I’m Peter Kang. I co-founded and run Barrel, a direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce agency. Some more bio info here. I write about running an agency business, e-commerce, habits, personal finance, investing, and lessons learned from books.

Blog Highlights

Below are some highlights from my blog.

Running an agency business:

• Agency Journey, my monthly series on running an agency
• Small Agency Owner Compensation
• Calculating Project Profits at a Creative Services Agency
• Exploring Client Concentration in an Agency Business
• The Downstream Impact of New Business Decisions on an Agency Business
• The No Exit Approach to Agency Business
• Set Up to Fail, Failed to Set Up
• Agency Survival: Handling Challenging Times for the Business

E-commerce:

• Common Opportunities in Growing E-commerce Businesses Vol. 1
• Common Opportunities in Growing E-commerce Businesses Vol. 2
• E-commerce for First-time Sellers: Start Small, Focus on Sales
• How (and Why) I Built an E-commerce Store in Under 8 Hours

Habits:

• 2020: Habits That Stuck
• 2019: Habits That Stuck
• 2018: Habits That Stuck
• 2017: Habits That Stuck
• 2016: Habits That Stuck
• 2015: Habits That Stuck
• Operating Rules Vol. 1
• Operating Rules Vol. 2
• Operating Rules Vol. 3 (Diet Edition)
• Lessons from Atomic Habits by James Clear

Personal finance & investing:

• Stock Investing: A Look at My Portfolio
• Reviewing My 2020 Stock Investing Activity
• My Person Finance Snapshot (June 2021)
• My Personal Finance Stack 2020: Coronavirus Crisis Edition
• My Personal Finance Stack 2019
• My Personal Finance Stack 2017
• My Personal Finance Stack 2015

Writings on The Fifth Discipline, one of my favorite books:

• Reflecting on The 11 Laws of The Fifth Discipline (from Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline)
• The Seven Learning Disabilities from The Fifth Discipline
• Systems Archetypes from The Fifth Discipline and How They Apply to a Digital Agency
• Personal Mastery from The Fifth Discipline

Lessons learned from reading books:

I keep track of books I’ve finished on my Reading List.

• Lessons from Pricing Creativity by Blair Enns
• Lessons from Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Lessons from Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
• Lessons from Orphan X and His Ten Commandments
• Lessons from The E-Myth Chief Financial Officer
• The Importance of Marketing to Existing Clients from Managing the Professional Service Firm
• Thoughts on “Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact” by Phil M. Jones
• Lessons from The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker: Know Thy Time

Writings on other sites:

• 50 Things Keeping You From Scaling Your Agency
• Ways to Deepen Client Relationships
• Sources of New Business Referral Leads for an Agency (8 Types Examined)
• Customer Journey No. 1: Allbirds – 2 Years & $885.21
• Customer Journey No. 2: The Same Wine Store for 12+ Years
• Customer Journey No. 3: How I Became a Spindrift Addict
• Tracking Ecommerce Performance with Key Metrics