Soren Jensen, a web agency owner based in Thailand, delivered a candid account of how operating as a generalist "yes man" for years pushed him and his team toward burnout, and how consciously niching down into non-profit and community-focused organisations running a specific WordPress tech stack transformed his business into something sustainable and fulfilling.
Soren started building websites in 2003 and ran his agency from 2014 onward, spending the first several years taking on every project that came through the door out of fear of missing revenue. The result was a chaotic workload, inconsistent quality, underpriced projects, no recurring revenue, and a team that was constantly context- switching without developing deep expertise in anything. By 2018, the stress had become severe.
The turning point came in 2019 through exposure to new WordPress-based community tools, and in 2023 through working with a business coach who helped him articulate and commit to a clear direction. He narrowed his focus to non-profit organisations and values-aligned small to medium businesses, built a tightly defined WordPress tech stack around communities, learning management, events, and WebRTC video, and began
offering fixed annual retainers rather than one-off projects. The session closes with practical advice for other freelancers and agency owners stuck in the generalist trap.
Key takeaways
- 01Fear of missing revenue is a trap. Taking every project that arrives feels safe but leads to a chaotic, unsustainable business with no strategic direction and no deep expertise. The cost of saying yes to everything is usually higher than the cost of any individual rejected project.
- 02The generalist agency ends up being nothing special to anyone. Without a specialisation, there is no reason for clients to seek you out specifically, no reputation that compounds, and no pricing power. Being known for everything means being known for nothing.
- 03Burnout is a predictable outcome of the generalist model. Soren's experience by 2018 was not a personal failing; it was the natural result of a business structure that demanded constant context-switching, underpricing, and the absence of any meaningful direction.
- 04The right tech stack can be a niche in itself. Soren did not start by targeting a vertical and then choosing tools. He found tools he loved and let that shape his direction. Either path can work, but genuine enthusiasm for the tools matters because it sustains effort through slow periods.
- 05Non-profits are underserved and well-suited to retainer relationships. They have predictable annual budgets, do not demand the cheapest price at every turn, value long-term partnerships, and have real digital needs that are often underfunded. For the right agency, they can be an excellent client segment.
- 06Retainer structures beat one-off projects for agency sustainability. Splitting an annual budget into monthly payments creates predictable revenue, deepens the client relationship, and allows flexible allocation of work across the year.
- 07Saying no is a skill that must be deliberately developed. For people who have spent years operating as yes-men, declining work feels dangerous. But saying no to misaligned work is what creates the space to pursue aligned work well.
- 08Team expertise compounds when the stack is consistent. Developers who work within the same technology stack year after year become genuinely expert. The first year is a learning curve; the second year and beyond yield the full benefit of that specialisation.
- 09Constant stack-switching prevents this entirely.
- 10Scope creep is manageable, but only with clear boundaries. Treating agreed project stages as fixed and quoting separately for anything beyond them is not about being difficult with clients; it is about being honest about what the work costs and protecting the capacity to do that work well.
- 11Proprietary tools can emerge from deep niche focus. Soren's agency built custom LearnDash dashboard plugins and a WebRTC system precisely because they knew the problem domain deeply enough to identify the gaps. This creates competitive advantages and potential new revenue streams.
The Generalist Trap: Saying Yes to Everything
The Pattern From the agency's founding in 2014 through to roughly 2018, Soren operated in what he calls the "generalist trap." The core behaviour was simple: he said yes to every project that came in. He framed this as fear-driven rather than ambition-driven. The specific fears were: Fear of missing out on revenue Fear that saying no to a client would mean that client would never return Uncertainty about when the next project would arrive This made saying no feel genuinely risky in the moment, even when accepting the work was damaging in the longer run.
What It Looked Like in Practice The work that came through the door was wildly varied. One day, a team member might be building a five-page presentation site in WordPress. The next day, they could be working on a fully custom Laravel application built from scratch. There was no continuity, no accumulating expertise, and no common thread connecting the work.
Soren had designers and developers on his team, and all of them were forced to jump from one type of project to another constantly. This context-switching had real costs.
The Consequences Soren identified several compounding problems that resulted from this approach: Quality degradation. The variety of projects and the constant switching meant quality was not consistently where he wanted it to be. Without deep familiarity with any particular stack or problem domain, errors and suboptimal outcomes were more likely.
Underpricing. To win work, Soren often quoted too low. He took prices that were not sustainable simply to secure the job. This was especially prevalent with one-off projects where there was no prospect of a longer relationship.
No recurring revenue. Many projects were genuinely one-time engagements. The client got a website, paid once, and left. Soren and his team then had to find the next job all over again.
