One of the questions I am now often asked is, "So how are you liking agency life?" So far, I love it. Sure, I enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of being on my own, but there was one big drawback, I can't scale. Or perhaps to use the trendy term, limited personal bandwidth. You have to make a decision, do I want to continue working on small-to-medium sized projects, or go bigger?
I'm fortunate that at Voce I get to work with companies like Sony, Yahoo, eBay and another big name soon to be announced. The simple fact of the matter is a single, sole-practioner can't help a major organization run a large social media program on a day-to-day basis, we're talking 20-30 hours a week minumum. I guess you could, but it would be your only client, or would limit what else you can do on your own.
You need to have a team. We're fortunate to have a number of smart people on staff that can all work together.
A colleague that operates on their own recently asked me about a growth plan for their services. One of their goals was to work with enterprise firms on internal collaboration. I said I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I just didn't see a firm with 10,000+ employees turning to a 1-person shop for a project of that nature.
There is plenty of room/business for internal education though. I spent plenty of time under the 'Hyku' banner conducting workshops for firms, but those engagements are often limited in time/scope.
I wanted more.
Yes it was a tough decision, but I'm glad I made it.
Visitor Comments
You are absolutely correct. To service large clients as a solo practitioner you have 3 choices: join a big company, join an agency, or build your own agency. Sounds like you made the right choice for yourself here.
Posted by: Chip Griffin | February 29, 2008 8:50 AM
personally I was not surprised when you joined an agency. I recognized all the things you say in your post. I feel that "scaling" is not about being able to put a project team together but about having a core team that becomes part of the DNA of the organization and can walk in to a client and make some much needed decisions and execute as one entity.
I look forward to watching your project scope grow as well as your overall growth...in the meantime, I am chugging along here in ATL - trying to scale :)
Posted by: Sherry Heyl | February 29, 2008 9:17 AM
I'm guessing that those who claim you "sold out" either are a touch jealous or maybe just a little ignorant. We all make choices. Sometimes money is a bigger factor than others.
I'm glad you have the opportunity to work on larger projects. That experience will only add to your expertise. Good on ya!
Posted by: Chris Cree | February 29, 2008 4:34 PM
I've been down this path too. I started my own PR consultancy,grew it and had to hire freelancers. But at some point you gotta start asking yourself, "what is it I want to be?"
For me, I needed a corporate or agency gig next for a bevy of reasons. But I always know this - I can start my own gig when I good and damn well want to do it again.
You have options now....you can do the agency gig, or go back to this again someday...you aren't boxed in, my friend.
Posted by: Jerry Grasso | March 17, 2008 2:23 PM