Ugly Truths of Owning a Creative Agency

The reality of entrepreneurship is that fifty percent of entrepreneurs will fail in their first five years. I want to change this reality, so today’s video is about leveraging the ten things you need to know if you’re going to go the entrepreneur route- from success rates and failure chances to what helps and hinders your odds for success.

Client Relationships

10 Ugly Truths For Owning A Creative AgencyThe first truth that I want to address is understanding business relationships with clients. It’s not just about finding a client or negotiating the best rates; developing trusting relationships and your client’s expectations are also essential parts of your business. If you don’t take care to set these ground rules early on, they can snowball into waste opportunities in the future, costing you big money.

Visualization

Number two leads many people to think that they have to start a business but being the boss isn’t necessary. Instead, having a clear vision and clear executables are critical. So at the beginning, where you’re going to be just you, make sure you know your expectations of both your clients and yourself while maintaining strong consistency.

Scaling

Number three is scaling, which is a challenging part. Again, this goes to operations, the operations of your business, and how you scale and document things. If you don’t note these processes in detail and they are all in your head, you don’t have a scalable business.

Cash Flow

Number four is cash flow. You have to keep enough money for the business and not just rely on what’s coming in and not be out of money or capital. That’s a big mistake we’ve seen with other companies, even some successful ones.

Quality Control

10 Ugly Truths For Owning A Creative AgencyThe fifth ugly truth that I see with business owners is as they start to scale, the quality of their work sharply declines because they outsource tasks overseas or domestically. I know you’re a one-person show, and wearing all these hats has slowed your quality of work – this needs to be considered when scaling is taken into account.

Taking Ownership

The sixth ugly truth is being an employee in your own business. If you are an employee in your own business, then the business owns you. You don’t own the company. Unfortunately, many people who own businesses become employees instead and have to endure hardships like not having documents to protect their interests or hours spent at work without anything new.

Long Hours

The seventh ugly truth of an entrepreneur is long hours. When you move up in stature, clients are calling you after hours or due to emergencies. They might make requests such as needing a project by tomorrow or publishing now. When they don’t plan, and it becomes your problem to solve, take care of yourself.

Loneliness

The eighth ugly truth, and this is a big one: loneliness. Whether you’re just starting your business or have been struggling with it for years, there can be many hours when you feel alone. The solution? Put yourself in an environment where you will find other struggling people like you and want to help each other succeed.

Pressure

The ninth ugly truth about being a business owner is the pressure. As a business owner, you have to ensure that your office space, employees, and software are paid. In addition to those three things, you also have advertising costs that come out of your budget each month. On top of these four financial tasks, there are so many other factors that come into play.

External Factors

The tenth ugly truth is that external factors, such as the economy and recessions, can be hard to avoid. However, understanding them will help you better handle any issues that arise in your business. Remember how often people say, “it’s not what gets broken but how it gets fixed?” Unfortunately, that remains true in this situation.

Final Thoughts

10 Ugly Truths For Owning A Creative AgencyAs always, it’s great to assist any fellow entrepreneurs in their pursuit of success. I hope these truths help put things in perspective. Unfortunately, there are too many business owners out there that are naive and needed this information. I love you guys; thank you so much for watching. Adrian Boysel is signing off from here on out, and remember, keep looking up.