Client attrition. Some clients left. Without a strong specialisation or a niche reputation, there was no particular reason for clients to remain loyal.
No strategic direction. Soren describes this as having no "red line" or "silver line" to follow. The agency was busy but directionless. He knew how to find work and how to do work, but not how to shape the business into something coherent.
Burnout. By 2018, four years into the agency, Soren was stressed. His employees were stressed. There was always a lot to do, but the lack of direction made that volume feel oppressive rather than productive.
He summed this up with a phrase that captures the problem clearly: "The agency that tries to be everything to everyone ends up being nothing special to anyone."
The Turning Point: 2019 and the Discovery of a Tech Stack
In 2019, a company called Bodyboss launched a community platform built on a WordPress-based fork called BuddyBoss (referred to in the transcript as "Bodypress" and "Body Plus," likely transcription artifacts for BuddyBoss and BuddyPress). One of Soren's existing clients had projects on this platform, and Soren found it genuinely interesting.
This was not an immediate pivot. It was the beginning of a gradual realisation. Over the following years, Soren built up a tech stack that he genuinely enjoyed working with. The components he gravitated toward were: BuddyBoss (community platform) LearnDash (learning management system) Event management tools for WordPress WebRTC integration within WordPress for video meetings He describes the process as discovering tools he actually liked, rather than deliberately choosing a niche on strategic grounds. The stack felt natural to him and to his team.
The Business Coach and the Commitment to Niche
The knowledge of what he wanted to do was present from around 2019 onward, but the formal commitment came later. In 2023, Soren worked with a business coach who helped him identify and articulate his direction clearly.
He describes this as the coach helping him "point out" the direction rather than imposing one. The decision, once made, was firm: he would work with this specific tech stack, regardless of how long it took to build a client base around it. He was willing to absorb a period of slower revenue in order to pursue the right kind of work.
Following that decision, in 2024 (approximately a year later), Soren cleaned up his client portfolio. This meant actively declining projects that did not fit his defined tech stack and direction. He said no to a meaningful volume of work.
Identifying the Right Clients
Through this process, Soren discovered which clients he genuinely liked working with. Two categories emerged: Non-Profit Organisations Non-profits became the primary focus. Soren identified several reasons why they are well-suited to this kind of agency relationship: Fixed annual budgets with predictable IT allocations. Non-profits often receive external funding for their programmes, but that funding typically does not cover digital platforms. What they can do is allocate a portion of their overall operating budget to IT across the year. This creates a natural structure for a monthly retainer.
Not driven by the bottom line in the same way as commercial clients. Non-profits are not optimising for profit margin on every transaction. This changes the relationship dynamic significantly. They are less likely to push back on pricing in the aggressive way that
commercial e-commerce clients often do, and they are more focused on achieving their organisational mission with digital tools as enablers.
Long-term relationships. Because non-profits plan annually and rely on stable partnerships, the relationship with an agency tends to be long-term. Soren describes sitting down with clients each year to plan what they need, splitting the budget into monthly payments, and building from there.
Flexibility within the retainer. If one month requires more work than usual, that can be balanced against lighter months elsewhere. The relationship is structured around an annual total rather than rigid monthly deliverables, which gives both sides room to breathe.
Small to Medium Businesses (With the Right Attitude) Soren is open to working with small to medium businesses, but he is specific about which ones. He explicitly excludes e-commerce businesses. His reasoning: e-commerce clients are almost always focused on the bottom line and are comparing your services against potentially thousands of other providers who can deliver similar outcomes. That competitive pressure makes it difficult to build differentiated, valued long-term relationships.
The small to medium businesses he does work with share a values alignment and an attitude that makes the relationship productive. He does not specify exactly what "the right attitude"
means in the transcript beyond this general framing, but the implication is that they value the relationship, are not purely transactional, and are open to the kind of close partnership he wants to build.
The Tech Stack and What the Agency Builds
Soren's agency builds integrated WordPress solutions. The core components are: Community platforms. Built on BuddyBoss, these allow organisations to host their member communities within their own environment rather than relying on third-party social platforms.
Learning Management Systems. LearnDash is the primary LMS tool. The agency builds course structures and member learning pathways within WordPress.
Event management. Event building tools within WordPress allow organisations to manage their activities and member engagements in the same ecosystem.
WebRTC video meetings within WordPress. This is a distinctive element of the stack.
Rather than sending members to Zoom or Microsoft Teams, Soren's agency integrates video meeting capability directly into the WordPress platform. He notes a specific reason this matters for European organisations: keeping video meetings within the platform avoids potential GDPR complications that arise when members are redirected to third-party services.
