How to become a more profitable agency

Increase revenue, improve your margins – without piling on more stress. Discover the key levers for driving lasting profitability in your agency.

The problem

Why agency work eats into your profits

Agencies today are under immense pressure: economic uncertainty, shrinking client budgets, and mounting competition.
If you don’t actively manage profitability, these common pitfalls can arise:

Margins are squeezed

Admin overhead spirals

Teams are too stretched

Billable hours go unclaimed

Client relationships suffer

The outcome? Profits end up lost in the shuffle – even when the agency is busy and working hard.

The situation

Biggest barriers to agency profitability

The solution

How to achieve agency profitability

Profitability doesn’t happen by accident – it’s the result of focusing on the right priorities. Here’s how to set your agency up for profit:

‍

Prioritise high-value work

Make sure your team spends as much time as possible on billable, client-focused tasks – not lost in meetings or admin.

➡️ Cut unnecessary meetings and set clear daily priorities
➡️ Regularly reveal how much time is truly spent on client work
➡️ Question every task’s contribution to your agency’s success

Tools for creative teams, such as awork, help you to get the full picture of where work is allocated.

Know where time & resources go

Build an honest, data-driven picture of your team’s workload and spot both overload and unused capacity.

➡️ Track time consistently and review utilisation regularly
➡️ Schedule projects with buffers for the unexpected
➡️ Use key metrics like utilisation and billability rates to guide decisions

With solutions like awork, times and resources are always up-to-date.

Streamline with smart routines

Standardise workflows and simplify collaboration so more time is spent on what matters.

➡️ Set up clear processes for tasks, feedback, and approvals
➡️ Centralise communication and reduce manual coordination
➡️ Automate repeatable tasks and use templates wherever possible

These automations can be easily implemented and customised with agency tools like awork.

Crash Course

Dive deeper into profitability

Free Online Course

Discover 3 levers for more profitability

Our free crash course offers practical tips and a complete profitability checklist.

The result

See your profits grow

Higher utilisation

Make the most of your team's potential

Instantly see your team’s workload – and take on new projects without risking burnout.

No wasted resources

Tasks always land with the right person

More billable hours

All hours in one place

Time tracking is built into your workflow. No more lost hours – and a clear boost to revenue.

No more tool chaos or missing info

Full overview over billable hours

Less admin overhead

More value, less overhead

Spend less time coordinating, more time delivering real value. Automated processes mean greater efficiency – and healthier margins.

Less time lost to coordination

Processes that get smarter with every project

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More than 4,000 teams love awork

Frequently asked

questions

answers

Mike Krenzien

Project Manager at Digital Apes

I've been a project manager for over 14 years, and it feels like I've been searching for a proper digital solution for just as long. We now found that solution with awork.

Simon Miller

Founder/CEO at smarterPresence

The efficient workflows and project-related communications facilitated by awork are undoubtedly the best.

Swea von Mende

CEO at von Mende

My team is truly excited about awork. We've tested other tools and were not as happy, but now we’ve found genuine relief and support for everyone.

Stefan Kessels

CEO at foxwork

We chose awork because it offers a wealth of features, outshining all the free project management tools while remaining highly flexible. Additionally, it was important to us that our tool of choice receives regular updates.