4. The Creative Agency Model Is Not For Everyone

Do you ever feel this insane pressure as a service provider where you have to grow your business and the only way to do it is by creating some type of agency? I know that's how I felt for a really long time.

When I started my business as a web designer, I saw all of these messages out there by coaches saying I really needed to find other people that could do the client work for me and create an agency.

Rather than spending time doing client work, I should only be spending my time marketing and selling my services, which is the way to grow a service-based business. There were so many coaches and messages floating around on social media, that I felt that the only way I could be successful was to follow that route.

To be honest, I wasn't really happy with the direction that things were going in, but I was told that this is the way that things are done. And then COVID-19 happened.

All of a sudden, I found myself in a position that I never thought I would be in. I had no childcare. My husband was deemed an essential worker and he carries our health insurance so my business had to take a giant backseat. I had several clients I had made commitments to and I was determined to meet those commitments.

So I started working every weeknight and every weekend. I hustled my behind-off, but there was no additional time for me to market my own business. I had no bandwidth to take on additional clients. Since I didn't have any money coming in, I didn't have the ability to pay these three people that were working for me.

I really wanted to be working directly with clients. I wanted to be putting the websites together. I wanted to talk about more than just the websites but also about the strategy and the branding. I took the pandemic as a way to see what would make me genuinely happy day-to-day, in a way that I hadn’t been in the past.

The conclusion I came to was that I needed to ditch the agency model and it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be able to grow and scale my business.

We need to normalize the idea that as a service provider, it’s okay for you to be the only person providing the service. If you’re able to get better at providing that service with more experience and with the goal of investing in yourself, the better clients you'll be able to attract.

If you attract better clients, it’s easier to raise your prices. Having a higher price point means that you’re able to scale your business in a whole new way.

As a result, I'm able to make a larger impact on the businesses that I work with. I'm able to see their growth and that is something that gives me a sense of fulfillment.

I am so much more comfortable with this business model and much more comfortable by not having to manage a team that is working to provide services to my clients.

I'm now able to be in control of the whole process, including what the client sees and when they see it.

Do you need help figuring out your own business model? This is part of the clarity that comes with working together in the Clearbrand. Learn more about this service.

The Agency Business Model: Is it Right For You? https://smallbusinessboss.co/the-agency-model/

A Subito Media production