From Employee to Agency Founder (with no real plan)
This is the second of three posts from my interview with Ben Hagon, President and co-founder of Intent. Intent is Canada’s creative communications agency for non-profit organizations. See the first post here.
Over eight years, Ben was employed at five agencies and studios while continuing to freelance on the side. During this time, his family grew, and they bought a house. Ben was busy!
Biggest Benefit of Working at Agencies? Direct Access to Clients
From Ben’s perspective, one of the major benefits of working at agencies was learning how to interact with various clients.
Ben would frequently attend meetings, present his work, and take in feedback. It took practice to get comfortable being the front person for the agency’s creative output in these meetings.
At his last agency, he ran the creative department, which gave him the additional benefit of management experience, assigning projects, and working with junior creatives. At that point, the agency was billing about $1 million a year.
LESSON: When you’re working at agencies, someone else is paying for your learning. You’ll get expertise you couldn’t get on your own.
I wrote about the benefits of getting an agency job before you freelance here.
Another Benefit of Managing $1 Million in Billing—Confidence
Once you realize that you’re running the creative output behind $1 million in billing for your employer, you know you could do this for yourself.
This insight and an offer from his largest freelance client made Ben seriously consider starting his agency.
LESSON: Confidence is everything, whether you’re an employee or running your own business. Confidence allows you to present your work with conviction and have conversations with clients on a partner level. I wrote about how confidence can help you grow your billing here.
“If You Started Your Own Company, We Could Give You Much More Business”
At the time, Ben’s biggest freelance client was BlackBerry. Keep in mind, he still had his 9–5 while working evenings and weekends with BlackBerry and other clients.
His contact at BlackBerry made it clear that if Ben could give them more time, they would give him significantly more business. At the time, BlackBerry worked with numerous larger agencies but weren’t thrilled with them. Much of that work could go to Ben—if he took the leap.
LESSON: Some clients like direct contact with creators rather than through layers of account management. As a small agency, you’ll likely deliver faster and be less expensive.
Yes, there are drawbacks to being small (narrower range of services, capacity limits), but your job is to market your advantages.
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
Ben is the first to admit that starting his agency wasn’t part of a big plan. Yes, he’d always been entrepreneurial, taking on numerous freelance clients, but he hadn’t made any detailed plans to change how he worked.
But when he thought about it, he realized that if he billed just 13 hours a week at his current rate, he’d make the same money as his agency salary.
When he got the BlackBerry offer, it was obvious it would take up much more than 13 hours a week.
And so, Hagon Design was born.
LESSON: Small agencies can take business away from much larger competitors. Also, big clients often have so much work to give out that they use numerous agencies and suppliers. Even a small slice of that pie can be much bigger than having 100% of many smaller clients.
The Extra Room Becomes the Agency's Head Office
If starting an agency makes you worry about new overhead expenses such as rent, utilities, etc., take a lesson from Ben.
He converted a room in his house into an office. Instead of an expense, it became a tax deduction.
Did he worry about BlackBerry knowing that he worked out of his home? No. Any face-to-face meetings happened at the BlackBerry office; the rest were online or on the phone. It was never an issue.
Fortunately for Ben, the room was large enough to accommodate four people as his agency grew. How’s that for efficiency?
LESSON: If you’re starting up, think about ways to save money on expenses. Some of the world’s largest companies were born in garages and spare rooms.
It might even make sense to move to a bigger house or apartment if it can also serve as your office space. Talk to an accountant about tax deductions you can claim by creating a dedicated home office space.
Larger Clients are Easier to Work With
Ben’s experience while he was employed at agencies and starting his own was similar to what other creatives have said.
Larger clients with structure and budgets are far easier to work with than entrepreneurs and start-ups.
The biggest challenge working with start-ups? Unrealistic expectations with inadequate budgets. “We don’t do $500 logos. A pain, for the most part.”
The Agency Network Effect Kicks In
Not long after founding Hagon Design, a client from one of his previous agencies came calling. She now ran the marketing department of one of Canada’s leading law firms. They wanted to completely rebrand.
This would become a significant project, and by the time it was over, it brought in over $1 million.
That was just the beginning. It led to Ben and his team working for five of Canada’s largest law firms. Ben built a team to service that business.
Ben said, “Word gets around, especially in industries like law. For a time, we could have become the agency specializing in law firms.”
His reputation then spread to wealth management companies. By word-of-mouth, Hagon Design became the Bay Street company (Bay Street is the Wall Street of Canada).
LESSON: Working at an agency where you have client contact builds your network. Clients change jobs. They remember you and call. This happened to Ben many times, often leading to significant new clients.
Another Offer From A Big Client—We Want You to Answer This RFP
Imagine you’re an employee at an agency, and then leave to start your own company. A while later, one of the agency clients calls you and wants you to work with them.
You have second thoughts. It feels unethical. The client says they’re issuing an RFP for their work. You don’t want to answer an RFP. It’s a lot of work.
Then the client says two things: we’re not offering the RFP to the previous agency, and we really want you to answer this RFP.
So, you’re not competing against your old agency, and based on the client’s persuasion, you decide to answer the RFP and win one of the biggest clients you’ve ever had.
LESSON: Two lessons: it’s not unethical to work with clients of your previous agency if that relationship has changed, and it often pays to answer RFPs if you’ve specifically been invited.
Next Post: Choosing a Niche Means a New Name
Whether you’re freelancing, working as an employee, or starting an agency, why not learn from someone who’s done it all? You’ll find lots of practical advice in my book, How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.
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