A few months ago I got curious about something that does not get examined carefully enough: who actually succeeds at building a digital marketing agency after completing training, and what separates them from the people who attempt the same thing and quietly return to job applications six months later? The answer is not what most career advice tells you. The Business Layer Problem The prevailing narrative in most digital marketing training circles is that the quality of your skills determines your success as an agency owner. Better SEO knowledge, sharper ad targeting, more sophisticated analytics — and clients will follow. This is partially true and largely misleading. The technical skills are table stakes. What actually determines whether a new agency survives its first year is something closer to operational discipline.…