Is 2% winst normaal voor een bureau? Zo ga je naar 25% (met Olivier Zeestraten)

Agency Development Olivier Zeestraten of Master je Cijfers helps Dutch agencies find their profit leaks: low billability, unpaid hours, and incorrect pricing. His clients are marketing, development, event, and communications agencies with between 15 and 75 full-time employees who feel there is more potential in their business than is currently being realized. Many agencies work hard but end the year with a profit of 2 or 3%. "There is so much more potential in this business, but somehow it isn't coming out," says Olivier. He exposes four structural leaks: insufficient billability (the norm for high-performance agencies is 70 to 80%), hours worked but not billed, pricing that does not cover the cost of personnel, and excessive indirect overhead. Olivier works one-on-one with the entrepreneur and the management team. Not as a crisis manager, but as a performance advisor: he rebuilds reports, links data to responsibilities, and makes financial insights tangible through frameworks such as the KPI menu. His profitability benchmark is 25%. He is clear about the future of the agency model. AI makes hours exponentially cheaper, and agencies that do not adapt will lose their right to exist. "Scaling down is the new scaling up. If you want to keep your business profitable, you will have to scale down." He is currently working on a concept he calls "performance as a service": AI intelligence combined with his methodology, acting as an external CFO for agencies. Name and address: Entrepreneur name: Olivier Zeestraten. Company: Master je Cijfers Interesting Feits 👥 Master je Cijfers focuses on agencies with between 15 and 75 FTEs, ranging from marketing to development and events 📊 Many agencies end the year with a 2 to 3% profit, while Olivier's benchmark is 25% 🗓️ Olivier previously sold an agency himself and now works as an independent performance consultant Take-Aways 💡 Billability is the foundation: whoever does not track hours cannot manage the business model 🧭 Scaling down is the new Scaling up: AI forces agencies to choose return over growth 🎯 Profitability lies in data, not in busyness: numbers tell the story behind the business 𝗦𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗸𝗶𝗷𝗸𝗲𝗻 00:00 - Introduction 00:35 - Your numbers are your business 03:20 - The leaks of a company/agency 07:15 - Time tracking 11:10 - The average actual hourly rate 13:03 - Pricing, overhead & the 25% profit benchmark 16:36 - Which agencies hire Olivier and how he works 21:43 - Agency sales 23:51 - The role of AI 28:21 - Digital twin & performance as a service 32:16 - Outro *Insights into the basis of agencies:* 📊 70-80%: billability of a high-performance agency 📊 25%: Olivier's profitability benchmark for agencies 📊 20% EBITDA: minimum threshold for a sellable agency 🔔 *You are now and* 𝗺𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗸𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝗿! https://7dtv.link/YT 7️⃣ 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟳𝗗𝗧𝗩 7DTV is the platform for entrepreneurs. Presenter Ronnie Overgoor talks to real entrepreneurs, founders, SME owners, and self-employed professionals about growth, mistakes, money, strategy, and the reality behind success. No quick success stories. Instead: honest conversations, practical lessons, and concrete entrepreneurial insights you can use tomorrow. 🎙️ Weekly interviews, entrepreneur stories, and tips for self-employed professionals, freelancers, startups, scaleups, and SME companies. 👤 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗿 Ronnie is a moderator, presenter, and trainer. He has spoken with over 1,500 entrepreneurs on 7DTV, acts as a moderator at more than 60 business events per year, and trains young moderators and anyone who wants to improve their presentation skills. More about Ronnie → https://www.ronnieovergoor.com 💡 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗽 𝟳𝗗𝗧𝗩? Would you like an entrepreneur portrait, branded series, or business collaboration with 7DTV? 👉 https://www.7dtv.nl/samenwerken 📩 [email protected] 🔔 Follow 7DTV here too 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/26jT6jL... 💼 LinkedIn:   / 7dtv   📷 Instagram:   / 7dtv.nl   📱 TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLJbTBuF/ 🔥 7DTV | #1 Platform for entrepreneurs | Check www.7dtv.nl #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurship #selfemployed #freelancer #sme #startup #scaleup #ownbusiness #startingabusiness #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurtips #podcast #businesspodcast #dutchpodcast #growth #strategy #marketing #leadership