The Handbook: The Operations Podcast

Five events. Eight weeks. Zero excuses.If you're in ops, finance, or senior leadership at an agency or consulting firm – Harv runs through five upcoming events worth getting in your calendar right now.From the Maturity Gap Webinar (where the findings from the business maturity quiz finally get revealed) to the FinOps Conference, two intimate Handbook Breakfast Sessions in London, and – for the first time ever – a Breakfast Session in Manchester.Register as follows:1️⃣ The Maturity Gap Webinar, 15 Apr – https://bit.ly/the-maturity-gap 2️⃣ The Handbook: Breakfast Session 'Multi-Entity Madness', LDN, 23 Apr – https://bit.ly/breakfast-apr263️⃣ The FinOps Conference (50+ headcount businesses), LDN, 21 May – https://bit.ly/finops-conf4️⃣ The Handbook: Breakfast Session 'When Finance Met Ops', LDN, 28 May – Drop Harv a DM on LinkedIn to save you a seat! 5️⃣ The Handbook: Breakfast Session 'When Finance Met Ops', MCR, 3 Jun – Drop Harv a DM on LinkedIn to save you a seat! Hope to see you there! 

Growing a professional services business often starts the same way: scrappy teams, generalists wearing multiple hats, and a lot of momentum driven by energy rather than structure.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv sits down with Alex Bodini, CEO of Spin Brands, to unpack how Spin evolved from a grassroots social media shop into a multi-entity group of 100+ people. Rather than waiting for a crisis to force change, Alex and his co-founder made a conscious decision to professionalize the business so they could attract bigger clients, better talent, and more ambitious opportunities. They walk through the operational shifts that helped Spin move from “proper scrappy” to a more mature organization – and the cultural tensions that inevitably come with that transition.Here’s what we dive into:Why bringing in a proper finance director changed far more than reporting – from pricing and scoping to forecasting and recoveryThe role HR played in moving from informal “touchy-feely” people management to structured career paths, policies, and developmentHow hiring experienced specialists elevated the quality of work – even if not every senior hire worked outWhy investing in senior-level marketing helped Spin build credibility and compete for bigger clientsWhat a chairman can bring to a founder-led business – accountability, perspective, and bigger strategic thinkingThe trade-offs between the fun, chaotic “old Spin” culture and the more structured, scalable “new Spin”Alex is refreshingly honest about the reality of transformation. Some hires didn’t work out. Cultural change created tension. And the journey took far longer than expected.But the result is a business with stronger foundations – one that’s now scaling through acquisitions and positioning itself for the next stage of growth.If you’re navigating that transition from scrappy startup to grown-up, mature organization, there’s a lot in Alex’s story that will feel very familiar.Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-bodini/ 🌐 Spin Brands: http://spinbrands.com/ 👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you. 

The work we produce gets all the attention.But the real question is: what’s happening behind the scenes that makes that work possible?In this episode of The Handbook, Harv sits down with creative operations expert Nicky Russell, co-founder of WDC, We Deliver Change, and chair of the Creative Operations Summit in London. Together they explore the discipline of creative ops – the systems, culture, and leadership required to help creative teams do their best work. What starts as a conversation about creative teams quickly expands into something bigger: how operations leaders create the environment where great work can actually happen.Here’s what we dive into:What creative operations actually is – and why it’s becoming a strategic role inside agencies, brands, and consultanciesWhy ops is fundamentally about culture – not just processes, workflows, and systemsWhy happiness and psychological safety matter more than most leaders realise when it comes to producing great workHow creative ops and business ops are converging as technology and AI reshape how work gets doneHow learning to speak the language of different stakeholders is often the key to unlocking real influence.Whether you work in a creative environment or not, the themes in this conversation will resonate with any ops leader trying to build a healthier, more effective organisation.Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Nicky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicky-russell-989a4719/🌐 WDC London: https://wdc-london.com/ 🌐 In-House Agency Leaders Club: https://www.ihalc.com/ 🗓️ Henry Stewart Creative Ops Summit London, 19th March 2026: https://henrystewartconferences.com/creative-operations/ 👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you. 

Have you heard of The Handbook: Breakfast Sessions?These are intimate breakfast roundtables where we dive into big operational topics with leaders from forward-thinking agencies and consultancies.The next one is coming up on 19 March in London, and the theme is:Run like you’re looking to sell. Even if you’re not.I’ll be joined by Dom Hawes. Dom has led 11 acquisitions and scaled his marketing services group to £22m in just 30 months, so he’s seen first-hand what makes a business attractive when someone starts looking under the hood.Whether an exit is on the horizon or not, the disciplines that increase valuation are the same ones that make a business more profitable, more resilient, and easier to run.The Breakfast Sessions are intentionally small to give everyone space to contribute, and they operate under Chatham House Rule to encourage open conversation.If you’re leading a 25+ person agency or consultancy and want to see your firm through a sharper lens, this one’s for you.Request a seat:bit.ly/handbookbreakfastmarch

Your numbers might look healthy.Revenue’s up. Projects are flowing. The pipeline feels… fine.But underneath? Margins are eroding. Cash is tighter than you’d like. And no one’s totally confident in the data they’re using to make decisions.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sat down with finance and business ops advisor Robert Patin to unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface of many professional service businesses right now – and why operational maturity is the difference between surviving and thriving.Here’s what we dive into:📉 The financial red flags leaders consistently overlook – especially around forecasting, cash flow, and margin erosion📊 Why revenue is a vanity metric if your gross profit assumptions are wrong🧐 How to turn project postmortems into a pricing engine that actually improves over time🔄 The link between operational maturity and financial performance – and why finance and ops can’t sit in silos🧩 How data fragmentation creates “business whack-a-mole” and makes AI harder, not easier🤖 Why AI will increase pricing pressure – and how to get ahead of it before the market catches upThis conversation is a practical look at how to level up your maturity across finance, systems, and decision-making – so you can scale with confidence instead of guesswork.Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Robert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creative-agency-success 🌐 Robert’s resources for The Handbook listeners: https://creativeagencysuccess.com/handbook   👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you. 

