Scaling from Solo Freelancer to Agency Owner: Three Must-Take Steps

As a freelancer with years of experience, you may hit a point where you ask yourself: What do I want to do next? Where can I go from here? Freelancing is a constant hustle for many, and it's hard to sustain a high level of output forever.

But there's another way: Channel the grind into scaling from freelancer to agency owner. Yes, that still involves hard work. But once you get the ball rolling, growth will result from a joint effort—and not at your expense.

Below are three things I can confidently say made a difference in my solo-to-CEO journey.

1. Learn How to Delegate Effectively

It's hard to be an effective delegator. Letting go of what you believe is the perfect approach certainly takes practice. After all, no one else will do things exactly the way you would.

But different isn't necessarily bad. Once you establish the fundamentals for a specific process, there should be wiggle room for others to take ownership and improve upon it.

That's why process documentation is a good compromise. It sets expectations for how you want things done and ensures that problems don't scale on par with your business.

The key to striking a good balance in investing your time and effort in documentation is to avoid getting too deep into the minutiae. Things change, and processes are never truly static.

So give the most important details about the task at hand and define what successful completion looks like. Tools like Scribe are excellent for that. They help you demystify complex processes and turn them into easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorials with pictures and annotations.

For each major business function and role you've been handling, record all the important processes and tools necessary to do the job well so you can successfully pass them off.

The next step is to just start hiring people to take on those roles. It's a scary but important step for scaling.

Ease into it by working with independent contractors instead of jumping straight into hiring employees. Just make sure you're not misclassifying employees as independent contractors with your arrangement.

Test-drive your process documentation skills by starting with unspecialized virtual assistants who can help with various research and administrative tasks. As you get used to delegating and process refinement, you'll want to focus on hiring increasingly more specialized roles next.

At the Blogsmith, I worked with our first editor to develop the Blogsmith Style Guide to set expectations for writers and take myself out of being the bottleneck for day-to-day editing needs.

After you get the hang of process documentation and delegation, the next step is to empower your workers to create and update processes without your direct input. As your company grows, appoint department heads who can handle on-boarding, training and day-to-day needs.

2. Create Efficiencies With No-Code Tools and Automation

Here's a harsh truth: Tracking and transferring data manually introduces human error. Much like other start-ups, my company got its start by using Excel spreadsheets, but I knew it wasn't the best play for the long term.

The solution? Embrace the no-code revolution. Tools like Airtable, Notion, Slack and Process Street empower you to build your ideal business collaboration workflow.

The secret to success is using each tool in your workflow for its strengths while finding a way to connect them in a way that doesn't require duplicating efforts. Connecting two or more different software solutions via a third-party automation tool like Zapier is one way to facilitate this.

For example, create an automation that automatically adds the contact information for a new Calendly event booking to your HubSpot CRM as a lead. This will increase the likelihood that your sales team will remember to follow up in a timely manner.

The automated flow of data between tools helps everyone on the team understand where to seek relevant resources and answers, ensuring that what they find is up-to-date and accurate.

A great system also means that your team members are empowered to find exactly what they need to do their job at the specific time they need it. This way, they don't have to depend on going through you (or anyone else who may otherwise bottleneck efforts) to move projects forward.

3. Assemble a Board of Directors

Doing business as an entity versus a sole proprietor means you can't be an island. There's no way you have all the answers, especially as a new business owner.

Depending on your company's legal structure, there are certain tasks (like filing an annual report or paying estimated taxes) you have to complete to avoid unwanted fees and legal trouble. The people who work with you may be counting on you for their livelihood, so you owe it to them to seek counsel and information to avoid situations that entail considerable risks.

Your board of directors doesn't have to be made up of investors in suits. But they should be people who are invested in the company's success as much as you are.

Here are a few potential sources of business supporters that can help you find success as you scale up:

Business Masterminds

Seek connections with people in similar or complementary businesses and arrange structured monthly meetings to talk through each member's problems and solutions. Set goals and hold each other accountable.

Mentors

Mentoring and being mentored are both important aspects of being a successful businessperson.

When you need some help, consider working with SCORE, a free mentorship program that operates as a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE connects entrepreneurs with seasoned business professionals and programs to support business growth.

Second-in-Command

If you ever want to take yourself out of the day-to-day to focus on the big picture (or take a restful vacation), you will eventually want to hire a dedicated employee to act as a second-in-command and a sounding board for big decisions.

For this role to be successful, the person needs to care about the success of the business and should be incentivized accordingly.

Hiring an employee (and all the additional costs that come with doing so) will initially cut into profits. The payoff? Your quality of life as an entrepreneur will improve knowing that every little detail doesn't rely on your immediate attention and execution.

Scaling Up From Freelancer to Agency

It's hard to sustain the hustle forever, and why should you? Once you've taken the time to gain expertise and experience in your chosen field, capitalize on it to build a brand that can operate effectively without needing your constant, daily attention to detail.

Once you build the systems necessary to sustain the business, you can focus the bulk of your time and energy on your preferred tasks and those that matter most.

About the Author

Maddy Osman is the author of "Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style". Maddy's journey from freelance writer to founder and CEO of The Blogsmith yielded numerous insights to share about content creation for enterprise B2B technology brands. Her efforts earned her a spot in BuzzSumo's and Semrush's Top 100 Content Marketers and The Write Life's 100 Best Websites for Writers. She has spoken for audiences at WordCamp US, SearchCon, and Denver Startup Week.