Grow my business or take a job working for someone else. What to do?

April 11, 2019 12:45 PM

I'm a self-employed consultant whose business is doing well. However, I can't sustain my current workload. Should I expand my business or take an in-house job?

I'm in my late thirties and work as a self-employed advertising and marketing consultant - helping clients with trade show planning, speechwriting, marketing communications - that kind of thing. It's a one-person shop and I'm the owner/operator and only employee apart from the occasional subcontractor.

I've been running my business for a few years after getting laid off from an agency job. Thankfully, my business is doing well (Grossing ~$150k/year before taxes/expenses), but I'm also in a position where I can't scale my business more on my own and have family obligations (young child at home and also helping elderly parents with health problems) that are increasingly taking up more of my time.

At this point, it seems to me that I have three options:
a) Keep on my current path running a one-person shop
b) Start a small boutique agency offering expanded services to my current client base with a partner(s) and employees on board
c) Take an in-house job at a company working on marketing communications, or at a larger advertising or public relations agency

I'm worried about a few things. First, being in my late thirties and having already run my company for a few years, that I'm aging myself out of taking an in-house job given the realities of age discrimination in the advertising industry... Secondly, that I'm setting myself for burnout if I keep running a one person shop.

I know what I do well (problem-solving, creative work for clients, helping clients improve their processes, giving presentations, building relationships) and what I don't do well (the RFP and contractual process, project management, business administrative stuff). What I'd like to do is figure out the best way to go forward in this situation.

Any ideas?

posted by allthethings to Work & Money (7 answers total)

I think you've skipped a step between A and B. Why not keep to the current path but look for a consultant or two to take on the aspects of the work you're less skilled at/interested in? I do this sometimes for a former boss who is now a one-man fundraising development shop - he will farm out, say, prospect research to me so that he can focus on more intensive tasks. If this goes well, it could be a stepping stone to setting up an agency, or it could wind up being sustainable in the longer term.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:49 PM on April 11, 2019 [9 favorites]

Another alternative to consider might be joining an existing small boutique in a role that focuses on what you enjoy doing (BD / some delivery work)?
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:50 PM on April 11, 2019

I clicked through to suggest that you hire a business development/general manager type person to take on the stuff that you don't do well, too.
posted by spindrifter at 1:09 PM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

Why don't you raise your rates on existing clients? You lose a couple of clients who can't afford or don't want to pay more for your services. But I bet you have clients who will barely notice. Then you're doing less work for the same amount, plus less of the work you don't enjoy doing (contract negotiation, etc.) because you have fewer clients.

If you don't feel comfortable raising your rates without notice, you could flag it well in advance (an approach described here).
posted by trotzdem_kunst at 2:03 PM on April 11, 2019 [4 favorites]

I, too, like the middle ground between A and B. That's what I'm trying to do and I think it's the way to go. I don't know where you live but that gross seems amazing for a one-person shop! Don't throw that away. There are people out there looking for part-time (or full-time) work in your industry who don't want to run their own business. Now, management is kind of a whole other beast. So, take it seriously. But I also think you can look for someone with a decent resume and hire a near equal to keep things growing and expanding. Or, you can hire a junior to take some of the more annoying tasks off your list and keep some irons in the fire for you. Consider 1099 contract employee for this first year as you get your feet wet. If you don't have a financial cushion in your business, make one or consider a line of credit while you scale back a little bit in order to bring someone up into your business.

The times I consider abandoning my business and working for someone else are when I'm feeling a little socially isolated or looking for the creative spark that can come from sharing with other people. But all the drawbacks that come with regular employment keep me away from that. I just can't get the flexibility I need to be a mom to a young child without working for myself.
posted by amanda at 3:00 PM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

Sounds like your business is pretty darn successful. I would strongly encourage you to figure out a way to make that work. The idea of raising your rates seems logical. Or simply Cap your client base at this point. Hiring some employees could also be an option. Perhaps finding a partner could also work. But unless you feel you would be happy working for someone else VS being your own boss...then just find ways to lower your work load. You may need to just let a few clients go. You'll figure out a way to make it work I'm sure.
posted by ljs30 at 9:05 PM on April 11, 2019

Having spent most of my life working for tiny companies, I'll nth the idea that you should really consider hiring a business-manager type person to help you organize the things you are not so good at. Not only will this help you free up time & mental energy for your personal life, it will give you information about which clients & areas of work are most profitable and which are not worth continuing or focusing on, and will give you some perspective on whether it would make sense in the future to continue to expand the business by hiring other ad/marketing people (or to subcontract more of your workload out), plus you'll have the organizational structure in place making it easier to do that.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:00 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]