Many freelancers have difficulty keeping their businesses afloat. Many freelancers work on a per-project basis. This means they are constantly looking for new projects. This problem can be solved by growing into a small, productized agency that does projects and not billing freelancers for their work hours.
People who love the freedom to work on their own schedules often find that the elephant in the room is not something they can ignore: the constant search for new projects. It takes away time that could have been spent on projects and also requires a lot of effort.
Freelancers often worry that the next month may not be as productive as the one before. It can be difficult to work from home and enjoy the freedom of being able to control your cash flow.
Transitioning from freelance to managing an agency
It is important to remember that you cannot start an agency in a day. Either you can grow slowly into an agency or launch a product. Let’s take a look at both to see what challenges you might face.
- Freelancers often want to take on more work but lack the necessary resources. They can outsource part of their work or hire part-time workers to start.
- It is more difficult to launch a product. You can launch a course, ebook, or software. The passive income dream sounds great, but most people don’t succeed.
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Productizing your existing services
Productizing is a better way to switch from freelance to building and scaling a company. Productization does not mean putting a price tag on services and then selling them as an a la carte product. It is all about optimizing your processes and reducing your core services to create a profitable business with high returns on investment.
One of the greatest advantages to running a productized agency, is that:
- Know who your ideal customer is.
- You can create marketing campaigns easily.
This means that you no longer need to search for new clients or projects. They will find you through your marketing efforts. Marketing can include anything, from referrals to content and paid advertising. It is not clear which marketing strategy is best for you. You can look at your competitors and then try out the strategies.
Deciding what product to produce
Now that you have the theory down, what part of your services should be produced ? It is obvious that not all services are the same. It will take a lot of time to analyze your current services, decide which ones to keep, and then bundle them together.
Why is recurring revenue important?
Recurring services are a key aspect of productizing. This eliminates the fear that freelancers have about their cash flow being unpredictable and short of funds.
A long-term recurring service that is either billed quarterly, or annually is the best. Agency owners can easily calculate their monthly recurring revenues, which makes it easier to make investments. They can then decide whether it is worth expanding their agency or hiring new staff. They can also invest in marketing activities in order to attract new leads.
