Sarah du Heaume is the founder of Just Media and is currently one of the mentors on Nesta's Creative Business Mentor Network programme:

The marketing industry has been completely transformed by the rapid emergence of digital media. While new technologies have enabled greater possibilities in bringing ideas to life, there are challenges brought by this revolution. Clients inevitably tend to focus on what they can gain from investment, rather than considering what it can do for a brand in the long term, therefore businesses are required to think differently in order to attract potential investors.

Even basic logistics of running an agency have been transformed by digital. The days of walk-in couriers, employed to deliver films and bromides to overseas locations, are long gone, and with them the healthy mark-ups that were charged to clients. This year I am a mentor on Nesta's Creative Business Mentor Network programme. As a mentor, here are my top tips on how you can grow your business despite the challenges the market presents.

Don't be your own worst client

Small and medium agencies are often thinly resourced and so focus all their time and attention on their external clients, ignoring the need to practise what they preach in their own business.

Digital and social marketing techniques can be remarkably effective and cost relatively little in terms of both time and money - the key is to be very organised and also consistent.

Think beyond borders

With recession, double dip recession and now potentially triple dip recession, it's hard to thrive in the current economy. Large agency groups have weathered the storm quite well, making up for lacklustre performance in the West through expansion in Asia. Smaller agencies lack the time and capital to grow their businesses in this way. Much though can be achieved by building partnerships with like-minded agencies and suppliers overseas. These relationships pay off over time and it's never too early to start.

Keep crunching the numbers

I firmly believe that running an agency is all about doing great work and having fun - however the numbers have to add up too. Owners of creative businesses sometimes have to be dragged kicking and screaming to forecasting and budgeting meetings. Spreadsheets are certainly not glamorous, but keeping a tight control on the numbers is absolutely critical. 

A mentor can really help with this sort of aspect of the business, putting in place suitable systems and controls and encouraging buy-in from the business owners. Several years ago we had a mentor at Just Media in London who helped to instil this sort of discipline, and it had some very positive spin-offs, not least of which helped to facilitate the sale of the company.

It's important to identify where time is being spent and where revenues are earned - these are often not the same places. I encourage agencies to adopt a green/amber/red classification system: green for nicely profitable clients, red for clients that are a drain on resource and amber for those in between.

Having identified which clients are in which category the goal then is to move amber clients up to green and red clients to amber, or out altogether. It can be quite cathartic to fire unprofitable clients; it can actually re-energise a business.

Run the business, don't let the business run you

When you first set up a company there is a lot of adrenaline in the mix. Energy and drive create a wave of momentum that can carry the business forward for the first few years.

Yet by year three or year four it is common for business growth to start to wane and business owners can lose their sense of purpose, especially if they find themselves in a place that they didn't expect to end up in.

Mentors from within your industry can be particularly useful in this case, as they have probably been in the same position as you at some point in their career and can offer advice on growing a business. 

Nesta's Creative Business Mentor Network programme pairs up 30 creative businesses with experienced mentors - myself included - and provides the opportunity of one-one one mentoring sessions over the course of the programme. 

The value in having a mentor is huge, especially for creative businesses existing in a changing digital landscape. Gaining awareness of concepts such as the client stoplight classification is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this relationship can achieve. For this reason, all small and medium sized creative companies should consider applying.