When Building a Product Becomes a Distraction: The Cautionary Tale of “Project Springboard”.

The Agency That Wanted More…

Jake ran a good agency.
Not a unicorn. Not a rocket ship. But solid. Twelve people, steady clients, decent margins, a few awards - the kind that prove you’re doing something right, even if you haven’t “arrived.”

He wasn’t burnt out. Just restless.

Tired of feast and famine.
Tired of selling time.
Tired of fixing fires.

And then, stuck in traffic one Tuesday, the idea hit:

“We should build software.”

The spark became a vision. Recurring revenue. High margins. Scalability. Freedom. Maybe even an exit.

They called it Project Springboard - which turned out to be unintentionally ironic.

The Business Within a Business

It started small.
They scoped features, hired a dev agency, and spent £30k on a prototype.

Then came the slow unravelling.

The first client didn’t get it.
The second found it clunky.
The third wanted a demo, then ghosted.

So they rebuilt. Rebranded. Repriced.

£30k became £100k.
Then £250k.

Meanwhile, the agency groaned under the weight of distraction. Pitches slipped. Hiring froze. Jake was missing stand-ups. Sam, once the people person, was buried in Jira tickets.

But they kept the faith. Because this wasn’t just a tool… it was the future.

The First Warning Sign

At a quarterly meeting, an account manager finally asked:

“I’m a bit confused. Are we a software company now, or still an agency?”

The room went quiet. Because no one really knew.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

By Month 14, they’d spent £1.2 million.
Revenue? £750.
Active clients? One (paused).

Margins had collapsed. Staff were disengaged. Their biggest client was tendering.

The software? Still there. But not alive.

Jake realised, staring at his P&L one night, that it wasn’t a product. It was a monument - to potential, to ego, and to avoidance.

He’d built something to avoid facing what was broken in the agency.

The Realisation

It wasn’t about innovation or IP. It was about avoidance.

Avoiding hard questions like:

• Why are we still founder-reliant?

• Why haven’t we cracked our proposition?

• Why are we undercharging for high-impact work?

• Why aren’t we building a business that’s truly saleable?

The software wasn’t the solution. It was a distraction wearing smarter clothes.

Why So Many Agencies Fall Into the Same Trap

Jake’s story isn’t unusual. We’ve seen it dozens of times.

Good agency. Good founder. Good intentions.

Then the lure of product whispers:

“Software is scalable. Services aren’t. Recurring revenue equals freedom.”

But here’s the truth: building a product inside a service business doesn’t create freedom… it doubles the chaos.

Because what most founders actually want isn’t software. It’s a business that doesn’t depend on them.

When Should You Build IP?

You absolutely can - but not like Jake did.

Here’s how to do it right:

1. Start with internal IP

Not code - consideration.
Process. Methodology. Frameworks.
What do you already do that clients value? Document it. Refine it. Own it.

2. Validate inside your agency

Run it manually. Sell it. Build demand before you build tech.

3. Don’t call it a product yet

Call it a framework or system. If it’s valuable, clients will ask for more.

4. Only productise what already sells

If you’re not already making money from it, you’re gambling, not investing.

5. Be honest about your motives

If you’re building software to escape your agency’s pain points, fix the agency first.

The Aftermath

Six months later, Jake shut Springboard down. No sale. No pivot. Just closure.

It hurt - financially, emotionally, reputationally.
But it was the best decision he made.

He went back to basics:

• Clarified positioning

• Doubled pricing

• Rebuilt culture

• Stepped out of delivery

• Codified internal frameworks

Revenue rose. Margins recovered. The team re-engaged.

He’s not out of the woods, but he’s back on the right mountain.

And when another founder asked if they should build a product, Jake smiled and said:

“Start by building a business that doesn’t need one.”

The Real Lesson

We’re not anti-product. But we are anti-distraction.

You don’t need software to find freedom - you need a strategic, structured agency that works without you.

At GYDA, we help agency leaders build exactly that.

Want to chat about it? Email me on Janusz@gyda.co