Launching an agency is one thing, building a thriving, resilient one is quite another. The most sustainable agencies aren’t simply the ones with great work in their portfolios; they’re the ones with strong foundations, smart strategies, and most importantly, an intentional focus on people and relationships.
At Iridium, we support numerous creative agencies across South Africa, many of whom have grown from small start-ups to respected market leaders. We asked a few of our clients to share the one thing that made the biggest difference in building their agencies. Their insights are invaluable for anyone navigating this competitive space.
Prioritise People Above All Else
“The one main thing was a focus on people. Any business is only as good as the people that drive it on a daily basis,” says Tracy Jones, founder of Dialogue PR. “For me it was getting the recruitment process right so that I could hire the best senior people, with the unique skills needed for our industry, who could not only deliver meaningful results but who also played an important role in creating and maintaining a positive culture. A culture where we value excellence as much as we do laughter!”
Creative agencies are, at their core, people businesses. You are selling creativity, innovation, and ideas, all of which come from your team. Investing in hiring not just talented individuals, but those who fit culturally, who share your values, and who actively contribute to a collaborative environment, can be the single biggest driver of long-term success. This means refining your recruitment, onboarding, and development processes constantly, ensuring you build a team that is motivated, supported, and empowered.
Nurture Client Relationships Relentlessly
Kirsten Dixon of Pink Soda Marketing shares a simple yet powerful insight: “The one thing I did was work on relationships. Pink Soda has been built purely on word of mouth. Being able to care as much about our clients’ businesses as they do has awarded us lots of referrals, our favourite kind of business!”
In the creative services world, your reputation is your most valuable marketing asset. Word-of-mouth referrals from happy clients often bring higher-quality leads, longer-term engagements, and stronger alignment. This approach requires genuine care and consistent communication—not just delivering great work, but taking an active interest in your clients’ success and becoming a true partner in their growth.
Build Exceptional Teams, Not Just Hierarchies
“If there’s one principle that’s consistently moved the needle for us it’s: Build exceptional teams! Not just skilled, but driven teams made up of people who are often smarter than you are, who thrive on ownership, and who genuinely love what they do,” says Andrew Vink from Expand Agency.
“We’ve found that when you remove unnecessary hierarchy and foster true collaboration, something powerful happens, people show up not just to create and execute, but to elevate. The real growth comes from creating a culture where ideas flow freely, accountability is shared, and leadership is a quality, not a title.”
Modern creative agencies thrive when they are flatter, more agile, and deeply collaborative. Empowering your team with autonomy and shared responsibility fosters innovation and ownership. Strong leadership is still essential, but it should be focused on enabling others to lead, not micromanaging their every move.
Be Your Own Best Case Study
Craig Hoggins, founder of Online Marketing Guys (OMG), credits inbound marketing and early visibility for much of their growth: “When OMG started I had to try and convince business owners that if they weren’t on Google in the future they would be nowhere. I led by example and made sure in the early days that we could be found as a solution to their problems when they were searching for solutions. Inbound marketing was key for us. Be in the right place at the right time to the right person.”
For any creative agency, demonstrating your expertise by practicing what you preach can be an incredibly effective growth strategy. If your agency offers digital marketing, branding, or PR services, make sure your own presence reflects your capabilities. Clients are far more likely to trust you when they see tangible proof that your strategies work on your own business.
Practical Tips to Build a Thriving Creative Agency
- Invest in culture: Make your agency a place where people want to work. Encourage collaboration, celebrate wins, and create psychological safety.
- Focus on client success: Go beyond deliverables; become a trusted partner who adds value to your clients’ long-term goals.
- Recruit carefully: Prioritise values and attitude just as much as skills. The right hire can elevate your team; the wrong one can erode culture.
- Document your processes: Build scalable systems that maintain quality even as you grow.
- Be your own marketing success story: Build your brand and reputation through visibility, thought leadership, and showcasing your own results.
The Bottom Line
Creative agencies are not built on awards, tools, or even brilliant ideas alone. They’re built on people, relationships, culture, and trust. As the agency leaders we spoke to demonstrate, success often comes down to a few key choices: investing in the right people, nurturing client partnerships, building strong teams, and living your own brand values.
At Iridium, we are proud to partner with so many inspiring creative agencies on their financial journeys, helping them put strong financial structures in place through our accounting support, so that their creative energy can continue to thrive.
If you’re building or scaling your agency and want to chat about how Iridium can support your growth, we’d love to hear from you.
