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I have a confession to make. I’m unemployable.

It’s true! After running my own company for years, taking the responsibility and the risks and reaping the rewards, I’ll never be a good employee again. I wasn’t a good employee when I was employed so today I’m certain I’d make whomever hired me absolutely miserable.

But that isn’t to say creating an agency has been easy. It’s not.

It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done—and just when you get good at something, the business changes or, you know, something like a global pandemic happens, and you have to learn something new. Or completely change your business model. 

But it also is the best employment for me—and it could be for you, as well.

As we figure out what the next 18-24 months could look like, becoming your own boss might be an option for you.

Is Now the Time to Scale an Agency?

Some of you because you’ve been furloughed or laid off or because the business has scaled down or because the company has completely gone out of business.

Many people start businesses because they are really good at their craft. Often, they have a different way of doing things and they want to be in control of delivering better service, better results, better creative, or something else that’s just better. So they go out on their own—starting by freelancing and selling their services.

But there’s a hard limit to how much you can grow on your own. After all, time cannot be duplicated (trust me, I’ve tried!). At a certain point you need to hire people to help you—either as employees or contractors—and that often means you’re suddenly an agency—or another type of business—that can solve more and bigger problems for more customers. 

That’s a key difference between scaling an organization that can exist and thrive without your direct day-to-day involvement, and a lifestyle business that is a great job you create for yourself and maybe a handful of other people.

Whatever the reason—and whatever kind of agency you want to build—let’s talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and scale a business. 

Shownote Links

• 10 Key Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur
• Crucial Conversations
• Agency Jumpstart Program
• Spin Sucks Coaching Program
• Spin Sucks Community

About Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communications firm. She is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is the co-author of Marketing in the Round and co-host of Inside PR. Full bio