How to Turn A Web Design Hobby Into A Real Business:

Do you have a business or a hobby?

Lots of amazing businesses have started off as hobbies.

… Craig Newmark turned a programming hobby into craigslist

… Michael Kittredge and his mom turned a candle hobby into the Yankee Candle Co.

… Jeff Bezos turned a book hobby into Amazon

… Harley Davidson was born in 1903 by bike-building hobbyists 

Your hobby can become a business.  A BIG BUSINESS if you want it to.  The question is, how do you turn your web and digital marketing hobby into a real business?

Here’s how…

1. Adopt The Identity of an Agency OWNER

When you describe yourself or your business how do you see it?  Are you a freelancer?  A designer?  A creative director?

I’d argue that one of the most important things you can do to really become an agency owner is to give yourself the permission to adopt the identity of an agency owner. 

One of the ways you can do this is to give yourself a title that fits what you’re trying to create.  Put “CEO” on your business card.  (Yes, this is OK!)

When someone asks what you do for a living, tell them you “own a digital agency” and stop saying “I build websites” or “I do digital marketing.”

The words you use matter.  Not just the words you tell other people, but even more importantly, the words you tell yourself.

2. Build Your Organization Chart

You might be thinking…. An org chart?  But I don’t even have a team, I do all the work?!

Yes, that may be true but that doesn’t mean that multiple roles don’t already exist inside of your growing business.  It’s just that YOU happen to fill all the roles right now.  But, that won’t be the case forever.

Having a clear idea of what roles exist in your business today is a great way to understand the different parts that make up your business.  It’s also one of the easiest ways to see your company for what it is: A BIG company in a SMALL company’s body.

When it comes to delegating or outsourcing, having clear roles makes it easy to identify things to get off your plate either through outsourcing or hiring. 

3. Own Sales and Service Delivery

In the early stages of your agency, you’ll be wearing all the hats but none are as important as sales and service delivery.

You can’t deliver without selling and you won’t be in business for long if you can’t deliver.  So, as a new agency owner, you need to take personal responsibility for both sales and service delivery.

Recognize that these are both equally important.  However, many agency owners tend to give a lot more attention to service delivery than they do sales.  This is what creates the “feast or famine” business cycle.  Periods of time where you’re really busy with paying clients, followed by periods of time where you’re not sure where the next project is coming from.

To ensure you don’t stall your growth by operating like this, you need to ensure that the services you sell don’t trap you in delivery which prevents you from engaging in sales.

4. Delegate or Outsource ASAP

Be relentless with what you spend your personal time working on.  In every business, there are $10/hour tasks and there are $500/hour tasks.  Know the difference between the two.

As your agency’s CEO, you should spend as much time as you can on the $500/hour tasks and work to eliminate, delegate, automate or outsource anything else.

BUT, I get it. Early on it can be hard to figure out which tasks to take off your plate, and even harder to get comfortable with the idea of paying someone else to do it.

As you grow, look for ways to reclaim and buy back your time.  Time is the only thing you can’t make more of.  You can make more money, but you can’t get your time back after you use it.

So, always be asking yourself, what can I get off my plate.  Can you hire a VA, work with a gig worker on Upwork, or bring on an employee when you’re ready.  Always be in the practice of seeing where you can optimize your time.

Building a real business from a hobby is only possible for you, but lots of us have already done it.  Myself included.  

 If you’re curious about making the jump from freelancer to agency owner but not sure where to start, we’d love to help. 

Apply for a coaching call with our Director of Coaching. I can’t wait to welcome you into the agency owner’s club!