Season 8 | Ep36 Philippa Smith on losing it all then scaling back to build a £1m+ EBITDA lifestyle agency

Episode notes

What happens when your 15-person agency runs out of cash and you have to start over from scratch? On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast, I’m joined by Philippa Smith, founder of Silver Swan Recruitment, a luxury staffing agency for ultra-high net worth individuals. After growing her team to 15, COVID and poor cash flow caught up with her. In August 2024, she made the entire team redundant and scaled the business back to just herself. Nine months later, Philippa is now generating more than £1 million in pro-rata EBITDA. She's happier, more focused, and running a business built around lifestyle and profit, not just headcount. In this episode, we cover: How she pivoted her model to charge upfront and improve cash flow Why personal branding has transformed her client relationships The emotional cost of scaling too fast How she’s using podcasting and community to drive inbound growth The upside of running a smaller, more agile agency If you’re questioning whether scale is really the goal, this episode will give you a new perspective.

• Season 9 | Ep35 Oliver Paull: £800K in 3 Years, Solo, From a London Flat59 / 100
• Season 9 | Ep34 Mathew Gollop: 7 to 85 People, a Near Collapse, and the Free Idea That Paid Him Back59 / 100
• Season 9 | Ep33 Greg Fischer: $4.2M Revenue, $1.4M Net - Then He Left With Nothing but a Handshake52 / 100
• Season 9 | Ep32 Paul Strouts: When Growing Headcount Is a Strategy and When It Is Just a Cost
• Season 9 | Ep31 Nathan O'Connell: Building a £1M R2R business on 4 x Retained Clients