Libsyn Directory

[REPLAY] How Much Cash Should Your Agency Keep on Hand? | EP 18

Release Date: 11/11/2025

The Six Levers of Profitable Client Engagements | EP20

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Running an agency is an exercise in risk management. In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim break down the most significant threats that can jeopardize an agency's survival. They move beyond daily annoyances to focus on the high-impact risks that can truly put a business in danger. Using a simple risk matrix framework, Peter and Sei-Wook categorize and explore nine critical vulnerabilities, from founder burnout and partner conflict to client concentration and strategic misalignment. They provide actionable advice on how to identify, prepare for, and mitigate each risk, sharing...

Learning From Other Agency Owners | EP19

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Great agencies are not built in isolation. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim explore the transformative power of community and peer learning for agency founders. The hosts share their personal journey from working in a silo to actively seeking mentorship and joining dedicated communities, revealing how these connections helped them avoid blind spots, gain crucial perspective, and accelerate their growth. Peter and Sei-Wook break down specific communities that have been instrumental to their journey, including Bureau of Digital, Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), and Collective 54....

Why Agencies Rely on Referrals But Few Treat It as a System | EP18

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Most agencies say they rely on referrals, but few treat them as a system. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim dismantle the "hope-based" approach to referrals and lay out a strategic framework for building a consistent pipeline. Drawing from the book The Referral Code, they redefine referrals as a transfer of goodwill and share actionable tactics for intentional referral generation. Peter and Sei-Wook cover how to identify the right people to ask, the critical importance of timing your ask within a "state of appreciation," and how to craft effective, open-ended questions. They also...

How Agencies Should Think About and Manage Risk | EP 17

The AgencyHabits Podcast

In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim break down the six fundamental levers that drive profitability across all client engagements, whether you run fixed-fee projects, retainers, or long-term service programs. Drawing from real challenges within their own portfolio at Barrel Holdings, Peter and Sei-Wook provide a practical framework for diagnosing and fixing margin compression. They start by defining gross margin and then explore each lever in detail: from pricing and scoping to staffing, engagement design, scope management, reusable IP, and the role of automation and AI. The...

Scaling Your Agency Beyond $2M | EP 16

The AgencyHabits Podcast

In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim dissect why agencies hit this wall and what you can do to break through. They explain how founder-centric systems that work at a smaller scale become the primary constraint to growth, leading to breakdowns in client delivery, team management, and financial visibility. The hosts share actionable solutions, from improving onboarding and implementing debrief processes to strategically hiring for your weaknesses and deepening financial rigor. They also introduce the Agency Systems Playbook, a framework of five core systems that drive a scalable agency....

How Agencies Can Be Better at Marketing Themselves | EP 15

The AgencyHabits Podcast

In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim tackle a common agency pitfall: treating marketing as a short-term, reactive effort only when leads dry up. They argue for a fundamental mindset shift, framing marketing as a long-term investment in reputation and awareness, similar to the compounding benefits of consistent exercise. Peter and Sei-Wook first outline the "basics" of agency marketing: from social posts and case studies to newsletters and events, and then dive deep into six specific, unconventional examples. They share their own experiences with a 24-hour website challenge and...

[REPLAY] Why & How to Prune Your Client Roster for Agency Growth | EP 19

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Holding on to the wrong clients can stunt your agency's growth, drain your team's morale, and cripple your profitability. This statement holds value for agency owners who are overwhelmed by client demands, feel trapped by early, problematic clients, or are struggling to focus their service offerings for maximum impact. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim tackle the difficult but essential practice of proactively reviewing and pruning your client list. Drawing from Barrel's own journey of specialization, they provide a clear-eyed framework for evaluating which clients are worth...

[REPLAY] How Much Cash Should Your Agency Keep on Hand? | EP 18

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Profit on paper doesn't pay the bills. Learn the best practices for designing payment terms and invoicing cadences to create a smooth, predictable cash flow. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim tackle one of the most critical yet misunderstood aspects of running an agency: cash flow management. They break down the dangerous gap between your P&L's accrual-based profitability and the real money in your bank account, explaining why even "profitable" agencies can face insolvency. Peter and Sei-Wook share hard-earned lessons from their own journey, including how much cash reserve is...

[REPLAY] How Specialization Impacts Your Agency’s Growth, Margins, and Valuation | EP 16

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Is your agency a "jack-of-all-trades, master of none"? In this episode, hosts Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim dive deep into the transformative power of agency specialization. They break down the critical difference between internal specialization and external positioning, and reveal why narrowing your focus is the ultimate growth accelerator for agencies under $10M in revenue. Peter and Sei-Wook share Barrel Holdings' own journey from a generalist agency serving investment banks and nail salons to a specialized leader in the Shopify CPG space. They provide a clear-eyed view of the trade-offs...

