Is Bigger Better?

Like anyone in this industry with a few years under their belt, I sometimes wonder about what it would be like to set up my own agency. Dan and I have managed our own direct clients in the past. We can do it again. We've been a team for 19 years - longer than many agencies last.

We've learnt a huge amount from working in well-run agencies and in ones that look well-run from the outside. Know the type I mean?

Prospects might say, "Let's do a call. Can't wait to see what you've got planned." So what do I have planned?

Well, for a start, I can't say the idea of managing 70 people gets me excited. All that responsibility. And admin. Laying people off when times are lean. Losing control of that precious thing you started. Uh-uh.

So that's what I don't want. What I do want is:

- undiluted rewards for my endeavours - not syphoned off to other departments, management's bonus pot or propping up another agency in the network.

- to stay close to the work. That's what I enjoy. Why spend 35 years of your life getting good at something only to stop because 'you're an owner'?

- to solve my clients' problems, not my agency's.

- to feel like I'm offering incredible value to my clients instead of feeling like an expensive overhead.

- And best of all, no politics. Can you imagine?

Received wisdom is that bigger equals success. Bigger has a much better PR agency than Smaller. But to satisfy all the above, it feels like staying small is the answer. A maximum of 2 or 3 clients at any point in time so we can give them the attention they deserve, without stretching ourselves thin on pitches with a 25% chance of success.

Is that unambitious? Because once you search "Startup", all the growth-hacking posts start following you around the web. It's all about scaling fast, streamlining your funnel and unblocking your lead flow. I don't want my funnel streamlined.

Is staying small inviting disaster? Precarious? Short-sighted? Is small just... too small?

Is bigger necessarily better? Because I never see anyone championing small and true. And I mean deliberately small, not aiming for big and missing.

What's the big deal with big? I can see a lot going for small.

But never mind what I want. What do you clients want? And when can we start?