The lessons that made us a better agency — and how they protect your projects today

When we started Outgrow Agency, we had a clear vision — but executing it turned out to be much harder than we expected. Truth be told, we made plenty of mistakes. More specifically — I did.

Over the years, we’ve worked relentlessly to overcome every possible issue and limitation, to become a solid partner that truly supports businesses through growth.

I believe it’s only fair to be honest about how things really were — what we struggled with, what we learned, and how we overcame those challenges.

This article is written from me, Ondrej, founder and CEO of Outgrow. I’ll openly own up to our mistakes. There were times when we weren’t ideal — far from it — but I’m proud to say we’ve learned from every single one of them.

Of course, there’s always room for improvement. But today, I can confidently say we’ve built systems and preventive mechanisms for almost every kind of situation we’ve faced in the past.

We Didn’t Set Clear Enough Expectations

In marketing, there are endless areas to cover — and client expectations can vary just as much. Often, expectations don’t match reality. Sometimes they’re based on limited knowledge of how things work, and other times they’re simply unrealistic. That can lead to odd situations where you overdeliver but the client still feels underwhelmed. Or you achieve great results in one area, but the client expected improvements somewhere else entirely.

There’s no reason to blame the client — those expectations are a completely natural thought process. Still, back in the day, this mismatch was frustrating. But looking back, it was one of the most valuable feedback loops we ever got. It forced us to improve how we set and communicate expectations.

One of the biggest improvements we made was in our explanation process. We spend hours every day inside analytics platforms, marketing tools, and performance dashboards — but it’s foolish to expect clients to do the same. So now, we make an extra effort to explain what we do and why we do it. We send recap emails after meetings, store recordings, and make sure key information is always accessible. And if we ever feel like the understanding starts to drift from reality, we take extra steps to bridge that gap before it grows.

I won’t lie — it’s still sometimes challenging. But at the end of the day, it’s our job to make sure clients feel informed, confident, and clear about what’s happening. That’s what a real partnership should feel like, isn’t it?

We Missed Timelines — But Not Because of Effort

There were times when we struggled to deliver projects on time. Not because the team wasn’t working hard, but because our process wasn’t built to fully support them.

This issue appeared mostly with website and other complex projects. Building a site is rarely a linear process — it’s a system of many moving parts. There are stages that require client input, content approvals, and other dependencies that can slow everything down. When one element stalls, the entire project timeline can quickly start stacking up with delays.

While our development speed was always strong, the concepting and content finalization phases were weaker points. During development, we schedule several progress meetings to approve stages, collect feedback, and review materials. Combined with waiting on assets or copy, those early phases often took longer than clients expected. It wasn’t for lack of care — it was because we asked a lot of (important) questions that clients hadn’t considered yet.

After a few projects like this, I had to face reality and rethink the process from the ground up. The new system includes more structured reporting, clearer upfront requirements, and stricter follow-ups on dependencies. Most importantly, we now plan timelines with built-in buffers — so even when something gets delayed, we can still deliver on time.

Internally, we also introduced additional checkpoints and short weekly syncs. If something goes off track, it raises an immediate alert and the team addresses it right away. It’s a simple change, but it prevents small delays from turning into big problems.

We Weren’t Always Clear About What We Actually Do

This one is actually quite funny in hindsight. We wanted to deliver great results — especially for our recurring marketing projects — and we didn’t want to bother the client too much. Our thinking was simple: “Let’s focus on doing the work, not talking about it.”

At the time, it felt like the best thing we could do for our clients. But reality proved otherwise. Some clients started feeling disconnected, unsure about what was happening, and a few even ended the cooperation. Back then, I didn’t really understand why. Over time, I realized the issue wasn’t performance — it was clarity. Clients didn’t see what we were doing, and that made them feel uncertain.

For us, spending hours every day inside campaigns, everything felt obvious — what mattered, what didn’t, what we were improving. But clients don’t live in that same context. They can’t see the moving parts unless we show them. We learned that even great work needs visible communication behind it.

So, we built a simple mechanism to fix it. We now send regular reports — usually weekly — covering what we’ve worked on, what’s planned next, and why. For some clients it’s every two weeks, for others monthly, but the principle stays the same: keep clarity. Today, our clients always know what’s happening, where things are heading, and that we’re fully engaged in their growth.

We Didn’t Always Take Client Feedback to Heart

There were moments when we were too focused on doing things our way. We believed we knew what would perform best — and often, we did. But that mindset sometimes made us overlook what the client truly wanted.

It wasn’t about ego. We genuinely cared about the results and wanted to make the right decisions for performance. But not every decision in marketing is about performance — sometimes it’s about brand, tone, or personal vision. And we didn’t always give those things enough space.

Looking back, a few situations could have gone smoother if we had paused to listen more carefully — to understand why the client preferred a certain direction, even if it went slightly against best practice.

Over time, we learned that being an expert doesn’t mean doing everything your way. It means having the humility to balance data with empathy, and results with vision.

What It All Comes Down To

All these lessons shaped how we work today. We’ve built systems, communication habits, and preventive mechanisms that simply didn’t exist a few years ago. We deliver better, we align better, and we plan with a level of clarity we once lacked.

From my side, I’ve learned to be more open, to listen before reacting, and to ask for feedback — not just from clients, but from our own team. I make it a point to review what’s working and what isn’t, and to talk about it openly.

It’s not about avoiding mistakes anymore; it’s about learning from them faster and building structures that keep us improving. That’s the part I take personally — making sure Outgrow Agency keeps evolving, stays honest, and continues to act like the kind of partner I’d want to hire myself.