Building an agency seems complicated as a full-time job.
But can you grow an agency as a side hustle? If it looks impossible to run a digital agency in uncertain times, you haven’t considered doing it as a side hustle job.
We could all use novel ideas about how to scale an agency in 2020. With virtual flash teams, you can do it, too.
Even if you’ve never thought that growing an agency can be done on the side, this blog post may change your mind.
The Best Side Hustle in 2020: Building an Agency
Why do most people decide to get a side hustle? The number one reason is making more money: it is rarely part of the primary employment.
Having a side hustle is the first step towards financial independence.
With so many jobs at risk or lost this year, building an agency from scratch is a lucrative side hustle idea. You can gather a team of experts and finally start working on your passionate business plan.
“Hold on,” you might say – “I don’t have time, money, or knowledge to do that with all that’s on my plate. I barely manage to make space for my kids. Transforming my business for online work takes enough of my time already. And you are telling me that I need to take on a side hustle and build an agency?”
Correct.
Learn more about creating transparent quotes that match the job quality, outcome, and the knowledge you expect from an expert.
Side Hustle Challenges
Even if you’ve spent hours browsing through forums or reading side hustle Reddit threads, you cannot pick up the most valuable thing: how to grow on the side without creating risks you cannot handle.
Because each growing agency story is different, you must find your personalized success method.
Firstly, let’s consider your preconceptions about potential difficulties with having a job on the side. Side hustles are:
- Life-consuming
- Frustratingly slow
- Money-draining
- Uncertain and exhausting
Nothing different than the usual life pace for this year, right?
You are working from home, new social rules, obstacles everywhere. There is no more office work. But there are screaming kids, angry clients, nervous family, business partners with growing expectations.
The main blockage to thinking you cannot build or scale an agency on the side is because you look at growing an agency as traditional employment.
If you consider it as a side hustle, you will find the ways and the means to propel new growth to an already established business. You can also start from zero.
Opportunities are the mirror side of challenges. And that is why now is the best time to gain unprecedented growth by expanding your business virtually and working with global freelancers.
Implement the flash team architecture and virtual teams-as-a-service (VT-aa-S) principles, and you will be ready to predict and manage imminent risks as they approach.
Starting from Zero and Growing an Agency
New entrepreneurs face risks; you cannot avoid them.
But you can plan on how to manage them.
Smart, piece-by-piece investments, gradual experimentation, and compiling a stellar team are three critical pillars of high-performing agencies.
Whether you are running a marketing agency, a creative agency, or a software development agency, you can scale it successfully if you build the above three pillars on a solid base.
Flash Team Architecture
Flash teams are virtual teams that you can assemble and disassemble within days from the global freelancers’ crowd.
By building an agency with a flash team, you can manage your resources without putting your livelihood at risk. You can develop a side hustle job, and that can extend the limits of your business.
Example #1: E-Commerce Business
Let‘s say you need to build an e-commerce site for a client. You have to choose a platform, find a designers’ team, and choose a CMS. WordPress or Shopify, which will it be?
The client prefers working with one service provider. How to pick up the best freelance Shopify designers form the crowd? You only have part of the skills on your team.
Another full-time hire costs too much. With flash teams, you only hire for the proper amount of skills for just the right time.
Example #2: Creative Agency
Or, let’s take another example: you decided to use your video editing skills and open a creative agency.
But can you invest in building an agency by yourself? You need a copywriter to craft video scripts, and possibly another person who will help you as a project manager or a virtual assistant. How do you decide whom to bring aboard when so many new factors are at play?
You need experts who know their stuff. It would help if you had reliable people, people who show up and execute.
Short-staffed or understaffed? We have prepared a video to help you find the best freelance experts for your business and start growing now:
How to Become a Flash Team Architect
How do you solve all these side hustle problems? You can – by growing your agency on the principles of the flash team architecture.
The flash team architecture is based on:
- Project blocks. You create and scale tasks, projects, and resources as you go.
- Task independence. Team members can function as part of the existing team or solo. Tasks and goal achievement is what links them. You don’t sacrifice a complete project for one team member. You can always replace them from the freelance crowd.
- Flexible hierarchy and delegation. Remote work helps you set up a virtual team structure dependant on app workflows and process tools. Replace traditional office rules with digital architecture. (Bonus tip: Watch how many side hustle obstacles are magically removed as freelance experts sort issues by themselves.)
- Transparent consultation. Tweak the hiring, consultancy, and recruitment with a transparent bidding process.
- Common goals. If you want to scale an agency, you need to create objectives that connect the team and can be measured across time. A side hustle that started as a gig or a one-time project can grow into a full-stack agency with smart goals setting and objective measurement.
Growing an agency as a side hustle with freelance teams is the way forward from being stuck with the same or declining ROI rates in 2020.
Use Virtual Teams as a Service for Building an Agency
Technology transformation is a significant work trend for 2020. Service-based industries are flourishing. There are many gaps to fill with the right technology, the right people, and the right skills.
You can build an agency by reinventing your approach towards growth.
- Include any side hustle ideas as building blocks of your agency growth.
- Focus on service and craft your products around the service-based economy.
- Provide excellent work by amplifying the service-based aspects of your work.
- Wrap service in a product package.
- Teach your team to respect that, whether you are only three passionate entrepreneurs who are just starting or you own a well-respected digital organization.
Your global virtual team of freelancers can take the shape of a service rather than following traditional team structure rules. Here lies your chance of growing an agency and successfully managing risks while you do it.
2020 is the best time to grow an agency – here is an opportunity to take the first step.
Learn to grow and scale your business with virtual teams and global freelancers with our FREE Virtual Team Starter Pack!
