How To Start An Online Service Agency
[Part 2 of 5-part series]
I want to continue the discussion about building an online service agency this month, therefore I must talk about the beginning steps to starting one. As one who has had a couple of agencies (a boutique digital marketing agency and prior to that a virtual assistant agency), I know how intimidating it can feel as you begin taking your first steps to building your own. This is why I wanted to explain these first steps and how to start an online service agency.
What Is An Online Service Agency
“An online service agency is a multi-team online business that delivers online or virtual services for their clients. A couple of examples include virtual assistant agencies, graphic design agencies, and digital marketing agencies.”
An online service agency is simply an agency related to providing online services. Although most associate it with digital marketing it really so many more types. An online service agency can be anything in the online world including some of these:
- Blogging
- Copywriting and Proofing
- Creative or Design
- Digital Marketing
- OBM (Online Business Management)
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Social Media Manager
- Transcription
- Virtual Assistant
I’m sure there are some I have not considered or included but I believe that is many of the types of online service agencies. If you are currently an online service provider you may be considering growing or scaling your business into an agency. Since I discussed the many indicators and reasons in my last edition, I will move on to the “how” at this time.
Quote About the Sustainability Of The Agency
“The pandemic forced nearly every business to adapt its business strategies. One of those adaptations was how they market to potential customers. More people than ever are spending time at home and on internet-connected devices. It doesn’t seem like this will change coming out of the pandemic, either.
The result?
More potential customers using digital marketing strategies.”
One Reason To Begin
As we discussed in our last article there are a number of reasons to build your online service agency so I will not repeat those here.
I will say, however, that one of the biggest things you must have in order to begin to build your agency is client work. You have to have the business to be able to add a team member (or more).
This is a must to grow.
You should be able to pass client work off to the team member you onboard, otherwise, you will not be able to be successful in building your agency.
-TD
So, clients are a must to begin building your agency. The other thing you must be able to do is delegate. If you cannot delegate tasks you will struggle with building an agency. It is imperative that you are able to hand work off because you must be able to dedicate time to work On your business.
Starting Steps To Build Your Online Service Agency
As you can guess there are a number of steps to take in order to start your own agency. I will break out the beginning steps and then will continue to walk you through more over the next few articles. Let’s dig into the starting steps.
Step One To Starting An Online Service Agency:
Put Processes In Place — you must document all of your processes. I cannot stress this one step enough! It is a must and if you know me at all, this is something you have heard me mention the importance of having processes documented.
Step Two To Starting An Online Service Agency:
Decide What To Delegate — This is really important and will help you move forward.
How Can You Know What To Delegate?
One of the ways to do this is to list every task you do from turning on the lights in the office to shutting the door at the end of the day. List them all out. You may be surprised at how much you really do.
Keep a journal of all tasks for a minimum of three days, although I really recommend a week (an average week, not one you know will have more or less to do than your average work week).
Step Three To Starting An Online Service Agency:
WONDER System — I suggest then taking the tasks and labeling them according to a system I started. I use the letters W-O-N-D-E-R.
- W = tasks you do NOT do really Well.
- O = tasks you know you want to Outsource.
- N = Necessary tasks you know you alone must complete.
- D = tasks you Dislike.
- E = task you Enjoy doing.
- R = Revenue Producing tasks only you can do (this does not mean you cannot outsource client tasks that bring in revenue but rather the tasks that are your passion and produce revenue and you want to keep doing).
Step Four For Starting An Online Service Agency:
Put Tasks On Your Outsource (or team) List — take tasks labeled “O, D, or W” and add them to a list that you will outsource — this is your starting outsource list. This is where you begin to see what your team can really do for you.
Step Five To Starting An Online Service Agency:
Prioritize Your List — Next, you need to take that list and prioritize it. What is most important to get off your to-do list and put on a Team Member’s list? Start with at least ONE task you can begin to delegate to someone else (we will get to hiring your team in one of the upcoming articles). It could be some of the tasks you really dislike doing, or even those you do not perform well (they probably take up more time than they should if you do not do them well).
Summary
These really are the beginning steps to building your online service agency. I will discuss
If you just cannot wait you can pick up my Scaling Your Business Checklist. This is a helpful resource to use as you begin to build your online service agency.
And I wish you great success in building yours! If you need more help, I have great budget-friendly programs that run for 3 to 6 months, depending on your need. Feel free to set up a Free Mini-Session to discuss it with me.
Until next time and to your continued success!
*Disclaimer — I am not a lawyer nor do I specialize in labor laws so be sure to check with a lawyer. In some States, if a contractor works with you on a regular basis they can be viewed as an employee. Be sure to do a contract and spell out all scope of work. You should not dictate when they (the contractor) must work (hours) and should not provide equipment to your contractors. Make yourself aware of IRS regulations regarding contractors (or laws within your country if not in the U.S.). These statements and this blog (all information) are written in good faith to help others but it is your responsibility to make sure your business is keeping the law and I do not take any responsibility for it.
[Originally Published on www.fearlessbusinessboss.com/blog]
