As you read this, your freelancing business might benefit from word-of-mouth, motivating you to keep working. It has given you more clients than you can handle within a 40-hour workweek. One obvious solution is to delegate work to a team of freelancers like you and turn your solopreneur business into a freelance agency.
What is a freelance agency?
The freelance agency model is about making a sensible decision to add one or more people to get clients. It focuses on providing services as a project manager while other subcontractors complete client work. This way, the business owner's duty is to set prices, accounting for the additional costs in the business.
Generally, the freelance agency's value proposition is they have access to vetted freelancers. Considering the additional time required to revise work, project management, or other expenses, the cost of agency work is relatively higher.
But, that is only sometimes the case. Freelance agency services may be cheaper than an individual freelancer based on the cost the owner charges its clients. For example, some popular content writing agencies sell content at $50 per page and pay their writers $30 for each page. Finding a qualified freelance writer who readily accepts that rate may be difficult.
What are the benefits of building an agency?
A freelance agency promises consistent and timely delivery of work, often in significant quantities. Thanks to a network of subcontractors working collaboratively behind the scenes. Starting a freelance agency is suitable for individuals who prefer to avoid handling client assignments personally while having strong leadership and management capabilities.
If you believe this description, move your freelance business from a solo operation to an agency model and vice versa. The technique is a flexible option that you can navigate easily. You can always adopt an existing freelance business from a solo model to an agency model and vice versa.
Agency vs. Solo
It is vital to consider your values and attitude, which are the most relevant when making an important decision. A freelance agency works with experts who do marketing and onboarding roles.
A freelance agency lets you scale a freelance business more quickly than you could as an individual in most cases. However, it also takes much more time away from the management and leadership aspects of running a company. The freelance agency model may not be the best for some businesses due to the onboarding process, training, and eventually firing of freelancers.
Questions to Ask When Building a Freelance Agency
Before you start thinking this should be a walk in the park, find out if you have what it takes to build a freelance agency.
Finances: Do you have the financial resources to pay your freelancers while still paying your rent and other expenses? Is there enough budget to keep your agency afloat in case no client finds you or you are late with a payment? If you partner with professional services, do professional service corporations have limited liability related to finances?
Confidence: Are you confident enough with your technical and managerial skills to transition into the team leader role? How about your business project management fundamentals?
Mindset: Are you ready to fail? Are you prepared for more complicated work processes once you bring in more people? Are you willing to do a little less hands-on work yourself and invest more time in marketing, finding, and retaining customers?
Essential Steps on Building a Freelance Agency
If you want to reduce your hands-on freelancing tasks and are ready to invest more time finding and retaining customers, follow these steps.
1. Comply with Legal Requirements
Legal is the first step in starting a freelance agency. It is best to consider the pros and cons of becoming a limited liability company (LLC). LCC is a business structure that will give your freelance agency limited liability. When your company is sued, the claimants are suing the agency, not you as its owner. More importantly, an LLC is more straightforward to build and simpler to maintain than a corporation. Likewise, it gives your agency the credibility of being a legal entity.
2. Organize a Pool of Talents
As a substitute for a network of freelancers, you can focus on finding the type of talent who can help you with your work. Instead of doing the legwork to hire people, you could employ fellow freelancers. Luckily, there are many websites where you can find freelancers, such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Guru.
3. Capture the Big Clients
Before you unveil your fantastic team and start creating excellent work that wins awards, you've got to find clients. Not just small projects like you used to handle on your own but bigger ones with budgets that can cover your team's pay. Start by talking to your current clients and see if they have any more significant projects. Ask them to tell their friends about your agency. Step up your marketing game to keep attracting new customers.
4. Choose the Right Tools
Lastly, make sure you're using the right tools for your agency. There are plenty of free options, but always look for and test the ones that make working together super easy. Aim for tools that save time on administrative roles so you can focus on running the agency or reaching out to potential clients. Look for tools that make communication a breeze and let the work move forward, no matter where your freelancers are.
To get you started, check out these three types of tools:
Work management tools: Trello and Wrike are great for planning and managing projects.
Communication tools: Some favorites include Slack, Skype, and Google Hangouts.
File storage: Consider options like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.
Conclusion
The decision of whether or not to start a solo or an agency is ultimately up to you. Consider what you want to achieve from your freelance business and your personality before making this decision. Building a freelance agency is a dynamic journey that combines talent, strategy, and adaptability. Remember, transitioning from a solo freelancer to an agency owner requires skills and strong leadership and management capabilities.
With a commitment to quality work and strategic growth, your freelance agency has the potential to thrive in the competitive landscape.
