Have you been considering the agency model, and wondering if this model would be the best path for your Director of Operations (DOO) business? Are you curious about what goes on behind the scenes in an agency, and what the difference is between agency ownership, and building a team?
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I am joined today by my dear friend and peer, Tasha Booth, and we are talking about the agency model option.
Tasha has been able to master this, and in fact, has done this so well that others come and ask her how to do this with excellence.
Meet Tasha
Tasha Booth is an agency owner, coach, and podcaster. She is the Founder & CEO of The Launch Guild – a full service launch support agency working with established coaches and course creators with Course & Podcast Launches. Her team is over 20 members strong and works together to support their clients in being able to focus back onto their zones of genius. Additionally, she mentors Virtual Support Pros, Launch Managers, & Agency Owners who are passionate and ready to grow their businesses while living life on their own terms, and she is the host of the How She Did That Podcast — a podcast for Virtual Support Pros to learn business and tech tips. Tasha has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur, and she has appeared as a guest speaker for various summits and podcasts including Amy Porterfield’s “Online Marketing Made Easy,” and Julie Solomon’s “The Influencer Podcast.”
Tasha’s Business history
- She has been in business for 6 years
- She attributes a lot of her success to the connections she built in her early days through coffee chats
What is the difference in building an agency vs. bringing on team members?
- An agency is where you “replicate” yourself in the process so that your team members are the primary point of contact for your clients
- The reason most people decide to start an agency is because they have grown to the point that they can’t take on any more work themselves
- They are maxed out on capacity or financially and ready to do more
- They decide to hire team members not realizing that if they are the only point of contact everything lives and dies on them
- With an agency, you are mostly out of the day to day and have team members who are the primary points of contact for clients
“There are so many ways to run your agency… but if you are in the day-to-day doing, that is probably going to burn you out because you have the CEO level things as well taking care of your team, as well as working with clients.” – Tasha Booth
What are the typical traits of someone who makes an ideal agency owner?
- Someone who isn’t afraid to build the plane as they are flying it
- If you wait until you are totally ready to hire a team, you will have to create a ton of SOPs, which you don’t have time for
- You can’t be afraid to hire slowly and be honest about building as you go
- You have to enjoy working with people
- You have to have so much resilience because there will be a team member who lets you down, or an angry client and if you get frazzled easily this may not be for you
“You have to have resilience…any business is going to have their ups and downs, but they bounce back and they fight through it.” – Tasha Booth
“We weren’t born with authority in the work that we do, that was accumulated with experience, and agency owners shine when they have something they are deeply invested in and have become an authority in.” – Natalie Gingrich
Helpful Tips to Consider
- You need to find the “authority” piece in whatever you are doing
- You have to find your offer as an agency
- If will help with your messaging
- It will help you build your team and it’s repeatable processes
- It will make you more referable
“If people are going to trust you as an agency, they want to know that they are going to the ‘expert’ agency.” – Tasha Booth
What are some issues that come up as you switch from a “me” to “we” business model?
- Feeling guilty because you think people signed up to work with you specifically
- Understanding that people are coming to work with you because of your proven repeatable process
- You need to get that process documented and then you can hire and train people on these hard skills
- Explain the process and let the clients who they will be working with in a matter of fact way from the beginning
Tasha’s Programs
- Agency Thrive Mind is for anyone who has or wants to start an agency
- A 6 months program consisting of 1-on-1 coaching, group coaching, plus course content
- A 6-step process that applies to those just starting out as well as established six figure agencies, and everything in between
- Leadership Trifecta
- A three day workshop focused on a different area of leadership: leading yourself, your company, and your team
- Everything starts and ends with leadership!
- Sign up for this workshop on May 23rd – 25th
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