Going from freelance to agency
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It’s safe to say it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. As a freelancer you tend to do one project for a certain amount of time and then move on, but as a business you want to maintain relationships and see the impact of your work play out. “
Sophie Turton, The Joyful.
Going freelance is a big step but what about after that? You might have been freelancing for a few years, maybe even a few months, and for many, working as a solo act is the dream. For others, up-skilling and scaling up becomes the obvious next step. Whether you’re a marketer, designer, accountant or PR, starting an agency is often the rung on the career ladder.
Many of our clients have made this leap in recent years and have a wealth of advice on how to make it work, what to consider and when to make the transition. We caught up with Sophie Turton, Co-Founder of The Joyful, to discuss her move from freelance to Agency Founder.
Sophie worked as a freelance Digital Marketer for 10 years but tells us she never wanted to work as a freelancer specifically. Back in 2017 Sophie gave a talk at SEO Brighton. Afterwards, she was contacted by Alice Reeves who had been in the audience at the time.
Both disenfranchised by the state of the marketing industry and deeply passionate about changing it, Sophie and Alice discussed their experiences over a drink and felt a strong connection. They decided to start a digital marketing agency together and The Joyful was born.
What advice do you have on choosing the right business partner?
We went away to Spain to plan out the business and get a clear sense of our brand values, it was like a shotgun wedding! Alice and I are so different that it works really well, it’s like we’re two sides of the same brain, super detail orientated vs. big picture. I work best on a blank canvas, whereas Alice is great at making sense of my ideas and putting them into a logistical plan.
I would advise being really clear on your own strengths and weaknesses, and take some time to really reflect on where you need help. If I met me, I would have never gone into business with myself but meeting Alice in the serendipitous way I did, it has been a great fit. That’s not to say we haven’t had to work on it and now with us being in different parts of the country, open communication is more important than ever.
Alice won’t mind me saying that we both got on each other's nerves in the beginning due to our differences and it would have been so easy to just give up, but we were both committed to seeing this through and building something great, which we both knew we needed each other for.
What do you think is the primary difference between freelance work and an agency business?
When working for yourself, there is nowhere to hide, you are forced to confront your darkest shadows. It’s safe to say it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. As a freelancer you tend to do one project for a certain amount of time and then move on, but as a business you want to maintain relationships and see the impact of your work play out.
There’s definitely an element of faking it until you make it when starting a marketing agency. You should be prepared to invest, put yourself out there and learn something new every day
Do you have any advice on scaling up and making new hires?
If you’re going to use subcontractors after you take on clients, just be very transparent about it. You can’t do everything yourself but ultimately you are responsible for the success of your brand’s work and for the quality you deliver.
Establish a clear team structure, communications system and terms with anyone you hire to support your business. Perhaps you and your co-founder are the only members of the team who are client facing, perhaps you have an account manager you trust to engage with clients. Think about these things carefully.
Also, make sure you’re using the right modes of communication to set briefs and deadlines, ensuring anyone delivering work for you has clear brand guidelines and a detailed understanding of your client’s needs and what your business offers. It’s admin but as a founder, it’s your responsibility and the outcome could make or break your business.
Outsource for your agency where you need to. We hired an accountant from day one, we took the financial and legal responsibilities of running a company seriously and more than anything just wanted the peace of mind that we were set up for success.
Hiring an accountant might save you time but it’s more than that for me, it frees up my energy. This allows me to focus on my creativity and bring the best elements of being freelance to an agency business, while not getting caught up in the numbers.
“It’s not good enough for businesses to take from planet and people, prioritising profit above all else. We need to pioneer positive change”
Sophie Turton, The Joyful.
How did you change your pricing for clients after going from freelance to agency?
We price based on value. This is the most effective way for us to operate. Some agencies operate on a day rate basis but we feel that our value goes over and above what we could produce in any given day, so it makes more sense to set bespoke fees that echo the client’s needs and the value they get.
It takes a little work to get to the stage where you feel comfortable setting business costs, and having an accountant definitely helped with that. Once you’ve researched what your competitors are charging and understand your cashflow and overheads, you can start to evaluate the value you provide as a business. From here, things become a lot simpler and you’re able to confidently set rates that reflect the market and your professional offering.
What about managing clients? Do you ever have to say no to anyone?
We have very clear brand values at The Joyful and want to work with clients who share our vision. We’ll never directly refuse to work with a client but if there are differences in approaches to working, we’ll explain our values and why they are so important to us. If a client see the benefits of shifting their mindset slightly and doing business a bit differently - ie prioritising planet and people as much as profit - we’ll happily support them to make the shift.
Ultimately with any freelance or agency client, you want synergy, a collaborative and creative spirit and the ability to get the best from each other, so that’s always worth bearing in mind when considering if a client is worth taking on and if you’ll be a benefit to each other.
What do you think makes The Joyful different from other digital marketing agencies?
We work with movers, shakers and change makers. Businesses who are doing something different in their industry, or who have a stake in the ground about how they want the world to be.
It’s not good enough for businesses to take from planet and people, prioritising profit above all else. We need to pioneer positive change and create a more conscious approach to business growth. You can find more about The Joyful and our clients here and follow us on Instagram here.
