Starting your own thing
So you’re thinking about starting your own agency, firm or company. What does it take to make it happen and what can you learn from the people who have done it before you? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Matt Smith finds out.
Scott Nowell, Justin Drape and Mark Green were working for Sydney agency Saatchi & Saatchi when they decided it was time to leave. They had their own ideas and projects they wanted to pursue. The timing felt right to strike out on their own.
“We wanted to do things like short films that could run online, more immersive content for clients which seems like an old-hat idea now,” Nowell says. “Back then it was seen as a distraction from the main product.” In 2004 the three created their agency, originally called Three Drunk Monkeys, and spent the first year working out of the back of a coffee shop using free internet access from nearby unsecured wifi. They initially invested $10,000 each in the business and took home a paltry $27,000 each in the first year.
Nowell says there were many times when he was tempted to run back to the safety of an agency with its perks and reliable income. He says: “It’s hard to stick with it when the bank is on your back. It takes a while, but if you work hard enough, the money will come back. It’s one of the big reasons why most people don’t want to try it.”
Got to love the power, passion and perseverance of ‘the shapers’. Great stories.
You need Luck too…. plenty of great people who work really hard they just didn’t get the Luck. The Monkeys won Foxtel out of really fuckin hard work…. and a little luck.
It’s great having the drive and passion – they are the extraordinary gifts that fuels risk taking and achievement. My 2 cents worth would be to include in your team a person or process to keep an eye on the finances. Pricing is a fine balancing act and the trick is to ensure all activities with a project are costed in + an allowance for overheads – which when you start is really low. However, you don’t want to set a price expectation that is not sustainable as you grow. If you’re going to delegate the accounting to part-times / outside people – get really detailed in their selection (just as you would a graphic artist or someone else in the team). Spend a couple of hours initially checking and re-checking their work so they are clear on your expectation. Then you should be able to back-off and manage by exception.
It’s just an area, if done well initially, it should run easily, however if you let it get out of hand it can become frustrating and zap your energy.