Freelance VS Starting an Agency
August 7, 2024 2024-08-07 8:04
Freelance VS Starting an Agency
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Chatting with Jonathan Courtney, CEO of AJ&Smart, to understand if I should start my own design agency rather then keep on freelancing. I was trying to understand the pros and cons, the financial implication and how to hire.
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Comments (50)
@abdullahatif7854
Only 2 good parts fo the video: The books and the insights of what it means to "grow" in a company
@starlingmoney6492
what are the benefits of own an agency.
can you guys tell me pros and cons please ?
@naveenkumar747
liked the conversation and best part, I ordered book on Amazon, let us see how it goes
@DxrrkSide
Amazing, thank so much for this. Did you finally start the agency?
@CRMediaTV
Great chat this
@CoursesxCasey
I know I just left a really long comment, but just at the 15:00 minute mark I heard something I also wanted to comment on.
Ran said he did a couple of pilots – and I do think that is key.
For anybody worried about taking that first step – yes – taking that first step that reduces your margins is tough, it costs money – that first step can be hard. I had the same issue when I made my first hire – but I'll just say this. You never have to take a big plunge – you can ease into it and take the MVP philosophy. Find some people who might start part-time or only work a couple of hours a week to ease into it to see if it's something you want to continue with. A small experiment like that can give you loads of info on whether you want to keep going down that road. My first few hires all started part-time because I didn't know if I could handle the cost. They all ended up full-time afterwards.
Now, I don't know why Ran's pilots failed – maybe he can share – but pilots and small experiments definitely helped me out in running my firm.
Great video again, Ran and John! Thanks for posting!
@CoursesxCasey
Great conversation.
It's interesting, when I started my business back in 2012 (in my case a software dev firm), I always wanted it to be a company/firm/agency rather than me freelancing. However, my motivations weren't financially driven – for me it was more about the day to day work that I wanted to experience. More specifically, I wanted to be leader of a team who motivated, coached, managed, and trained a group of developers. I really liked that idea on top of the other things that come in running a team. I pictured that freelance wouldn't give me that type of satisfaction.
Over 10 years later, I can say my motivations are still true. I think it's important to think about things more than just financial motivators. Of course this is still a business so it's important, but as John mentioned, it can take 6 years or more to just get back to your same financial stand point – margins hurt, there is a lot more overhead, and a lot more complication, but besides the long term potential financial upside, sometimes you want to consider just the type of work you're doing. Agency work opens up a whole new world to you that you might enjoy.
But full transparency – it is very hard to grow. We went from 1 to 2 to 6 people, and then eventually back down to 2 right now. So long term financial reasons might be a motivator, but I think the other aspects of running a business and leading a team are other benefits to consider if that's for you.
Side note – taking a vacation – definitely a milestone in running an agency 🙂
Again, great conversation.
@markanthonydealagdon2634
love this ❤
@JeromeBertrem1
Hey Ran, it would be intresting to see how both of you evolved in those 5 years since this video. Certainly you and John must have grown a lot since 😉
@pauls1883
Who says you need an office and full time staff to start an agency.
@JWMCMLXXX
Shoutout to rich homie Ran.
I really had no idea where the ceiling was for freelancing. This gave me some valuable insight into the business for me. Thank you very much.
@GlimmArin
Flux are you Israeli? I am and I’ve also created my design agency two weeks ago. Any chance we could hop on a call?
@abeblue
Do you know that in France, you cannot earn more than 72 600 Euros a year as freelance ? Thats a SHAME
@aldorodriguez7310
If you prefer steady and safe for peace of mind freelancing should be enough. It seems safe as long as your time is in the equation. Time is the most valuable variable. How we choose to spend it doing the things we love.
On the other hand if you are talking about entrepreneurship, you probably are interested spend some of your time practicing it. Risking capital, solving problems, uncertainty.
Earning less at first is the sacrifice required to spend time doing the things you love for your customers.
The doing becomes different. As an entrepreneur you are no longer a technician. You are a Salesman. A leader. A designer. A delegator.
Deciding the road depends on how you like to spend your time; so you design your business based on the lifestyle you want to live.
