For decades, the measure of success in the agency world was purely physical. How many square feet is your shiny city centre office? How many staff do you have? How much cool stuff do you have? – fridge full of retro drinks, table tennis table, pool table, bar in the corner etc etc.

When I first started out as a business there was tremendous pressure to “scale up”—to hire full-time staff for every conceivable role and sign long-term leases on impressive, classy offices to ‘look the part of being an agency’.

I am beyond glad I did not go down that route as I think my business would not have lasted a few months let alone the 5 years I’ve actually been going.

But for me the digital landscape has shifted drastically. The bloated, brick-and-mortar agency model is becoming a dinosaur, struggling to keep pace with a market that demands speed, hyper-specialization, and relentless ROI. Particularly with the advent of AI coming into play.

Reasons why staying small isn’t just a lifestyle choice

My personal experience and why I am remaining small

Ultimately if you are wanting to start an agency or business then you have a choice. Do you want the ‘cool office and branding’ (nothing wrong with that)? But be aware that your starting costs and stress will be through the roof. Some people strive from this and live for this lifestyle – I wish you the best of luck.

For me personally it was about ensuring steady consistent growth by building great freelance and client relationships. Yes, I do have a physical office which I do work from. Unfortunately it’s not that ‘cool’ and there is no table tennis table, but I do have a good little coffee machine for the daily espressos and it suits me and my business perfectly.

Last and final note – one business book which had a big impact on my thinking when running my business is Company of one by Paul Jarvis. If you are unsure of what way you want to build your business or simply looking for another good business book I can highly suggest you give this a read – it’s a small book so if your a strong reader you could get through it in a day.