[REPLAY] Are You Calculating Your Agency’s Profits Correctly? | EP 15

The AgencyHabits Podcast

Agency profitability isn’t always what it seems. In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim break down how to really evaluate your agency’s profit. The hosts also talks about why two agencies reporting the same margins can mean totally different things. They unpack the difference between EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) and SDE (Seller’s Discretionary Earnings), showing how owner salaries, distributions, and “normalization” adjustments can completely change the story. Whether you’re thinking about selling your agency or just want a clearer...

More Episodes

Profit on paper doesn't pay the bills. Learn the best practices for designing payment terms and invoicing cadences to create a smooth, predictable cash flow.

In this episode, Peter Kang and Sei-Wook Kim tackle one of the most critical yet misunderstood aspects of running an agency: cash flow management. They break down the dangerous gap between your P&L's accrual-based profitability and the real money in your bank account, explaining why even "profitable" agencies can face insolvency.

Peter and Sei-Wook share hard-earned lessons from their own journey, including how much cash reserve is ideal, when to use a line of credit, and the emotional calculus of using reserves to protect your team during a downturn. For any agency owner who wants to sleep soundly knowing their business is financially durable, this episode provides the essential framework.

Key Moments

1. The critical difference between accrual accounting and your actual bank balance.

2. How common payment terms (like 50/50) can create massive cash flow gaps.

3. Best practices for invoicing cadence to match revenue with work completed.

4. The recommended cash reserve for project-based vs. retainer-based agencies.

5. The emotional and strategic dilemma of using reserves to weather a storm.

6. The power of a detailed cash flow forecast for making clear-eyed decisions.

7. The role of insurance and lines of credit as financial safety nets.

Real Talk Takeaways

1. Cash is the lifeline of your business; profitability on paper means nothing if you can't make payroll.

2. Design your invoicing to get paid as you do the work, not long after it's completed.

3. A retainer model with upfront payment creates the healthiest cash flow dynamic.

4. Hold 1-3 months of expenses for retainer-based agencies and 3-6 months for project-based agencies.

5. Too much cash in the business can lead to complacency and poor financial discipline.

6. A detailed, rolling cash flow forecast is your most powerful tool for avoiding crises.

7. Insurance isn't just an expense; it's a critical protection against catastrophic risks that cash reserves can't cover.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: The Agency Cash Flow Dilemma

00:44 – Accrual Accounting vs. Cash Reality: Why They Rarely Match

01:55 – How Project Payment Terms Create Cash Flow Gaps

03:48 – Best Practice: Designing Your Invoicing for Consistent Cash Flow

05:48 – The Retainer Advantage: Getting Paid Before You Do the Work

07:48 – How to Handle Large Upfront Payments Responsibly

09:27 – How Much Cash Reserve Should Your Agency Hold?

11:22 – The Emotional Toll of Using Reserves to Protect Your Team

13:43 – The Power of a Detailed Cash Flow Forecast

15:53 – Managing Cash Flow Across Multiple Agencies (The Barrel Holdings Model)

18:02 – Beyond Cash Reserves: The Role of Insurance and Lines of Credit

21:42 – Final Recommendation: The 1-to-6-Month Cash Reserve Rule

22:48 – Conclusion: Keeping Your Business Financially Durable

Notable Quotes

"If you are a more retainer-based business where cash comes in a very consistent cycle, then [your reserve] could be lower. If you're project-based, you may need to keep a lot more cash in the business." — Peter Kang on determining your cash reserve

"Too much cash in the business can make you too comfortable... and you may start burning down your cash reserves running a not-profitable business." — Peter Kang on the risk of over-capitalization

"Cash is ultimately the lifeline of your business. Can you run your business day to day? Do you have enough on hand to pay your team members, pay your expenses, and then continue to keep the lights on?" — Sei-Wook Kim on the purpose of cash flow management

"A line of credit is a tool for an emergency. In terms of order of operations, it's almost always better to use your cash because it's a lot cheaper." — Sei-Wook Kim on using credit vs. cash reserves

Links & Resources

Peter Kang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkang34/

Sei-Wook on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seiwookkim/

AgencyHabits Website: https://www.agencyhabits.com/

AgencyHabits on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agencyhabits/

Barrel Holdings Website: https://www.barrel-holdings.com/

Barrel Holdings LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barrel-holdings/

(Episode 12) A Lightweight Agency Partnerships Program That Actually Works

The Referral Code by Larry Pinci & Phil Glosserman: https://www.amazon.com/Referral-Code-Constant-Business-Relationships/dp/1600377475

The Short List by David Ackert: https://www.amazon.com/Short-List-Business-Development-Focusing/dp/B0DCQ2Q8MS

TOPICS