September can be considered a 'second new year' in agency life. After summer breaks, clients return with fresh budgets, new campaigns, and heightened expectations. For many agency leaders, it's exciting. But it can also be overwhelming.
Without a clear operational reset, September can quickly spiral into firefighting, eroding both margins and morale. The good news? A few small but intentional steps can set your agency up for a calmer, more profitable final quarter.
Before you dive into the autumn rush, take stock of your client commitments. Are scopes still clear? Are priorities realistic given your team's bandwidth?
A 30-minute review with your leadership team now can save weeks of confusion later.
September often brings a spike in new briefs - which looks great on your revenue forecast, but can mask delivery risks.
Map your team's actual capacity against confirmed and potential work. Where are the pinch points? How will you protect against over-servicing when client demands surge?
Agencies thrive when they're not only executing, but also anticipating client needs. That requires space. If your team is maxed out at 100%, they won't have the margin to think strategically.
Build in weekly 'look ahead' sessions - short, structured check-ins that give teams space to spot risks and opportunities before they land.
Margins rarely disappear in one dramatic swoop. They erode gradually through fuzzy scopes, last-minute client requests, or a project that 'just takes a little longer than planned'.
Use September to tighten up how you track time, scope changes, and profitability. Even small tweaks here can deliver a measurable impact before year end.
September is your chance to reset. Agencies that take the time to align scopes, capacity, and priorities now will enter Q4 with clarity, confidence, and calm — not just busyness.
If you want help spotting where your systems are leaking time and profit, our Operational Clarity Workshops are designed for exactly this. Two hours. Tangible wins.
If you're running a marketing agency right now, you likely won't thank me for reminding you that AI is changing everything. And while that's true, here's the part not enough people are talking about - your internal operations will determine whether AI becomes your agency's superpower or just another tool that clogs up your workflow.
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Continuous improvement. What every business should be striving for.