how to establish an agency remotely as a solopreneur

Ready to transition from solopreneur to leading a digital agency? Here's how to build an agency remotely, plus 9 top strategies for success.

If you’ve been working as a solopreneur, chances are you’ve been frustrated by your lack of capacity to take on more clients and earn more money. At some point, there’s a limit to how much just one person can do. And that thinking often precipitates thoughts about how to start an agency as a solopreneur. We’ve covered how to be a location-independent solopreneur previously on the blog. Starting an agency remotely as a solopreneur could be your next step. But it might be tricky to know where to start.  

First, it’s worth considering if agency-life is for you. It doesn’t suit everyone, as you’ll need to be the type of person who’s comfortable hiring and firing people, managing staff, meeting client deadlines and expectations, and juggling lots of moving balls. 

As the owner of an agency, you’ll move from being the one who usually does the work, to being a manager overseeing all the different client projects and making sure your staff deliver on-time and on-budget. You’ll also need to set up systems for checking quality, optimising collaboration and communication, managing staff salaries, bringing in new clients, and taking risks. 

Below we look at some reasons to start an agency, the benefits of doing so, what types of industries you can start an agency in, and how to actually go about starting up an agency as a solo business owner. 

Reasons to start an agency

There are many reasons why starting an agency remotely as a solopreneur could be a good idea. The primary reason is of course expansion.

The focus of a digital agency (i.e. one that’s remote) is to provide good services to clients (much in the same way as a solopreneur). The big difference is that you can leverage the time and skills of a team of people. If your staff are experts in a range of fields, your agency will be able to work on a variety of client projects simultaneously. That means that you can take on far more clients and diverse projects than you would have had the capacity or experience for as a solopreneur, as you’re able to outsource different aspects to your team.

Other benefits of starting a fully-remote agency as a solopreneur include:

• Low start-up costs, especially if you already have a successful solopreneur business and brand
• The ability to hire freelancers on a project basis - so that you only pay for work when there is work
• Possibility of earning much higher profits as you can take on more clients 
• Access to a much larger pool of talent from around the globe
• Flexible working hours
• Access to clients from around the world

What does it take to start an agency?

With expansion comes responsibility. Changing from being a solo, self-employed freelancer to having an agency is a big step.

You’ll need to find, onboard, and train a range of staff or freelancers. You’ll also need to be able to manage your team, find new clients and manage relationships with them, track deliverables, and figure out pricing models that ensure a profit. Don’t forget that you’ll also be responsible for paying your staff salaries and freelancer commissions!

While you could opt for a fully-remote agency with a distributed team who are connected by digital communication and collaboration tools - you could also choose to start a traditional location-based agency too. 

Best industries for starting a remote agency

There are a range of options for industries in which you can launch a remote agency. Typically, most people associate agencies with digital marketing services. But you can also start an agency in, for example: 

• Social media marketing and content management
• Life coaching
• Travel bookings
• Property sales
• Management consulting
• E-commerce website design and management
• Public relations and communications

What’s important is that you can find a range of clients for your services to warrant hiring a team of freelancers or full-time staff to carry out the project work.

Starting an agency remotely as a solopreneur

Figuring out how to start an agency and scale from being a solo-employed freelancer to hiring staff can be complicated. You’ll need to do research and come up with a solid business plan. 

If you’re already being approached by clients and having to turn down work because you don’t have enough hours in the day - it may be easier than you think to start a small agency that you can grow over time. You don’t have to start big - and thanks to the ability to hire remote workers anywhere in the world, you can access the best talent and hire them on a contractual basis.

Here are some of the most important steps to take and to consider when starting a fully-remote agency (based on 9 things we learnt by becoming fully remote through extensive research).

9 strategies for success for solopreneurs starting their own digital agencies

1. Find your niche

Look at your skills and experience and consider what niche makes the most sense for you to start your agency in. Then look at your competitors, analyse what they do, and how you can offer unique selling points or improve on service offerings. 

