Block out that diary. Whatever your ultimate goal, and wherever you are in your business journey, taking time to think strategically is critical.

And from starting an agency, right through to a business sale transaction, our focus at every step must be on creating value.

That’s value in terms of:

• Working environment and packages for our employees
• High-quality solutions for our clients
• And, most importantly, maximising the value of different treatments for patients.

For equity holders and owners within agencies, it’s also about maximising the overall value of your business. This is often subjective – but can be structured around several important elements.

First, you need to consider the market opportunity and whether your areas of operation will be attractive to potential partners. If you are working in a crowded market, you need to ensure you have a strong brand reputation and points of differentiation – factors that help you stand out from a customer, employee and competitor perspective. This could be a niche specialist skill or a focus on a specific therapy area. The ideal scenario is to ‘own’ a position within a growing market. One of the many reasons OPEN Health bought Succinct back at the start of our journey was because of its unique expertise in the oncology market.

You then need to think about sustainability. How reputable and ‘sticky’ is your brand? Consider the breadth of your services. There may be opportunities to ‘land and expand’ with current clients and grow your offerings, either throughout the brand life cycle, across different products, or into other geographies. For example, could you start working with clients in the publications space at phase 2, and then leverage your relationship to deliver market-shaping activities, peer-to-peer medical communication or even market access solutions?

You also need to consider your internal culture and organisational ethos, and create something that resonates with all stakeholders. Back when we started OPEN Health, we had a very simple mantra: ‘Employ and develop great people, deliver great work, excite our clients, have fun and make money… and always in that order.’ Not perfect, perhaps, but it struck a chord with ambitious employees who felt they could achieve career aspirations, enjoy themselves and work with high-quality peers. It resonated with clients who wanted innovative, high-quality solutions and a ‘work-hard play-hard’ agency relationship. And ultimately, it chimed with our various investors: we’re all in business, after all.

Most agencies are successful because of their people. We’re not selling widgets. We’re selling personal expertise, strategic insights and strong client relationships. Evaluate the strength, loyalty and experience of your senior leadership team. Can they drive the business forward, or are there skills gaps, additional hires or changes you need to make? Consider succession planning for pivotal roles, reduce the dependency on one or two core players (particularly owners) and ensure that for every level of your team, they are empowered to deliver and motivated to stay. Staff retention is a critical parameter correlating to value. Nobody wants to invest in an agency and then see the core asset disappear in 12 months!

Of course, financial performance is important. Buyers/investors will want to see a track record of strong year-on-year revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) growth, delivering sustainable profit margins.  They’ll want a business built on a strong and efficient operational platform, with a broad customer base. Consider – as a buyer will – any risk factors. If you have a high revenue concentration with one customer, all you need is a global procurement decision, drugs to ‘fall over’ during clinical trials, or a game-changing acquisition elsewhere, and a significant proportion of your revenues can be at risk overnight.

Where there’s been a challenging internal or external factor – and let’s be honest, we all have them – be open and honest about how you have addressed them. Buyers want to know that the business is resilient, that you can think on your feet. They want to see a strong platform for growth and an efficiently run business they can continue to grow and develop.

Finally, be sure to sell the vision: for you and the company. Define your personal goals. Think carefully about what you want from an investor, particularly the level of support or autonomy. Capture that growth strategy – whether it’s ‘more of the same’ or expansion through diversification.

Sometimes it’s hard to take a strategic step back, especially if you are embroiled in day-to-day activities. But you need to protect the time and, if appropriate, engage an external resource to help you ask those pertinent questions. Where are you strong and where are you weaker? How truly differentiated is your offering? In terms of business growth, are you chasing the wrong things, and missing the ‘low-hanging fruit’?

Nobody said creating value was easy. But it’s the underlying element for every successful agency.

Sandy Royden is former European CEO of Huntsworth Health, and Global COO and Founder of OPEN Health. She now works as an independent consultant.