I've been working on something behind the scenes that I want to talk about... not because it's ready, but because the process itself is the lesson.
We're adding bookkeeping to our service offerings at Mynt. And honestly? I could've just gone out, found a bookkeeper, and started marketing it tomorrow.
But I didn't. Because I've watched too many agencies make this mistake and then spend months cleaning up the mess.
Here's what happens all the time. An agency decides to add a service. Paid ads, SEO, social media management, whatever. They find a specialist, plug them into the team, and think they're good to go. But they skip the most important part.
They don't know if that specialist is good.
They don't have a hiring process to vet quality. They don't have performance metrics for a service they've never delivered before. They don't have oversight systems to catch problems before a client does.
And then they wonder why the new service line is causing more headaches than revenue.
So before I rolled anything out, I had to ask myself some uncomfortable questions. Do I have the systems to hire for this skill set, even for a contractor? Do I know what "good" looks like for bookkeeping well enough to evaluate performance? Do I have the oversight workflows to make sure the quality stays consistent?
The other thing is this. The more confident I feel in what I'm offering, the easier it is to sell. In the pay structure, the delivery process, the actual value. When I doubt I've got everything in place? Selling feels icky. And if it feels icky to me, imagine how it comes across to a potential client.
So here's my challenge to you this week. If you've been thinking about adding a service line, pause before you post that job listing. Ask yourself... do I know how to tell if this person is delivering quality work?
If the answer's no, that's your starting point.
What service have you been thinking about adding, and what's holding you back from launching it?
- Valentina, Mynt Collective Founder
📚 The Learning Lounge
A cozy corner where we share the latest insights, ideas, and takeaways from books, videos, articles, and more.
The Gap and the Gain (Book): It’s so easy to beat yourself up because you haven’t reached that "ideal" version of the agency yet. This book is a different way of thinking that says to stop measuring against the future and start looking at how far you’ve really come since day one. When you focus on your gains instead of that moving target, business starts feeling like freedom instead of a cage you’re stuck in.
What does success even look like? (Podcast): We usually think success is just about hitting a specific revenue number, but it’s more about whether you've changed how things are done for the better. Building a business is mostly just things "not working" right up until the moment they suddenly do… so don't sweat it if everything feels a bit messy right now.
Google Workspace Studio (Video): This is a new tool that lets you build your own AI agents to handle the boring stuff in your inbox and Drive without any code. It’s a huge help for getting out of the weeds with things like meeting summaries or sorting attachments—meaning you can finally spend more time on the creative work you really enjoy.
💌 Prefer your feed over your inbox?
Mynt Musings is also published to LinkedIn. If that’s your preferred platform, feel free to subscribe there instead!
🗺️ Ways To Work With Us
A snapshot of ways we support small businesses. Know someone we could help? Share any of the links below.
Ops Audits: An Operational Audit that identifies bottlenecks and delivers a prioritized 90‑day plan with owners, dates, and quick wins.
Ops Retainers: Day-to-day support with the right roles on deck (Ops Manager, Executive Assistant, Fractional COO, and more). We run the rhythms, execute changes, maintain dashboards, and unblock the team—roles can expand or shift as needs evolve.
Ops Builds: Design and implement right‑sized tools and workflows, document SOPs, train the team, and drive adoption so the system gets used.
Ops Consulting: Targeted strategy to solve a specific issue without extra complexity. Focused sprints that leave you with playbooks and next steps.
💚 Full service ops for creative agencies.
Focus on big ideas, not busywork.