Integrated WordPress CRM. The agency provides a CRM system built within WordPress, which Soren argues is significantly cheaper than any standalone CRM the organisation would otherwise need to procure. The CRM integrates with the rest of the platform rather than existing as a separate tool.
Cohesion across installations. The solution does not have to be a single installation. The agency uses a tool described as "V diffusion" (likely a transcription artifact for a specific plugin or service) to make multiple installations work together as a unified platform.
Custom Plugin Development During the Q&A portion, Soren revealed that the agency has gone beyond configuring existing tools and has built its own plugins. Specifically: A plugin that pulls data out of LearnDash and displays it in a front-end dashboard. This allows, for example, a volunteer who manages a group of members to see what those members have completed within the LMS, directly from the front end of the site without needing backend access.
A custom WebRTC system designed specifically to support volunteer-to-member meetings within the community platform.
At the time of the session, Soren mentioned that these plugins were planned for public release the following month, suggesting they intended to commercialise them beyond their own client work.
Advice for Freelancers and Agency Owners
Soren closed the presentation with practical guidance directed at anyone who recognises themselves in the generalist trap he described.
Choose an industry or technical specialty you genuinely enjoy. This is not purely a strategic exercise. If you do not actually enjoy the work or the clients, the niche will feel like a constraint rather than a direction. The motivation to stick with it through a slow initial period comes from genuine interest.
Aim to become the agency for that niche, not a full-service shop. The goal is to be known as the specialist, not as someone who can do anything. That reputation compounds over time.
Learn to say no to work that does not align with your tech stack. This is perhaps the hardest part for people who have spent years saying yes to everything. Soren is clear that the transition requires actively declining work, which will feel uncomfortable, especially early on.
Find the tech stack you love working with. Not just the one that is profitable or popular, but the one you and your team are genuinely excited to build with. This excitement translates into quality.
Understand the compounding effect on your team. When developers know they are always going to be working within the same stack, the first year is a learning curve. By the second year, they are building confidently and quickly. Deep expertise accumulates in a way that simply cannot happen when the team is jumping between entirely different technologies and problem domains.
Choose the type of clients you want to work with, not just the type of work. Soren's example is non-profits, but he acknowledges it could be plumbers, or any other vertical. The key is making a deliberate choice and then building the relationships and reputation within that chosen segment.
If you do not actually enjoy the work or the clients, the niche will feel like a constraint rather than a direction.
The Q&A Discussion: Scope Creep and the "Yes Man" Problem
The session moderator (who described himself as having run a print, creative, and web agency for about 30 years) engaged Soren in a conversation that expanded on the generalist trap theme.
Scope Creep The moderator raised the issue of scope creep as one of the defining problems of the "say yes to everything" mindset. His observation was that the fear of losing a client makes agency owners reluctant to enforce project boundaries. The result is that clients ask for "just one more thing" mid-project, and the agency absorbs that extra work without charging for it.
The moderator's own approach was to stage projects clearly and treat anything outside the agreed scope as a separate, separately quoted engagement: stage one, stage two, stage three are completed as agreed, and anything additional becomes stage four with a new quote.
Soren confirmed this pattern was very familiar to him. He noted that the combination of underquoting to win work and then absorbing scope creep without charging for it was a significant part of what made the model unsustainable.
The Emotional Dynamic Both Soren and the moderator reflected on the emotional reality of being a yes-man agency owner. Soren described it as not being sustainable and as genuinely stressful. The
moderator described it as "a monkey on your back." He also noted that saying yes to everything restricts growth, because you become inundated with small, low-value jobs that take far longer than expected and crowd out the capacity to pursue larger, more valuable work.
The moderator described a personal example: a client sitting in a rare Aston Martin (one of 27 made) asking for a website redesign but claiming to have no money. He suggested that the appropriate response to "I don't have any money" is not to agree to work for free or at a discount, but to redirect the conversation toward helping the client find a budget, because the outcomes you will deliver are worth paying for.
Niching Enables Better Proposals The moderator observed that one underappreciated benefit of niching down is that proposals become much tighter. When you are a specialist, you know exactly what is involved in a given type of project, what it costs, and what it delivers. Soren confirmed this and added that it also enables the development of repeatable solutions and proprietary tools, as demonstrated by the custom plugins his team built.
About the speaker
Soren Jensen
Founder, Nurturing Digital
Soren Jensen is founder of Nurturing Digital, an agency that niched into the non-profit sector after years of running a generalist shop. He built his business around long-term, values-aligned client partnerships.