That was exactly the situation Mouneeb Shahid found himself in with his web design and digital marketing agency, 2Web, despite 20 years of industry experience.
From Chaos to Clarity: The Starting Challenge
Mouneeb’s agency was experiencing significant growth, but without the foundation to support it. With a team that had rapidly expanded to 27 people, they were working on exciting, custom projects—yet hemorrhaging money.
“We were making multiple seven figures in revenues, but our profit was in the negative multiple six figures. We’re talking $480,000 one year and another $250,000 the second year. It was very challenging and didn’t make sense to me,” Mouneeb explains.
The problem wasn’t a lack of business or unhappy clients. In fact, quite the opposite. Their clients were thrilled with the service they received, but the agency had scaled without systems in place to maintain profitability.
The Turning Point: Facing Financial Reality
The wake-up call came when Mouneeb realized he was over a million dollars in debt despite having what should have been his “best revenue year.” This forced him to make tough decisions about the future of his business.
“I knew that if I was operating the business the same way that I was at that stage, we were just very, very close to bankruptcy,” he shares. “I am all about adding an immense amount of value to the services that we offer to our clients. It was a difficult mindset transition.”
It was during this difficult period that Mouneeb discovered systemHUB and the SYSTEMology process—tools that would help him transform his approach to business.
Implementation: Building the Foundation for Scale
Facing the reality of his situation, Mouneeb took decisive action to systemize his business:
- Downsized from 27 team members to just 2, allowing for a complete rebuild with proper systems in place
- Created process documents with his administrative team member to establish clear workflows
- Implemented financial tracking systems to monitor profitability and ensure timely client payments
- Developed consistent client touchpoints to improve communication and manage expectations
- Adjusted the creative process to include client involvement earlier, reducing iterations and improving outcomes
- Established time tracking to identify inefficiencies and monitor project profitability
- Incorporated regular project debriefs to continually refine processes, even for successful projects
The Impact: Consistent Client Experience and Financial Recovery
After implementing systems throughout his business, Mouneeb saw dramatic improvements in both client satisfaction and financial performance.
“I wanted to make sure that we’re able to deliver that consistently great experience to our customers every single time. Going back to the idea when you actually think of your business as a franchise, you go to McDonald’s, the big Mac experience is the same everywhere around the world,” he notes.
The systems allowed 2Web to become financially stable again while maintaining their commitment to high-quality creative work. They now have a team of 12 people and are positioned for sustainable growth with their new venture, Optimize.net, which helps businesses scale their marketing to generate qualified leads.
Key Lessons: What Every Agency Owner Should Know
- Track your finances religiously: “Our greatest expense is the time of our team. It’s very important to track that effectively and determine whenever we are completing a project to do a debrief.”
- Systems create transparency: “By improving our communication with our clients and by preparing them for issues that may arise, we were able to have a better customer experience because they were well informed.”
- Focus on your strengths: “You have to pick and choose who you want to work with and the kinds of projects you want to work on to be on a path for success.”
- Incremental improvements compound: “Even if it’s a small iteration within the process that you have, it can have a huge impact over time as you’re working on more and more projects.”
- Systems thinking changes everything: “Systems have really helped us introduce new services to our clients and also giving clients the benefit to incorporate those systems within their organization as well.”
The Journey Continues
Today, Mouneeb’s business continues to thrive with systems as its foundation. What began as a financial crisis has transformed into a sustainable business model that delivers consistent results for clients.
“We’re way better off today than we were back then,” Mouneeb reflects. “Now we’re set up for scaling our agency and also launching our platform Optimize.net for helping other businesses scale their marketing services as well.”
Ready to Transform Your Business with Systems?
If you’re facing similar challenges in your business, the SYSTEMology process could be your path to freedom and profitability. Dive straight into a 14-day free trial of systemHUB to see how systems can transform your business.
