What freelancers should know before they become agency owners
In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the transition from being a freelancer to an agency owner. They delve into the common fears and challenges associated with hiring employees and emphasize the importance of having structured processes and systems. The episode also explores topics such as the strategic direction of a business, handling pricing models, and the significance of building a team that you trust if your goal is to eventually sell the agency. Chip and Gini highlight the need to evolve business plans based on life phases and market demands, enabling freelancers to effectively scale their operations. Key takeaways Gini Dietrich: “Your job as an agency owner is to put repeatable processes in place to be able to create consistency in the work.” Chip Griffin: “My advice is deal mostly in terms of the next one or two steps. Don’t think too far out and put yourself in a position where you freeze up on evolving because you feel so committed to that path.” Gini Dietrich: “There may be times where being a solopreneur is the right thing for you and you scale way back and then you build again.” Chip Griffin: “Most agency owners started out as freelancers. So just know that you are in a position that everybody else, in all likelihood, has been before you.” Related ALP 11: Going from being a small team to an agency How to scale your agency and avoid common obstacles Get over your fear of hiring employees View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And first, as we record this, happy birthday, Gini. Gini Dietrich: Thank you. Chip Griffin: You do this to me on my birthday, so I’ll do it. You, you like celebrating your birthday more than I do, though. Gini Dietrich: I do, I do. I love it. Chip Griffin: You believe in holidays and fun and happiness. Gini Dietrich: I’ve got, I’ve got 117 text messages today that I have not been able to get to yet, because I’ve been in back to back to back to back to back to back to back meetings. Chip Griffin: Well, I held off because I knew we’d be talking anyway, so. Gini Dietrich: Thank you. Chip Griffin: I helped your inbox there, just, it was intentional on my part. Actually, if I knew it was going to be difficult, I probably would have done it, just to have some extra. Alas, I will not sing to you. That is my birthday present to you and to our listeners. Gini Dietrich: I was really hoping you would. I’m so sad. Chip Griffin: No, you were not, but that’s okay. Alright, so why don’t we jump into our actual topic today, which is to dive into Reddit, your favorite place. Gini Dietrich: I know! I’m really proud of myself. I have to say. Chip Griffin: You have been thoroughly researching things on Reddit lately. You’ve taken one for the team and you have come up with a bunch of topics for Reddit posts that we’ll be having in coming episodes. But today we’re going to talk about one, about going from freelancer to agency owner and, and what you wish you had known when you started out that would have helped you in making that transition. Gini Dietrich: Employees are hard. Chip Griffin: Employees are absolutely hard. But I, but I, but I mean, I will say, I think that, that people get way too scared of having employees. Gini Dietrich: Oh yeah, for sure. Yes. Chip Griffin: And it holds people back substantially from where they could be because they are, they have this, I won’t say it’s an unfounded fear, but it’s an excessive fear of employees. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, I think so too. And I think there’s you know, I, I think because of the remote environment that we’re in, and especially since the pandemic, there’s been this big shift to hiring contractors, 1099 employees, instead of hiring employees, and it seems less scary. And there are certainly risks to it as well, you know, but I lik