2. Decide where your business will operate

You’ll also need to decide if you want to operate in a specific country or region. Oftentimes this decision is linked to where your company is incorporated and where you pay tax. 

Many agencies choose to register companies in Estonia via the e-Residency program to take advantage of joining the EU single market, as well as Estonia’s seamless and efficient digital services. The tax rate in Estonia is the most competitive in the OECD, and they have established double-taxation agreements with over 60 countries.

3. Figure out the legal stuff

When you start an agency, you’ll also need to decide if you register it as a company. There may be different corporate legal structures to choose from depending on where you register the business. 

Consider the pros and cons of registering a company, your legal requirements and options. Many people chose to register a separate legal entity to protect themselves from any personal lawsuits if they’re trading under their personal name.

And consider options like the Estonian e-Residency program where you can register a company as a foreigner in Estonia and then trade within the EU market even if you live somewhere else like Kenya, Ukraine, the UK, Canada or Brazil. 

4. Consider how you will find clients

It’s best to start an agency when you have a clear plan of how you’ll land clients. Ideally, you’ll want to take on larger clients that have big budgets and require quite a varied amount of work. 

You may also need to put together a portfolio of jobs you’ve worked on, to show what you’re capable of. Testimonials can also help to provide social proof and credibility. 

As a solopreneur, you may have existing clients who want more work done for them. And you may want to use freelance marketplaces where clients are posting jobs that your agency could bid for. 

5. Organise your pricing and budget

It’s important to work out how you charge your clients. Will you offer service packages at set rates or hourly rates? Or would you offer a monthly subscription rate? By looking at competitors, gaps in the market and where there’s demand, you can figure out what will work best for your niche. 

6. Select the right team and allocate responsibilities

One of the most important parts of starting an agency is hiring or contracting the right people for the job. Finding great talent can be challenging, but there are a large number of freelancers globally who you can choose from when hiring remotely. 

There’s a range of freelancer platforms or marketplaces where you can see ratings for freelancers, and view some of their projects, earnings and experience. That can help you to evaluate applicants and find people who will be reliable and deliver great service. 

One useful tip for hiring is to provide a test assignment - that way you can see how people actually perform in practice. 

You may need to offer perks and benefits to attract top talent. And you’ll also need to establish an onboarding process to standardise the process of hiring new employees or freelancers.

7. Choose your communication and collaboration tools

Once you’ve hired staff, you’ll need to establish tools that everyone uses to communicate and collaborate, keep track of deadlines, and plan schedules. These digital tools can also help you to stay productive and improve morale by driving up engagement. 

You may want to opt for virtual desktops which can take care of safe backup and storage and are a great tool for a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy. 

8. Create policies, procedures and staff culture

Part of effective communication requires having policies and procedures in place so that staff know what’s expected of them. That may include a marketing and communications policy, a backup and disaster recovery plan and importantly - a remote work policy.

It’s equally important to establish procedures for work so staff know what tools to use, and how to go about their jobs. And agency culture can’t be overlooked - remote work culture needs to be purposefully cultivated on an ongoing basis to make sure your staff thrive in their roles so that you can retain them.

9. Have a plan for how you can scale up or down as needed

An often overlooked aspect of starting an agency is how you plan to scale up or down, as you take on or lose clients. And that also applies to times when your staff may be on leave or sick.

Downscaling can be a particular challenge, especially when you’ve got full-time staff working for you. That’s why many remote digital agencies choose to hire freelancers. This way, when there’s a dip in work, they can scale back their staff capacity. That in itself can result in staff leaving the agency to work for competitors. 

So having a carefully thought-out plan to try and maintain a consistent level of work for your staff, is another vital component of running a successful agency.

Final thoughts on building your own digital agency 

There are so many benefits to setting up an agency, but it does require careful planning and consideration before jumping in.

Once you’ve explored your niche, unique selling points and your overall strategy, you can embark on a fully-remote agency journey as you transition from being a solopreneur. 

This article was written by guest contributor and seasoned digital nomad Andy Stofferis (www.andysto.com).