You Worked With an Agency Before — And Got Nothing

It probably wasn't bad luck

Agency engagements usually fail for three reasons, and all three are visible up front. One: the agency has never done the work itself — it produces slides, not operations. Two: the scope is vague; under a heading like "digital marketing management" everyone imagines something different. Three: success was defined by revenue or intermediate metrics like impressions and clicks — not profit.

Seven questions to ask next time

• "Have you sold your own product?" — Advice from someone who never risked their own money is theory.
• "What exactly will you deliver this month?" — Scope must be writable as a list. If it can't be written, it can't be measured.
• "Which metric defines success?" — The answer should be profit and unit economics, not revenue or impressions.
• "Whose name will the accounts be in?" — Ad account, store, domain, trademark: all yours.
• "What am I left with if we stop?" — "A working system and all the access", not "experience".
• "When would you say no?" — An agency that accepts every job isn't assessing whether it fits yours.
• "What happens if results don't come?" — The honest answer is "we tell you early and change scope", not "we guarantee results".

Our answers

We expect you to ask us all of these. Briefly: we run 3 registered Amazon brands, our own Etsy store and 14+ e-commerce stores with our own money — every tactic we recommend was applied to ourselves first. Scope is itemised on the call. Success is measured in profit. Accounts open in your name. No locking contracts; retainers renew monthly after three months. And when we think something isn't working, we say it first.