucky with referrals
…you don’t have a business. You have a fragile machine fueled by anxiety.
Power flips that. It’s calm. Repeatable. Compounding.
Stop solving for “more sales.” Start solving for:
Why clients stay
Why competitors can’t follow
Why your business makes money even when you’re not in the room
That’s Power. And that’s what we help agencies build every day at GYDA.
No fluff. No gimmicks. Just transformation.
Want to chat about it? Email me on Janusz@gyda.co
