Most freelancers would not like to end their careers as a freelancer. A natural transition generally observed is going from a freelancer to an agency. Freelancing comes with a lot of freedom. Freedom about working on your own terms, choosing your schedule, your office, etc. A freelancer is largely on his or her own. However, a lot of freelancers feel the absence of career growth in the longer run. In all likelihood, most freelancers would not like to end their careers as a freelancer. They would want to step it up at some other level. A natural transition generally observed is going from a freelancer to an agency. However, not all freelancers can handle it since building an agency requires a whole lot of different skills as compared to being an independent freelancer. Let’s discuss how one can step up from being a freelancer to an agency: 1. Change the mindset Running an agency is equivalent to running a business. While some skills which you acquired as a freelancer will come in handy, a lot of new skills will be required. Hiring people, managing them, their career progression, resource allocation to projects, managing offices, generating work for all the team members, it is way more than what you used to do as an individual. Not all freelancers are cut out to run businesses. That’s okay. There are other alternatives as well. So, before getting all excited about this, just sit and think whether you really want to do this and are you ready for all this. 2. Do a pilot Having decided that you can do it, take one more step before you actually jump into setting up an agency. Do a pilot. It is always good to test waters first before entering into them. The way to do it is by creating a virtual team. Find skillful people who can offload you in case you take more work than you can individually do. If you are able to run through this virtual team experience, you are ready to take the next step. Another option is to hire an intern. You can help the intern learn and offload some of your repetitive tasks. You will also have a company at the workplace. It’s a low commitment way to start. 3. Register an LLP or Private Limited Company You now have experience of running a small team. The pilot has been largely successful. Clients would want to work with a registered firm. Having a registered firm is not only professional but also increases your credibility leading to high chances of landing a client. 4. Decide the workspace Once you have a basic team in place, and a registered company, you need to decide the workspace from where you would want to operate. COVID-19 has forced remote working experience on companies, many have uncovered untapped productivity levels. So, you can decide if that option works well for you. 5. Make the virtual team ‘Real’ The next step is to release legally […]
