Comments on: Imagine, an advertising agency run by a monkey.

Question: Imagine, an advertising agency run by a monkey.

913 — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:32:25 -0800

What credentials does someone need to start up an advertising agency?

By: kanemano

kanemano — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:34:59 -0800

None,

finding paying clients, thats the tricky part.

By: astruc

astruc — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:53:55 -0800

None. Pretty much every ad creative I knew in NY either freelanced or ran their own business at one point. One of them was called "A Guy, a Girl, and a Fax Machine."

By: ml98tu

ml98tu — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:59:01 -0800

A portfolio and some successes.

I'd say the answer depends on what that person wants their role to be. If the place is staffed with high caliber people, it might not matter as much what the principal's credentials are.

By: acoutu

acoutu — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:08:55 -0800

Paying clients. Tis all. I even know some people who started an ad agency with zero experience and no portfolio. (They now have a decent-sized firm in London.) Now that's not the route I recommend, though.

It also depends on where you want to start. If you want your first client to be Apple or Disney, you're not going to be able to do that without a lot of resources. However, if you are willing to start with Joe Sixpack's side project, you can build up from there.

By: Gucky

Gucky — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:26:34 -0800

Are you going to be just a creative boutique? Or a full-service?

I'd agree that just an ability to do ads is all you really need if you can convince clients to pay you, but it'd be very useful to have a production artist who knows how to set up files for printers and publications (yes, you could find this freelance). If you're doing online, same goes for your Flash folks. If you're doing any print production or media, having a knowledge of the lingo and the contacts in the industry is a huge help.

Most ad agencies I know that start up are "they came from Goodby" or "They all came from Hill Holiday" or god help them, "they're all ex-Grey." The credentials in the industry, not in terms of awards, but client and agency experience, tend to give you the flexibility to pitch business and draw talent.

By: lisaici

lisaici — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:27:16 -0800

Here's an article about going freelance (in web development, but similar industry) that might help:

http://www.cameronmoll.com/archives/000643.html

#10 seems to specifically address your question.

By: ollsen

ollsen — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:28:03 -0800

Two buddies and me started our own agency a couple of months ago.
Our credentials: We've been in the business as employees for a couple of years, have won a couple of awards and did some freelancing before we opened shop.
We do work for other agencies and for our own clients as well.
You need contacts in the business. On agency side as well as on client side.
For example: bigger agencies that get requests from clients that they can't fulfill for some reason or other might put these clients in your direction.
Another thing that really gave us a push was that we were able to get into trade publications with the news of our newly founded agency.
Another tricky part: If you are a creative have someone you trust to take care of all the complex business stuff. Taxes, accounting, project management. There's loads of stuff that gets into the way of cranking out creative ideas if you can't delegate tasks to people with specialized knowledge.
Apart from that: best decision I ever made.

By: Mick

Mick — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:21:22 -0800

No credentials but a network of people that can refer you will be a big help.

If you're going to be targeting small to mid-size businesses BNI is a great place to start building.

By: bradbane

bradbane — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:09:13 -0800

The only difference between any creative professional and a non-professional is paying clients.