Business Coaching for Agencies and Solopreneurs

Business Coaching for Agency Owners

You’re already winning.
Let’s make it a lot bigger.

I help agency owners double their revenue in the next 12 months — and build a business worth selling in the next 3–5 years. Better clients. Better pricing. A clear path to the exit you actually want.

Collective results from my clients
$60M+
Revenue added together
50+
Agency owners coached
3 agencies
Built personally to $250k–$550k
15+ yrs
Agency experience

Real results from real agency owners
🚀
Jake went from $600k → $4M over 2 years after fixing his sales process.
📈
Jim went from 1 sales call/mo to 8, and from $8.6k → $13.6k/mo in just six weeks.
🎯
Brandon took his agency from $1M → $5M.
💰
K & A went from $7k → $18k/mo in 5 months, fewer clients, 3× profit.
Kevin went from $10k → $26k/mo in just 5 months.
🏆
Three partners grew from $2.5M → $8M in two years.

John Doherty with his wife and daughter at a glacier
About John

I’ve been exactly where you are.

I’ve built agencies to $250k, $550k, and $433k a year — and made almost every mistake along the way. I tried to hire and lost all my freedom and profit. My agency almost went under multiple times. I learned the lessons the hard way so you don’t have to.

My background spans working for agencies (Distilled in New York City), in-house at Zillow (HotPads and Trulia Rentals), building multiple agencies of my own, selling one to private equity in 2022, and selling over $5M of services personally.

I know the grind of low profit, high overhead, working on stuff I hated, juggling messy delivery, and feeling like growth was capped. More importantly, I know how to fix it — because I’ve done it for myself and alongside dozens of agency owners as their coach.

Outside of business, I’m a husband, dad of two, skier, hiker, and bourbon fan living in Colorado with my family.

Sold agency to PE, 2022
Exited to a competitor, 2025
$5M+ sold personally
Zillow / Distilled alum
15+ years in agencies
Colorado

John’s expertise and clear recommendations made a real difference in how we approach our own digital marketing and sales strategy. I truly appreciate his help and look forward to collaborating with him again in the near future.
NS
Nick Stamoulis
President, Brick Marketing

How I Work With Agency Owners

Choose the right path for where you are

Whether you need intensive 1:1 support, focused skill-building, or a structured program — there’s a track built for your situation.

🎓

Workshops

Focused skill-building sessions for solopreneurs and agency owners on the specific things holding back their growth.

  • Targeted to specific growth challenges
  • Actionable frameworks you use immediately
  • Group learning with peer community

Learn more →

The Independent Operator

An 8-week hands-on program to turn your stable solo business into a predictable, scalable agency. Coming Fall 2026.

  • For solopreneurs who are capped on growth
  • Build predictable revenue systems
  • Work more on what you love, less on what you don’t

Coming Fall 2026 — Learn more →

Is This Right For You?

Be honest with yourself

My coaching works best for a specific type of agency owner. Read these carefully before booking a call.

I’m right for you if…
  • Already generating $200k–$300k+/yr and ready to break through the plateau
  • Want to double revenue in the next 12 months — and have the option to sell in the next 3–5 years
  • Deliver strong results but struggle with positioning and charging premium prices
  • Doing everything yourself and tired of it
  • Coachable and takes action fast — not stuck in endless overthinking
  • Want a business that’s profitable, scalable, and sellable — not just bigger
My coaching is not for…
  • Agencies or solopreneurs under $100k per year
  • People chasing a quick fix or “magic bullet” growth hack
  • Soloists who haven’t yet proven they can consistently generate leads, close clients, and retain them
  • Anyone unwilling to invest time, money, and energy into making real change

What Clients Say

Don’t just take my word for it

John is the guy you want to talk to if you are struggling with scaling your business. He brings clarity to chaos and will be extremely helpful in directing your agency business towards profitability and optimized operations.
ZI
Zawad Iftikhar
Founder, Sly Marketing
Working with John was truly invaluable. He helped me bring clarity and structure to ideas that had been living in my head for years, while guiding me toward a new, aligned revenue stream with confidence and intention. Worth every single dollar.
AD
Akvile DeFazio
Founder, Akvertise
Thanks to John, I now have a much clearer direction for my discovery calls and services structure. I learned to position myself to market to a younger version of me — and my proposals weren’t clear. I am currently doing a full overhaul.
EM
Emily Merritt
Founder & Growth Strategist, Clearlead Marketing
I came to John when I had agency challenges and needed strategic insight. With John’s background, I always know what he shares comes from real field experience. He also holds space for the personal parts of life that are always tied to business.
BS
Bunty Somroy
Marketing/AI Consultant & Entrepreneur
John gave me suggestions that really worked. He loves numbers — and business is numbers. Thanks, John!
DT
Davit Tsilosani
Founder, 10xSEO
John’s expertise and clear recommendations made a real difference in how we approach our digital marketing and sales strategy. I truly appreciate his help and look forward to collaborating again.
NS
Nick Stamoulis
President, Brick Marketing

My Background

The experience behind the coaching

Since 2010, I’ve worked for two agencies, ran marketing and growth for two of Zillow’s rentals brands (HotPads and Trulia Rentals), and consulted on SEO with some of the world’s largest brands — Vevo, The New York Times, Dribbble, Creative Market, Homelight, Hipcamp, and many more.

My first agency generated leads for marketing agencies. I worked with 300+ agencies over 7 years and coached some of them to significant growth. I’ve applied the same principles to my own businesses, with great success. I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and there’s nothing I love more than helping agency owners grow.

How to Get Started

Three steps to working together

No pressure, no generic pitch. Just a focused conversation to figure out if this is a fit.

1

Schedule a Strategic Roadmap Session

Complimentary for qualified business owners doing $150k+/yr. This isn’t a generic free call — it’s a focused conversation to identify the specific bottleneck(s) capping your growth.

2

Map Your Growth Path

If we’re potentially a fit, we schedule a second call to map the exact steps to get you from “steady but stuck” to where you want to go — doubling in 12 months, and building something worth selling in 3–5 years.

3

We Start Working Together

If it’s a fit for both of us, I’ll invite you to work with me. Simple as that.

💡 Note: I work with a select number of clients at a time to protect quality. If you’re ready to move, don’t wait.

Book Your Strategic
Roadmap Session

Complimentary for qualified agency owners doing $150k+/yr. Spots are limited.



Free · No pitch · 30 minutes · Qualified owners only

Ready to stop leaving money on the table?

Let’s figure out exactly what’s capping your growth — and fix it.

Schedule Your Strategy Session →

Complimentary for qualified agency owners doing $150k+/yr