9 Essential things you should do to Step up from a Freelancer to an Agency

Life is all about GROWTH & CHANGE. 

And growth is something everyone aspires for.

Though a freelancer is always blessed with a whole world of freedom as you are working on your own terms & conditions thereby selecting your office, working schedule, targets, and more. 

But in the long run, I have myself witnessed many freelancers feel the absence of growth in their careers. 

There are feasible chances that many of the freelancers won’t just end up being a freelancer. They would like to climb the ladder and reach the next level. 

Transforming to an agency from a freelancer – All I call and believe about this, it’s a natural progression.

Nonetheless, becoming an owner of the agency comes with an entirely different level of skill sets and the challenging task of handling a new setup for your own agency. 

Follow these amazing tips when you are turning your freelance work into your dream agency. 

 

• Change the Way You Think
  

 

Running an agency or running a business is ‘no different. There will be several skills which you must have gained as a freelancer but many new skills will be required by you. 

It will be a way more than what you do as an individual, as the extra work will be to:

1. Hire people
2. Managing the personnel
3. Managing office
4. Resource allocation to projects
5. Generating work and career progression for the entire team

Some freelancers or entrepreneurs are not cut out to run businesses. And that’s pretty fine as there are many other alternatives that exist. 

In case you are super excited then just relax, think, and ask yourself whether you are ready for all this transition or not. 

 

• Do a Pilot – Check & Test
  

 

Before entering the waters, testing them is always the best thing to do. So, do a pilot and the right way is to create a Virtual TEAM.  

You need to select skillful people who can be a part of your virtual team and will be able to share your extra load (work that taxes you on an individual basis). 

Once this is done then you are certainly ready for the next step. 

As another option, you can hire an intern too. Some of your repetitive tasks can be overtaken by the intern after learning key lessons from you. You will also have a company at your workstation though it’s a low way to start. 

 

• Set up a Company

 

By now you are efficient in running a small-sized team. The pilot was successful in a great way. But certainly, your clients will appreciate working with a firm that’s a registered body.

Why a registered company?

Certainly, if you have your company registered as an LLP – Limited Liability Partnership or a Private Limited Company then it will raise the bars of your company in the eyes of the clients.

It will increase your credibility and look professional thereby leading to higher chances of landing a client. So, do get your firm properly registered. 

 

• Find a Decent Office Space

 

Once you are done with your skilled team of employees and got your firm registered too, then the next step is to decide the place from where you will operate.

You need to do budgeting for the needful as you are on the go of a start-up. Hence, choose a decent office workplace that falls in your budget too. Later on, you can go for a bigger office of yours as your business gears up. 

 

• Hiring Talent

 

Now comes the time to release offer letters with a legal binding to your virtual team. With this, you will get them on board legally. You have to make a decision about the following things related to your team:

1. Their designations

2. Their roles 

3. Their compensation structure

At the initial stages as an agency owner, it is not at all recommended to go for a full-time HR professional. Rather hiring a part-time HR consultant will prove of great worth in making useful structures and compensation decisions for your firm. A renowned name Rank.jacker.com which is reliable for its SEO services for years and has some of the best-hired personnel. 

•  Start it out! Accomplish the Projects

You were always achieving targets and projects but the bets are much higher now. The major change is now your agency’s credibility is on the stake in place of your personal one. The dependency of your hired employees lies on you and delivering quality is highly important.

At the commencing stage, you may come across a number of problems and feel that things are falling apart. 

You will also encounter people’s problems too, something which is not probably new for you. 

 Treat your employees as if you are the client and what all can be done from your side for getting them to stick to commitments and timelines for the assigned tasks. This way the employees will be cautious to give their best in feasible time duration. 

• Look out for new leads & clients in parallel

When working on a solo basis even if you have to face a break between two projects then you can easily manage that trying time with your savings. But none of us as an agency owners wants to face a situation with ‘no clients’. 

 As you will already be going through some fixed expenses on a monthly basis such as:

1. Rent
2. Salaries
3. Utility bills and more

and paying them from your pocket is not acceptable. 

It is peremptory that you be on the lookout for new leads, work with them, and close them timely before your existing projects get over. Even Rankjacker people started with a handful of clients but their success journey is quite inspiring. 

Expert tip: Always go the legal way with clients for avoiding risk of any serious monetary or firm reputation-related problems in the coming times.

• Financial Management

Managing your accounts is very crucial and your work scale will dictate you to hire a part-time accountant or a full-time one. 

There are no chances that you run away from it as the real numbers are the guiding light to show you real growth & revenue. This also signifies that you are abiding by the laws increasing your credibility. 

 The crux is that you should keep your books in the proper place.

•  Plan for Growth & Expansion

A transactional leader! I am sure none of us strive to be one. Rather than being a firefighter all the time, you would certainly appreciate foreseeing some problems and planning for your agency’s future.

The planning work you do will involve numerous tasks such as:

1. Clients you will work with in coming times.
2. The number of people you will hire.
3. Skill sets expectations out of your team.
4. How much profit & revenue do you aim for?

All these things seem quite easy but are not that sorted. But, you chose to be an agency owner, so you need to deal with it all by yourself. Isn’t it!

On the last note……..

Your journey will be a bag of 3 major things:

LEARNING, EXCITEMENT, & CHALLENGES. 

 So, are you ready to go for the transition and take the plunge all by yourself?