Know Your Worth: How Agency Owners Can Stop Undervaluing Themselves
As an agency owner, you wear every hat: CEO, project manager, strategist, creative, accountant and sometimes even IT support. But when it comes time to pay yourself… many agency owners take home less than what they’d earn as a full-time employee.
Why? Because they don’t know their worth or they’re not measuring it properly.
Let’s fix that.
Why It Happens
Most agency owners start with passion. They’re great at design, copy, strategy, or media buying. But when business picks up, they find themselves doing everything, including things outside their zone of genius.
And without a clear view of:
How many hours they actually work
What roles they’re playing
What those roles are worth on the market...
…they end up underpaid and overworked.
How to Calculate Your Real Value
Let’s walk through it:
Step 1: Break Down Your Roles
Over a typical week, track how much time you spend doing:
Client work (creative, media buying, design, etc.)
Project management
Sales / biz dev
Admin & operations
Finance & billing
Hiring & people ops
Step 2: Attach Market Rates
Use rough freelance or salary-based hourly rates for each:
Creative work → $75–$150/hr
Project management → $60–$100/hr
Biz dev → $100/hr+
Admin → $30–$50/hr
Finance → $60–$120/hr
Hiring → $75–$150/hr
Multiply hours × rate for each category.
Step 3: Add It Up
Now add all those buckets together. That’s what it would cost to replace you with contractors or hires.
Compare that number to what you're actually paying yourself. The gap may surprise you.
Why It Matters
If you’re underpaying yourself, you’re likely:
Charging too little
Doing too much in the business
Lacking visibility into your real workload
Knowing your worth isn’t just about ego—it’s about building a sustainable business that doesn't rely on you burning out.
What to Do Next: Delegate & Focus
When you realize how much your time is truly worth, it becomes clear: you can’t afford to keep doing everything yourself.
One of the first areas to delegate? Your books.
If you’re still managing your financials manually or letting them fall behind, check out our post on When to Hire a Bookkeeper for Your Marketing Agency. It breaks down the signs it’s time to outsource and what kind of support to look for—so you can focus on higher-value work.
Want Help Understanding What You’re Really Earning?
We help agency owners get clarity on their financials so they can see what they’re making, where it’s going, and how to make smarter decisions based on real data.
