Derek Spinka II
Bio
After working for many years as a senior client manager in large marketing and advertising agencies, Derek decided to set up his own. His job is 24/7 as he juggles client relationships and business operations. He’s strategic and ambitious and loves to win new business. In his ideal world, his agency will be much bigger but still feel ‘boutique’. He embraces technology to streamline processes for his team. Looking after finances is a necessity but also a chore.
Demographic info
Age: 38
Location: Culver City
Family: Married
Education: Bachelors+
Income: $125,000+
Hobby: Surfing
Job title:
Owner, Proprietor, Founder, CoFounder, CEO, Managing Director, President, Director, Principal, Managing Partner, Entrepreneur
Key job responsibilities:
Planning, Growth, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Marketing, Operations, Profitability
Reports to:
Self or Board of Directors
Subordinates:
VP of Sales, COO, CFO, Etc.
About the company
Industry: Marketing
Size: 15
Revenue: 3M
B2B/B2C/Hybrid: B2B
General Overview: The company is a small yet mighty marketing agency with 4-5 full-time staff and a substantial network of subcontractors. It’s a work hard, play hard culture, driven to deliver for the client at all times.
Product Market Fit
Motivations (company goals)
Fast growth, increased profit to revenue, owning a specific industry niche, and becoming a reputable agency within its field, potentially being acquired one day.
Jobs to be Done
Recover overdue invoice balances from clients who have not paid or are extremely late.
Advise on minimizing this type of unpaid or late invoice situation (e.g. consult on existing client billing process so that Agency has substantial recourse in the event of late or non-payment).
How is their performance measured?
Being able to pay wages and bills on time, including paying himself. High staff morale and motivational company culture resulting in longevity of employment. Awards/recognition for creative/strategic work. Winning new, larger business and retaining long-term client and vendor relationships.
Frustrations (pain points)
Unpaid or late balances are tough for Derek and his agency because:
it puts them in a difficult and awkward position of collection and is uneasy.
It's more effort, time, and resources that should otherwise be spent on growth.
There's a potential to sour relationships and face reputational backlash if clients leave bad reviews.
And finally, there's no visibility into whether hiring a law firm would be worth the investment (cost of legal work to recovery ratio).
An estimate of potential recovery amount and best guess of chances of success would make the decision much easier.
Trigger
What triggered this buyer to look for a law firm or be open to a legal solution?
Unpaid invoices are piling up and beginning to impact the bottom line.
The internal or existing collection process isn't working.
They're getting into a legal battle.
What they're saying
“Contracts and collection are an essential part of my job but it grinds me down every day and distracts me from growing the business. I wish clients would just pay us for the work we've done and done well.”
“Now we have a clear, quantifiable collection process in place so I can plan ahead. I understand the estimated costs involved and our contracts are also tightened up, allowing us to use certain mechanisms that make it compelling not to breach our agreements. I can finally focus on growth."