The hidden traps and pitfalls of founding an agency with Rob Day

In this episode I talk to Rob Day about the traps and pitfalls of founding an agency business.

When Laurence and I started our digital agency back in 2004 we didn’t have a business plan or exit strategy. We just enjoyed doing the work and wanted to continue doing it and get paid. We grew organically taking people on when we couldn’t handle the workload.

Over time we got more work and therefore needed more staff which meant finding more work to keep the staff happy (and paid).

We then did less of the work we enjoyed (i.e. designing and coding) and doing more of the work we didn’t enjoy, and had never been trained to do (i.e. management and sales).

Without a clear vision for the business (and for ourselves) we spent more time in the doing and less time in the being. We felt that we needed to become a well respected agency doing innovative work but we didn’t know what that meant for us individually and also what it meant for the future.

Who wants to think about exit strategy when you’re doing work you love?

Who CAN think of exit strategy when you’re too busy trying to feed the beast?

And why even think of an exit? If there’s a need to exit why did we start the business in the first place?

If this story sounds familiar to you then you’ll relate to this episode of the podcast with Rob Day, cofounder of Liquid Light, a digital agency based in Brighton. Amongst other things he now coaches agency founders by sharing his knowledge and awareness of the hidden traps and pitfalls of founding a service based business.

If you’re early in your journey then you’ll learn what to look out for as you grow your business. If you’re a seasoned agency founder you’ll probably nod your head in agreement and maybe be inspired to look at your work differently.