The biggest myth holding back agency growth

The biggest myth holding back agency growth:

"The market's too small if we specialize in one vertical"

Let me debunk this with some data from my time as CMO at Scorpion👇

Reality: We picked attorneys as our vertical.

• Total addressable market: 64,331 firms

• Average revenue per client: $150K/year

• Market potential: $9.6B

But here's what most miss:

You don't need the whole market to build a massive business.

Simple math:

• Capture just 3% of market

• That's 1,930 clients

• At $150K per client

• Annual revenue = $289M

The secret?

Specialization lets you:

• Command premium pricing

• Build deeper expertise

• Get more referrals

• Scale efficiently

And the best part?

While generalist agencies fight over scraps with vague value props, specialists become THE obvious choice.

The smallest piece of a focused market > the biggest piece of no market at all.

My advice:

Pick a vertical. Go deep. Ignore the myth.

What vertical are you focused on?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do agencies avoid specializing in one vertical?

Because of the belief that the market becomes too small to build a big business. That fear keeps agencies spread across many industries instead of going deep in one.

How big was the actual opportunity in the attorney vertical?

64,331 firms as the total addressable market, with average revenue per client around $150K a year, putting total market potential at $9.6B, far from a small opportunity.

Do you need to capture the whole market to build something massive?

No. Capturing just 3% of the attorney market, about 1,930 clients, at $150K per client works out to $289M in annual revenue. A small share of a focused market can still be enormous.

What does specialization actually enable that a broad market doesn't?

Premium pricing, deeper expertise, stronger referrals, and more efficient scaling. Generalist agencies compete with vague value props, while specialists become the obvious choice within their vertical.

What's the real comparison being made about market size?

The smallest piece of a focused market beats the biggest piece of no market at all. Specializing narrows the addressable market on paper, but it multiplies the actual opportunity within it.