The 5 Things Most Online Agency Owners Get Wrong
When you made the choice to step into agency ownership, were you prepared for just how different it would be from operating as a solopreneur?
As the one and only implementer in your business, you only had to worry about managing one person - yourself. But with that simplicity comes limitations - a glass ceiling that’s impossible to break through on your own.
Agency ownership allows you to scale as large as you want - as large as you can dream. But having a team comes with its own set of challenges. And if you’re not prepared to manage and lead your team properly, agency ownership will make you feel MORE trapped than you did before.
As an agency owner myself, and a business couch for online agency owners, I can see the common stumbling blocks coming from a mile away - and I hope after reading this blog, you can avoid these traps by learning from the mistakes of those who’ve already made them and came out the other side.
Let’s dive into the 5 Things Most Online Agency Owners Get Wrong!
#1 - They Hold Onto What’s No Longer Serving Them
The switch from solopreneur to agency owner will require you to do a little bit of pruning within yourself and your business, clearing the way for growth. Many of the changes made will require you to release control, and trust your team.
Here are a few things you might be clinging to:
The belief that you still need to be a client’s main point of contact or involved in the actual implementation of their deliverables. (We’ll talk about this a bit more later)
Keeping your services exactly the same, and not adapting them to fit within your new business model.
Keeping old services that don’t support your new mission and vision as an agency.
Failing to increase your prices to accommodate your agency’s overhead costs
These changes may feel hard, especially at first! But I want to encourage you to stop avoiding the hard things, and letting fear keep you stagnant. Change equals growth, but first you have to embrace it!
🎧 Related Podcast Episode: The 10 Things Successful Agency Owners Have in Common
In this episode I’m sharing a fast and furious list of things the successful agency owners within my three programs all have in common.
#2 - They Wait Until They’re at Capacity to Hire
This, my friend, is called reactive hiring and it is something that can and should be avoided.
Here’s one potential situation you might find yourself in: You have done an amazing job attracting new leads and selling your services. So well, in fact, that you and your team are BUSY, which is GREAT! But you know that if your team members take on one more client right now, the quality of the services will suffer because they’re dangerously close to capacity.
Then one day, you find yourself on an incredible consultation call with a client you would LOVE to work with. But, oh no, you have no one to assign to the client! Now you’re scrambling, rushing the process, and ultimately putting the first warm body into a position without vetting them properly.
And I can assure you, in my experience, those hires rarely work out.
So, do it the right way and hire PROACTIVELY.
Look at your org chart and where your business is headed to help you decide who your next hire should be. Then once you or your team has reached 80% capacity, that is the time to begin the search for your next team member.
When done right, finding and hiring a new team member can take a few weeks or more. Factor in the time you’ll need to onboard this new team member, and if all works out the way it should, they’ll be fully onboarded by the time you have new work to assign them!
#3 - Don’t Allow Their Team Members to Be Client Facing
I am 100% in favor of there being one point of contact for your clients. What I’m not in favor of is that point of contact always having to being YOU.
By being the only person your clients see and speak with, you’re essentially:
Keeping yourself stuck as the bottleneck in your agency, and bogging down your day with client communication.
Not fully trusting your team’s capabilities to care for your clients properly.
Not allowing your team members to learn how to solve client problems themselves.
My goal for you as CEO is to step away from the majority of implementation and client work and become the visionary in your business, to have the time to work ON your business not just in it, and to create an agency that can seamlessly run day-to-day without you.
So instead, appoint someone on your team to be an account or project manager to oversee and communicate with your clients, while keeping you in the loop on an as needed basis.
Believe that the amazing team members you’ve hired can represent your business and serve your clients well. The more you show your team that you trust them and their abilities, the more they will rise to the occasion.
And when problems do arise, because they will, lead from behind by providing direction and guidance to your team members, while still keeping those important client boundaries in place.
🎧Related Podcast Episode: The Leader Within - Cultivating Self-Leadership in Your Online Agency Team
I am a firm believer that every single member of your team, no matter their role, is a leader in their own right and it is my responsibility as CEO to empower them to develop those skills. By supporting them in seeing themselves as leaders and providing opportunities for growth, you can foster a culture of ownership, dedication and excellence within your company.
#4 - They Don’t Prioritize Team & Company Culture
Working from home and building an agency with team members from across the country is AMAZING, but the remote workstyle also makes it easy for your team members to put their heads down and isolate themselves.
As an agency owner, it is imperative to prioritize team & company culture and finding ways to unify your team members. Weekly team meetings are an easy way to do this! Not only is it a time to connect about ongoing client contracts, but it’s a time for camaraderie and gauge how your team members are doing on a personal level.
In addition, consider the following: What is it about your agency that’s going to make your team members want to stick around for the long haul? Because I can say with 100% certainty, a paycheck isn’t the key to retention.
Your team members want to feel valued!
Try a few of the following with your team to boost morale and encourage connection:
Celebrate your team members’ birthdays and work anniversaries with a small gift card or a message in slack
Shoutouts to team members who are doing exceptional work
Happy hours or virtual game hours with your team
Leadership retreats (virtual or in person)
Quarterly team trainings
Download this FREE guide for 10 of the most impactful types of team meetings, why you need them, and how to structure them to get in, get out, get to the points, and, of course, get results!
#5 - They Daydream About Their Ideal Day Instead of Taking Action to Pursue It
Have you ever sat down and really thought about what your ideal day as a CEO could look like? This might look like only working 4 -5 hours per day, or having the flexibility to go out to lunch with a friend once a week. Maybe you want to have the ability to take a nap every afternoon!
Your days can be whatever you want them to be, but you have to be willing to do the work to make it a reality. As you create an action plan, be realistic and honest about what obstacles are getting in the way of your ideal day.
Here’s an example from one of the women inside my program, The Agency Thrivemind. Let’s call her Lucy.
When I first began working with Lucy, we brainstormed what her ideal week could look like. For her, an ideal week meant always having Fridays off. But with her work load at the time, that wasn’t possible. So she took baby steps. She reduced the amount of hours she was working each week, by delegating certain tasks to team members. At first, this lightened her load enough to begin working only half days on Fridays. She remained consistent, taking more and more tasks off her own plate. And eventually, she reached her goal!
It may take time and a lot of baby steps before your ideal day becomes possible, and that’s okay. Be patient, be consistent and you will get there.
Have you made any of the 5 mistakes above?
It’s ok if you have! We’ve all found ourselves in these common traps that keep us and our agencies stagnant.
Now that you know some of the common pitfalls to look out for, it’s up to you to take a hard look at yourself and your business, and find the areas where you can grow and improve as a leader and CEO.
Let’s Stay Connected
If you’re ready to get out of the doing in your online business, and ready to begin exploring the possibilities of an online agency model, I have lots of good resources to help you on your journey. I encourage you to check out my How She Did That podcast, and my Shop full of mini-courses and trainings!
Send me a DM on Instagram with any questions you have about agency ownership! @thetashabooth
- Tasha Booth, Agency Coach & Owner of The Launch Guild
Tasha Booth is an agency owner, podcaster, coach. She is the Founder & CEO of The Launch Guild - a full service launch support agency working with established coaches and course creators with Course & Podcast Launches. Her team works together to support their clients in being able to focus back onto their zones of genius.
She is passionate about helping women build profitable and sustainable agencies that they love, so they can fully step into the CEO role and create a life they dream of - one where naps are ALWAYS encouraged.
