Should I Start My Own Marketing Agency?
Thinking of starting your own agency but wondering if your idea is viable?
I’ve been there. As the founder of The Campfire Circle, I experienced similar pain points that you do. I got sick of scaling other people’s agencies without much recognition so I started my own.
Whether your a freelancer, a part of an agency or a marketer at a brand, agency ownership may be your logical next step.
If you’ve secretly been wanting to start your own marketing agency, this post will help you determine if agency ownership is right for you and get you on your path to independence.
Is The Marketing Agency Industry Too Saturated?
Every type of new business needs a solid pulse on their industry. When considering starting a new agency, many people worry that the industry is already too saturated and thus, extremely competitive.
To understand if starting your own agency is viable, let’s look at some data.
The marketing agency industry is predicted to reach $769.9 billion by 2024 showing that there is plenty of money to go around for all agency owners.
Going into 2023, 99% of agency owners reported that they predict growth in revenue for the upcoming year which is great news because agencies are growing, not declining.
Because agencies don’t have much overhead, they are more profitable than other types of businesses making your future agency very tangible.
Only 8% of brands are satisfied with their current agency showing that there is a lot of room for your agency to enter into the space and wow your clients.
Thus far in 2023, more brands have opted for agency support than in 2022 showing that the demand for agencies is increasing.
Basically, your agency has a ton of potential to capitalize on the amount of money brands spend on PR and marketing. I’ll let you in on a little secret. There will be less competition for your new agency if you embrace a niche.
In general, even boutique agencies are a dime a dozen. But agencies specializing in a certain niche are sought out and more appealing to brands with certain pain points. Do a little research on your niche to determine if there is a need for your specialty.
Signs That Starting A Marketing Agency is Right For You
In order of importance, there are 5 signs that point to whether or not you are ready to start your own agency.
First, if you’re going to start your own agency, you need to be a risk taker. Starting a business is risky but worth it if you keep up.
Second, you need to be creative and unique in the way you market brands.
Third, you need to have proven marketing experience to gain immediate credibility with future clients.
Fourth, you need to be okay with the fact that it may take a bit before you earn substantial income. Landing new clients can be a slow build.
Fifth, you are a leader. You need to lead the team you build out within your agency and you need to lead strategy for all of your clients.
Top Reasons Why You Should Start Your Agency
If you think you have what it takes but are still unsure about starting an agency, consider the top reasons why you should start your own agency.
If you’re wanting to be an entrepreneur, service-based businesses like agencies are cheaper to launch than eCommerce as you don’t need to have an inventory of products.
The income for agency owners is pretty consistent since you’ll most likely charge your clients a retainer and have them sign a contract so that you can depend on the revenue.
If you want to have flexible hours and be your own boss, then you may enjoy owning an agency. You can scale up or down based on the hours you want to dedicate to your new business.
You’ll be building an asset so it’s possible that you can sell your agency in a few years if you decided to do so.
Deciding Which Services Your Agency Offers
When in the planning stages of your agency, it’s crucial to identify the services you will offer.
If you want to start out small, only promote the services you personally know you can handle. If you want to expand your offering, you can always hire freelancers ad-hoc on Fiverr or UpWork. If you’re going to contract out some of your services or hire employees, you can wait until a client or two comes on board.
However you go about it, your agency’s services need to be defined before you can launch and gain traction.
In the chart below, you’ll see that most agencies call themselves a “full service” agency so to stay competitive, define all of the services that make sense in your niche.
To get your wheels turning, here are the services that most agencies offer. Depending on your niche, you may want to add or subtract things from this list.
Social media marketing
Content generation
PR
Lead gen
Video marketing
Website and graphic design
Influencer marketing
Affiliate marketing
SEO
PPC
Content marketing
Email marketing
Branding
Events marketing
When I started my agency, I knew how to do most of the things on this list so I started offering the services I could handle on my own. Then, after I landed a few clients, I expanded my services with the help of freelancers. I mainly contract out SEO and video production and you can do the same thing and supplement what you offer as you land clients.
Crucial Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting An Agency
If you only take one thing away from this guide, let it be this list of questions.
Depending on what time it is, grab a cup of coffee or pour a glass of wine and give these critical questions the brainstorming they deserve. Don’t do anything to start your own agency until thoroughly exploring these questions:
What services are you going to offer?
What industry or industries do you want to work with?
What makes your agency unique?
What talent do you need to fill the gaps?
What will your pricing structure look like?
Define Your Niche
While there is room in the marketplace for your agency to succeed, you need to stick out. And that involves choosing a niche.
While it’s tempting to cast a wide net, owning a niche will actually bring in more business because brands look to the experts with the most expertise in their industries.
Examples of niche industries include B2B marketing, fashion, tech, etc. Or, some agencies gravitate to being platform specific. Examples of these types of agencies include TikTok influencer marketing, Shopify stores, Etsy shop growth, etc.
Take me for example. I started The Campfire Circle as a boutique agency. That’s it. While I did land some business, I quickly realized that I needed a niche for my agency. Having so much experience scaling agencies, I created an agency for agencies.
Tap into your strengths and passions and identify what makes your agency unique.
Do I Need a Business Loan to Start My Agency?
A business loan will help you grow your agency faster but you can still start your agency without a loan.
If you want to go the funding route, you can reach out to investors or your local bank. Both will want to see a solid business plan. Here is my favorite resource for creating a business plan and it even has examples and a free template.
New agencies spend their funding on their website, social media ads, email marketing, hiring employees, and hiring people like The Campfire Circle to help them grow sooner than later.
If funding isn’t an option, you may experience some slow growth but it doesn’t mean that you can’t build a thriving agency. Perhaps don’t quit your day job yet and at your own pace, start building the foundation of your agency.
12 Things To Put In Place Before Launching
If you choose to start your own agency, I want you to be successful. From having worked with a ton of up-and-coming agencies, I know all about the assets you need to have buttoned up before you launch your agency.
Here are the 12 things you need to put in place before launching your own agency:
Create your portfolio
Build a website
Secure your social presence
Lead magnets
Register your agency
Choose the right tools
Document a promotional plan
Create a network
Join communities
Identify talent/partners you need to hire
Testimonials and social proof
Purchase a list or manually build a list of brands you want to work with
Agency Owner Goals
I’ll admit it, I started my agency to gain income to support my family. First and foremost, we all want our agency to be profitable.
Growth isn’t that hard. For small and up-and-coming agencies, over half of them have 5-10 clients and report good revenue from these clients. So, the ultimate goal is to land 5-10 clients. I don’t know about you, but to me, that makes agency ownership a little less intimidating.
With 80% of agencies focusing on retaining the clients they have, it’s pretty obvious that client retention should be the ultimate goal of your agency. To retain clients for the long haul, make sure you have everything in place to keep brands happy and coming back for more.
Final Thoughts: I’m Ready To Start My Agency
There are so many things to identify before deciding whether or not you should start an agency, let alone launch it. That’s why I built The Campfire Circle. We offer consulting for agencies in their infancy stage so that you can go into the industry with a solid strategy and growth plan.
Choosing to start an agency is just the first step. Once you’ve identified the assets and services that make up your agency, you’ll be ready to launch. After you launch, you need to find the sweet spot between client work and promoting your agency.
While starting an agency is extremely viable if you get all your ducks in a row, be sure that you have the time and resources for the long haul, as it takes time to build your presence and credibility.
What is the number one reason why you haven’t launched your own agency yet? I’d love to discuss in the comments below!
