You’re a Happy Freelancer. Why Start An Agency? (7 Reasons…)
You’re a freelance copywriter or designer. Or maybe you’re a programmer or filmmaker. You’re working solo with several clients.
You’re making a good living at it, and most days, you’re happy with your work and life. So why would you consider forming a small agency with one or more partners?
7 Reasons You Might Form an Agency
1. Your clients want you to
They may not tell you, but it would be easier for them if you offered more services.
If you’re a solo writer working on projects that also require a designer, it’s often up to the client to find a designer to work with you. Or maybe, they’ll ask whether you have someone.
For a client, working with a small agency means one briefing to one team, one team to communicate with, one estimate to approve, and one invoice to pay.
There’s no extra project management and coordination on their part. So much easier!
In fact, working solo, you’re likely missing out on some projects because the client prefers the convenience of working with a small agency.
2. Clients see you differently
You are now an agency, a company, not just “a guy”. That’s comforting to many clients, especially bigger ones.
This is where you + one more person feels bigger than just two people.
Here, 1 + 1 = 3.
3. You’ll have more sources of income
If you’re a writer, you only get called for writing jobs. Makes sense.
But if you have an agency offering writing and graphic design, there will be projects that need only graphic design. You’ll still benefit from everything that comes to your agency even if you don’t work on it personally. The same holds true for your partner.
Having more capabilities means you’ll get a greater variety of work. It also makes life more interesting.
We had a designer who was also an excellent illustrator and animator. Now we were getting illustration and animation projects!
4. As you grow, you’ll get bigger projects
As a solo creative, your biggest projects are likely a few thousand dollars. And that’s fine.
However, there are $50K and $100K projects out there that you could handle with a small group. But you won’t be considered for them without the team. It’s too much work and risk for the client.
As an example, we had a project that billed over $150K, including an outside photographer. Just four of us worked on it.
It was very profitable, and won a bunch of awards. This type of project would not be awarded to an individual freelancer.
5. There’s a limit to how far a solo freelancer can raise rates
Solo creatives are always advised that when they get “too busy”, to raise their rates. That weeds out some clients who don’t want to pay and gives you better clients at higher rates.
However, there’s a limit to that. At some point, you’re billing near your maximum, you’re as busy as can be, and can’t grow further.
You need to start making money from your team’s work. You can’t do it all yourself.
6. It’s easier to pivot as the world changes
I see a lot of writers working mostly in social. Beware, AI and automation are coming hard for much of that.
Just look at some of the ads and posts for AI firms. You’ll want to broaden your offerings soon.
Having an agency makes it easy to cover more ground.
7. An agency can afford to hire someone to do the admin
In my first agency, our first employee was another designer. (We got busy fast.)
Our second employee was a project manager/admin person. She took care of creating estimates and invoices, following up, reaching out to outside suppliers, etc. That took a real load off of us. Worth it!
Having an agency isn’t right for everyone. But it’s the next logical step for so many freelance creatives. There’s never been a better time. Get organized and get to it!
Buy Your Book Here
How to Start a Successful Creative Agency is the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers. With over 300 pages and 23 chapters, it’s available at Amazon (Paper & Kindle), Kobo (ebook), Apple Books (ebook), and Gumroad (PDF).
Andy Knows His Stuff
“If you're like me, and you were almost tearing your hair out, trying to understand how to reliably get high-quality clients for your agency, then this book is a must-read.
Andy is an industry veteran, and unlike a lot of modern 'gurus' who can only provide regurgitated, surface-level advice, Andy is able to articulate everything in an easy-to-understand manner, that can fast-track you to success in running your own profitable agency. Highly recommended.”
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The book is packed with useful information to help creatives start and grow their business.
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