With the amount of cash flow you are making you could even buy a business just for fun. Become an investor and skip the business owner phase.
@Arga-87
Same starting samll digital Marketing Agency…
@sanketgajare4112
Thank you so very much for sharing your Agency and Freelancer experience…I'm really glad, since I've decided to start business Yes I'm still stuck to Start with Freelancer or Digital Agency. This video is really helpful Jonathan 👍👍🔥
@alexandramiracle
I know Jonathan 🤩 How are you? We met each other in Germany 🇩🇪 I remember him inspired by Design Thinking 🏆 I have a question about to create a flow of clients? I don’t have clients and decided to search design agent. Could you recommend something what can help to have 3-5 projects per month?
@nickesgimba1434
I love this… it is super insightful
@gracedreamy2925
I am a freelancer, and my boss wants me to join the agency (his own agency account). My own business is very different from the work I am supposed to do under agency. Now. the issue is, Upwork doesnt allow more than one account. How can I pursue my business on the side and make a separate profile which he plans to connect to the agency account?
@fernandopaiva85
Four years later and this video looks like it was made for me. Thank you so much, man!
@10Web
Cool video! Love the format. Btw we've posted an interview video on our channel where growth hackers share tips and tricks on how to grow your agency, so if anyone is interested I'll leave the link here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjfG9Ho_BoE&t=133s
@derekuhm
I love this guy's honesty. Learned a ton as well. Thank you so much for sharing this conversation!
@iamdanfleser
like for the moaca
@akshatgupta6565
Valuable one 🔥
@motzam324
That was so insightful, I really need to know what you think about the MBA degree would it be helpful for someone thinking to kickstart his/her own agency, any thoughts?
@VansSkully
Great conversation
Anonymous
agencies definitely not for people who like traveling and going on vacations :/
@himanshukalane1577
rans forhead given me anxiety.
@ThisDesignLife
Three years later. It would be interesting if Jonathan is close to being that Millionare that he talked about at 7:12
@cjpalorma6688
Nice content!
@hasanhoque7499
Awesome! this made me comment here! Thanks, guys!
@Joe-ss9cr
Guys says yes 39 times in the first 3 minutes.
@johndavenport8843
Good insight here but forget the vacation. Building an agency is building a business and requires full on, all the time. Freelancing your free, running a business and you are a dog on a chain. (20 years of experience talking here)
@PMPEducator
Waste of time. These guys are selling their courses. Who needs a website which you can make yourself. They are selling fake dreams to sell their course. That is their business model.
@koala_8027
wow.. this really opened my eyes! Great video.
@stevenjchang
So it looks like Jonathan runs a Design agency,
Does the advice apply the same for Developers? Or do you think there are some notable differences?
@pravinkumarambekar1623
Great Video !
@lissy886
Very useful…Thank you!!
@allsako
Hi guys! It's amazing conversation!
Let me know more about your steps to creating agency?
@aarushidhir2301
Extremely interesting conversation, thanks.
@camilleannalvarez3694
Hello. I am a freelancer with 3 clients and I wanted to start an agency within my family bec I think I can train them for Customer Service VA field. My question is, how can I approach clients and how can I get the pay directly to my account rather than to theirs? Thanks
@itsalexoh
Man, I've been freelancing as a filmmaker for 6 years now and have been recently thinking a lot about going down the agency route. It really helped to set my expectations when Jonathan shared that when he made the switch from freelancer to agency, it took him 6 MORE years. Super valuable insight and goes to show success is built slow and steady.
@MoeezAhmed
Did anyone noticed Ran's photo in John's studio?
@kaanyilmaz9139
Hey man, that was super informative for me. I've been asking the same question to myself and I'll read that 2 books super soon. Thanks, Flux!
@DanBorgia
I get gigs on Upwork, where can I find developers to form a team? Upwork as well?
@SameerKongath
informative
@apexwebdesigns
Tim? Was that Timothy Feund by any chance ????
@Boardgames_254
I have an agency but as a freelancer I am not that bad ..advice
@mariabogado1973
Loved this!!!
@tmit9992
I don't get it. He is like we pitch and got this and that project. Where do you pitch? How do you get the information that a company is looking for a projects? I hate partial information….