Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and Pricing for Web Agencies - ConvergeSE 2014

Let's face it—most of us running web shops did not study business. We just love building things, so we started companies where we could build on our own terms. Unfortunately, being a great builder of web things does not necessarily equip us to make sound business decisions.
Co-managing Sparkbox the past five years, I've made plenty of mistakes. From an operations and pricing perspective, let's discuss what didn't work and what is working for us at Sparkbox. We'll talk about different pricing strategies, work estimates, and how we run business operations. My hope is that you can learn from our mistakes—and our successes.
This will be a brutally honest discussion, so please come armed with questions.

Transcript

1. Rob Harr
   Let's Be Brutally Honest
   About Operations and 

   Pricing for Web Agencies
   @robertharr
   

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2. Hello!!
   

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5. I AM NOT A LAWYER!
   This is really small print that Rob Harr is not a lawyer. All of the things
   that he says should be checked with an actual lawyer who know what
   the heck they are doing. This is not a time that I would suggest that
   you “Better call Saul”.
   

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6. Let’s talk about you.
   

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7. Let’s talk about money.
   $$$$$$
   

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8. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

   Pricing for Web Agencies
   HUMBLE
   BEGINNINGS
   

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9. Writing the codes.
   

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10. FORGE
    

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11. Employee #1
    

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12. Failure?
    

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16. Q1 2014
    

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17. Q2 2014??
    

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18. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

    Pricing for Web Agencies
    Operations
    

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19. What is operations?
    

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21. Figure out what
    you make,
    then spend less
    than that!
    

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23. It is all about cash flow.
    

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24. Most of our costs
    are fairly consistent and
    predictable.
    

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25. Micro-Cash flow
    

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28. Freedom is not free
    

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29. 6 months
    

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30. Business Forecasting
    

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32. People who work
    
    on the business
    People who work
    
    in the business
    

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33. Ben
    Rob
    Jeremy
    Tarr
    Ethan
    Adam
    Ryan
    
    Ryann
    JMack
    Patrick
    Emily
    Marshall
    
    Philip
    Mike
    Dom
    Jody
    Drew
    Jän
    
    Neil
    
    

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34. Employee Expectations
    

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35. Contractors vs Employees
    

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36. It is about the journey.
    

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38. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

    Pricing for Web Agencies
    Pricing
    

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39. Fixed Pricing
    

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40. Hourly Pricing
    

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41. Value Pricing
    

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42. There is no right answer!
    

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44. Hourly
    

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45. Initial Engagements
    

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46. $165
    

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47. Collaborative Pricing
    

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49. 20% Deposit
    

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50. Weekly invoices
    

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51. Work for hire.
    

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52. Luck smells like
    perspiration.
    

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54. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

    Pricing for Web Agencies
    SOME
    GOOD IDEAS
    

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55. Know your terms.
    

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56. Find a Geoff.
    

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57. Get a line of credit before
    you need it.
    

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58. Get professional help!
    

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59. Know your legal
    documents.
    

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60. http://msabundle.com/
    

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61. Find some owner friends.
    

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62. Train your clients to think
    about your pricing model.
    

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63. Have difficult
    conversations about
    budgets.
    

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64. Decide as a team what
    parts of a project should
    be experimented with.
    

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65. Some of the people
    you hire will leave.
    

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66. Know your price
    multiplier.
    

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67. Track your time.
    

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68. Increase your rates.
    

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69. Find better clients.
    

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70. Plan for taxes all year long.
    

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71. Save your cash.
    

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72. There are no shortcuts.
    

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73. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

    Pricing for Web Agencies
    WHAT NOT
    TO DO
    

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74. Discounts for early
    payment.
    

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75. Negotiate your rates.
    

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76. Negotiate your rates.
    Maybe?
    

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77. Be afraid to fire clients.
    

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78. Expect your clients to
    grow with you.
    

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79. Ignore taxes until tax time.
    

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80. Let's Be Brutally Honest About Operations and 

    Pricing for Web Agencies
    WRAP IT UP
    

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81. No one should be able to
    dictate the terms in which
    you do business.
    

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82. Rob’s two basic rules for
    happiness in business:
    

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83. Rule 1:
    Life is too short to work
    with people you hate.
    

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84. Rule 2:
    If you ever become
    annoyed by a client, it is
    only because you are not
    charging them enough
    money.
    

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85. The real secret to what
    little success we have had
    at Sparkbox.
    

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86. Confidence
    

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87. Questions?
    

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88. THANKS!
    @robertharr
    rob@heysparkbox.com
    

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