8 Tips for Launching Your Own Agency in a Time of 'Disruption and Chaos'

It's either the absolute worst time to launch an ad agency, or it's one of the best. Sure, there's plenty of doom and gloom about the outlook for even the most iconic agencies, but perhaps one behemoth's existential crisis is a nimble startup's moment of opportunity. At Advertising Week New York this week, multiple sessions are tackling the issue of entrepreneurship in advertising—specifically, the difficult question of whether it's worth starting an agency at a time when the entire value of the agency model is up for debate. In-house creative teams, marketing-focused consultancies and increasingly automated ad processes are just a few of the factors that might make a new agency seem like an unwise investment, but the recurring theme of presenters at Advertising Week certainly seems to be one of optimism for agency startups. "You kind of see everything right now, from clients who are frustrated and decided to build their own internal machines to clients who’ve never been more reliant on a trusted partner," said Lisa Clunie, who co-founded agency Joan last year. "It’s a great moment in the sense that anything’s possible." But obviously launching an agency isn't something you should do with blind confidence, so here are a few tips shared this week by agency entrepreneurs and veterans alike: 1. Just do it already Cutting right to the chase, the overarching message from Advertising Week agency panelists was that despite all the dark clouds casting shadows over the advertising industry, it's worth setting out on your own if you have the talent and ingenuity to create something valuable and new. [kickout id="1"] "Disruption and chaos bring amazing opportunity if you play your cards right," said Dave Luhr, president of global independent agency network Wieden + Kennedy. Clunie said it's an especially important time, as brands demand more action on diversity and gender balance from their agencies, for aspiring entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups. "Especially if you’re a woman or a person of color or a person who feels yourself not being represented," she said, "yes, do it now." 2. Learn to live with the word 'agency' The term "ad agency" has been out of vogue in the industry for quite a few years, with shops embracing a wide range of more ostensibly forward-sounding terms like "integrated communications firm" or "engagement collective." But Jason Harris, CEO of San Francisco-based Mekanism, advised creative startups to just make peace with the A-word rather than waste energy and create confusion. "You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to come up with a name," Harris said. "Call yourself an agency." 3. Be lean as hell Now is not the time for conspicuous flourish and presumptuous staffing if you want to create a new agency that appeals to the modern marketer, agency execs say. If you want your new agency to take on the big dogs of advertising—namely the agency holding companies and their sprawling global networks—you need to keep all costs to an absolute minimum. "You make money through discipline," Luhr said. "Money is tighter and tighter. You have to watch your overhead. I feel sorry for the big holding companies today, because they have a lot of overhead." Agency growth is vital, of course, but Luhr warned that it must be tied to firm opportunities for revenue. "We’ve been very careful," he said, "to build a network that reflects what our clients need—and nothing else." 4. Use your size to your advantage While it may seem to conflict at times with the previous point on lean staffing, another theme among Advertising Week presenters was the fact that small and spry agencies can carve out opportunities many established shops can't. "I’m really happy to be an agency on the smaller side, because you can take more risk," said Clunie. [kickout id="4"] Your agency's earliest work can be especially important because it defines what you're capable of—and what sets you apart, said Johannes Leonardo co-founder Leo Premutico "That early work was formative," he said. "It signaled the sort of agency we wanted to create, and, more importantly to clients, it signaled why they should approach us." 5. Find the right partners Strong co-founder partnerships have defined several of the industry's most successful young agencies in recent years, with duos at the core of shops such as Johannes Leonardo (Jan Jacobs and Premutico), Joan (Clunie and Jaime Robinson), Muh-tay-zik Hof-fer (Matt Hofherr and John Matejczyk) and Erich and Kallman (Steven Erich and Eric Kallman). So it's no surprise that Advertising Week presenters advised aspiring entrepreneurs to find partners who are 100 percent dependable and dedicated to helping carry the weight of launching a new agency. "When you’re going into business with someone, you start to ask the human questions: Does this person have integrity? Is this person going to support you when you need it?" Premutico said. Speaking alongside partner Jacobs, Premutico said the best partnerships are built not on agreement but on trust. "Even though you don’t always agree on things, you always trust that whatever that person is doing or saying is in the interest of what you’re trying to achieve," Premutico said. 6. Be willing to walk away from a bad client Perhaps no piece of advice is more universal among agency startups and longtime firms than this. As hard, painful and counterintuitive as it might be, agency execs said, you must be willing to drop a toxic client as quickly as possible, even (or especially) in the earliest phases of a relationship. [kickout id="2"] "You have to be willing to walk away from new business," Luhr said. "We haven’t had to do that too often, but you have to be willing to do it. Harris said—amid nodding heads from his co-panelists from across the agency world—that cutting off a bad client is a tremendously difficult decision, but it's a choice you'll always be glad you made. "When we haven’t done that, you always regret it," he said. "If you don’t walk away, it never turns around. You’re never going to get more money. It’s never going to go the other way." Premutico said the key is for agencies to seek clients in the same way it recruits talent. "What you’re looking for in a client isn’t dissimilar from what you’re looking for in employees," he said. 7. Put client needs before your ego Chances are you wouldn't be starting an agency if you weren't a star talent, so it's understandable that agency entrepreneurs would bring a certain level of ego and pride to their business. But for some founders, especially those who've always worked on the creative side of the business, a common weakness is to prioritize your own ideas over the actual needs of your existing or potential clients, agency leaders said. "You need the outside perspective," said Clunie, "and the outside perspective, if you’re starting an agency, is that you’re there to build your client’s business." Luckily, new agencies have the unique opportunity to build relationships—or even their business models— around a client's specific needs and concerns. "If you can just have direct conversations with clients, if you can just approach things from the right starting point," Premutico said, "there’s an inherent trust there with the client." 8. Don't give in to the darkness It's called the Trough of Sorrow. Here's how it gets you: You take the plunge, start your own business, and the world seems flush with potential and growth. [kickout id="3"] Then things take a turn. You lose a client, bomb a pitch, get a cease-and-desist over your carefully selected business name or watch your star creative team walk out to take a job across town. Suddenly the insecurities come rushing in, sweeping you into the Trough of Sorrow, a dark phase that's familiar to just about every startup in Silicon Valley or beyond. The danger, agency execs say, isn't the setback to your business. It's the fact that you begin to question your own abilities. "It’s very easy to doubt yourself when you start a business," Premutico said. "It’s very scary, and you can forget to listen to yourself. In a moment where you doubt, just double down on what your instinct is telling you.”