AI is moving fast in professional services firms. And while most conversations focus on efficiency gains and new tools, the harder questions are around risk – ownership, liability, and what happens when AI use goes wrong.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra is joined by Sharon Toerek, a leading expert on IP and legal risk in the creative and consulting space, to unpack what AI really changes for operations leaders – and what needs to be in place to protect your businessHere’s what they dive into:📄 What actually happens to IP when work is human-created, AI-assisted, or fully AI-generated🔐 The data privacy risks agencies and consultancies often underestimate🧭 Sharon’s five-step framework for building an AI-ready workplace📝 How contracts, policies, and client conversations need to evolve as AI becomes operationalIf you’re an ops leader trying to balance innovation with risk, this episode is a practical reminder that AI governance isn’t a legal edge case anymore – it’s part of running a mature, well-managed operation.Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Sharon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek/ 🌐 Check out Sharon’s website: https://legalandcreative.com/ 👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you. 

Most service businesses don’t stall because of a lack of talent or ambition. They stall because the business quietly outgrows the systems it was built on.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sits down with Jason Swenk – agency founder turned advisor who’s spent two decades helping agencies and consultancies scale with more confidence and less chaos. After building and selling his own eight-figure agency, Jason codified the patterns he kept seeing into an eight-system framework for predictable growth.We unpack why so many leadership teams feel stuck, what actually breaks as businesses scale, and how operators can help reset the foundations before things start to crack.Here’s what we get into:Why clarity, positioning, and offering are the foundations everything else depends onHow to move from reactive growth to a more deliberate, scalable operating modelThe difference between prospecting and sales – and why skipping steps causes pain laterHow delivery, ops, and leadership systems protect margins and give leaders time backWhat it really means to transition from founder mode to CEO modeWhether you’re an Ops Director, COO, or part of a leadership team trying to break through a growth ceiling, this conversation is a strong reminder that maturity isn’t about working harder – it’s about building the right systems at the right time.Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonswenk/ 💻 Jason’s website: https://jasonswenk.com/  🎧 Jason's podcast: https://www.agencymastery360.com/podcast 👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you. 

A short one to close out the year! 🎁No frameworks. No deep dives. Just a genuine thank you.Whether you found The Handbook last week or you’ve been listening since episode one, I wanted to reflect on the year and say how much I appreciate you making time for the show.This year I’ve had the chance to sit down with brilliant operators and leaders across agencies and consultancies, covering people, process, tools, data, and growth – all anchored by one belief: operational maturity is what lets professional service businesses scale without burning people out.I'd also love your input on what to tackle next!What should we go deeper on next year?What’s been most useful?What challenges are you dealing with right now?Please fill out the short survey below, and it genuinely shapes what comes next for the podcast.Survey: https://bit.ly/handbook25surveyHave a great holiday, and see you in 2026!

Ops Quickies – snackable episodes on tech, tools, and systems. 🍿"Ballpark" is a dangerous word.Especially when Sales sells the dream, and Delivery is left living the nightmare.In this Quickie, Harv shares a real story from a consulting session with a 100+ person agency. They had the headcount and the revenue, but behind the scenes? It was pure chaos.We're talking manual spreadsheet reconciliation, "remembering" to log expenses, and invoicing based on memory rather than milestones.Harv breaks down why this "Chaotic Era" caps your growth and why moving to a PSA is the way to align what you sell with what you actually deliver.Stop running your business on memory. Start running it on data.

When your business feels busy but the numbers don’t back it up, something’s off.Agencies and consultancies often confuse effort with progress – and today’s guest has the data to prove it.In this episode of The Handbook, Harv Nagra sits down with fractional CFO and Trimline founder Michael Wark to unpack why so many service businesses hit revenue ceilings, run on thin margins, and stay stuck in that exhausting cycle of over-servicing.If you’ve ever wondered why more clients and more staff don’t automatically create more profit, this one’s for you.Here’s what we get into:The hidden math behind low profitability – and why over-servicing is usually the real culpritWhy headcount growth can become an ego metric (and why hiring your way out of inefficiency rarely works)How to diagnose your true unit economics and reset your pricing based on reality, not optimismThe operational signals your business is running harder in place rather than growingWhat healthy, scalable service businesses measure – and the benchmarks Michael looks for in top-performing firmsWhether you’re firefighting day to day or thinking seriously about scaling, Michael brings a clear, practical lens to understanding your numbers and building a healthier business.Listen to the full episode to hear the data, the patterns, and the playbook that can help you break the cycle. 🎧Additional Resources:👉🏽 Follow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wark-18627628/ 💰 Check out Trimline: https://trimline.co/ 📺 Check out Michael’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelWarkTrimlineCFO 👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://bit.ly/assess-business-maturity 📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook ➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you.