Better Form Limited
I work with founders and boards of creative and growth businesses to bring commercial clarity to the moments that matter. Not as an external adviser who hands over a report. As someone in the room.
The moments I typically step in
Growth is accelerating but margin is not following.
Revenue looks strong but nobody has real visibility on cash.
Pricing has no structure and discounting has become the default.
Procurement is setting the terms and value is eroding as a result.
Investment or a sale is being considered but the commercial model will not hold up to scrutiny.
The business is expanding but the economics that worked before do not translate.
What I do
Most agency pricing has evolved by accident. I bring structure to it. That means designing pricing architecture that holds, setting rate governance that sticks, aligning incentives so the right behaviours get rewarded, and making sure the client mix is working for the business, not just filling revenue.
Founders often know their top line well and their bottom line poorly. I build the discipline in between: rolling forecasts, cash cadence, resourcing economics and delivery models that are costed properly. The output is board-ready reporting that gives founders and investors the visibility they need to make decisions with confidence.
When a capital event is on the horizon, the commercial model has to stand up to scrutiny. I build five-year commercial models, design earn-out and waterfall structures, support founder buy-back arrangements and prepare the investor narrative. I have sat in the due diligence room and I know what survives it and what does not.
I work alongside founders and boards as a fractional CFO or COO, depending on what the business needs. Being in the room for commercial decisions, leading negotiations, and where necessary running a structural reset from the inside. This is not advisory at a distance. It is operational and it is sustained.
Working with brands
Most brands pay agencies without fully understanding what they are paying for. Scopes drift, costs compound and procurement applies pressure without the commercial context to do it well. The result is a relationship built on mistrust rather than value.
I work with brands to audit their existing agency pricing arrangements, make sense of the commercial model they are operating within, and design a framework that gives them clarity on what they are buying and why. That means understanding how agencies price, where margin sits, and what a fair and functional commercial relationship actually looks like.
Brands leave with a pricing framework they understand and can defend internally. Agencies retain the margin to do the work properly. The commercial relationship becomes a foundation rather than a friction point. That is only possible when you understand both sides of the conversation, and I do.
Selected engagement experience
Worked with a £10m independent agency to restructure their pricing model, introducing rate governance and margin discipline where neither had existed. The business recovered margin and for the first time had a commercial framework its leadership could defend.
Designed a multi-year investment structure for a founder-led business, including earn-out mechanics and a buy-back waterfall that protected the founder's position through a capital event.
Built the commercial and partnership model for a creative agency's expansion into the GCC market, covering market entry economics, local partnership structure and revenue framework.
Led the commercial reset of a business unit within a global transformation programme, working alongside senior leadership to restructure operating and pricing models under pressure.
Introduced a forecasting and cash discipline framework for a founder-led agency that had strong revenue but poor visibility. The board gained the reporting clarity it needed to make decisions with confidence.
Worked with a brand-side client to audit their existing agency pricing arrangements, redesign the commercial framework and build a model where the client understood what they were paying for and the agency had the margin to deliver well. Both sides left with a structure they could trust.
The ecosystem I work within
Partner, working with creative agencies on business model transformation, commercial restructuring and the shift from service to value-based models. TBMC works with agencies and networks internationally, including programmes that have featured at IPA and SoDA level.
Co-Founder, an end-to-end platform for specialist agencies expanding into the MENA region. Migrate provides the infrastructure, local market expertise and network access that makes international expansion commercially viable rather than just aspirational.
Faculty on the D&AD Creative Leaders Programme and presenter for the Society of Digital Agencies, working alongside founders and senior creative leaders to build the commercial and operational capability the industry needs at leadership level.
About Better Form
Dan Forman
Founder, Better Form Limited
Better Form was established to bring commercial clarity to founder-led creative and growth businesses at the moments when it matters most.
Dan has spent over two decades operating at the commercial centre of the creative industry. As CFO at Saatchi and Saatchi, Commercial Director at BBH, and Global COO at Stink, he has run the numbers, led the negotiations, restructured the models and sat in the rooms where the difficult decisions get made. He has worked inside holding company networks including WPP and Publicis, and alongside independent founder-led businesses at every stage of growth.
He has also been a founder himself. That matters. It means the advice he gives is grounded in what it actually feels like to build something, carry the risk, and make decisions without a safety net.
Dan is faculty on the D&AD Creative Leaders Programme and has presented for the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), working alongside founders and senior creative leaders to build the commercial and operational capability the industry needs at leadership level.
Better Form works with a small number of clients at any one time. That is not a constraint. It is the point.
Get in touch
If something on this site has resonated, the right next step is a conversation. No pitch. No process. Just an honest discussion about where you are, what you are trying to solve, and whether I am the right person to help.