I was having lunch with my friend Jim the other day, reflecting on how many years we’ve known each other, trouble we’ve gotten into (him more than me, let’s be honest, I’ve never been that interesting), the trajectory of our careers (again, him more than me, my career looks like a relief of the western mountain ranges… spoiler alert, there’s at least five between me and the Pacific Ocean), and the question came up: why have I never started my own agency?
It’s not the first time someone’s asked me that. (I’ve even had people tell me to do so and they’d come to work for me.) So… why not?
Simple answer: The opportunity hasn’t arisen.
Yeah, I know, those of you more on the entrepreneurial side will say: “Just go do it!” And maybe you know more than I do how how to do this, but you might have a better insight on getting a client.
That’s a pretty significant point, for me. You can’t have an agency if you don’t have a client. And I’m not really a salesperson. My dad was, and he was good at it, but he could also walk into the middle of a construction site, find the foreman, and have a handshake deal in about 20 minutes.
I’m the guy you bring in after the first introduction who can help you get that handshake. I can help provide insight and confidence and make the (potential) client comfortable enough to sign on the dotted line. But start the conversation from nothing?
And this is what led me to pronounce: Right Place, Right Time, Right Answer. It’s why I hadn’t done it before: I didn’t have the Right Answer (we’ll just ignore that I also haven’t had time or place). Because it really does come down to having the Right Answer: Are you prepared to take on the burden and difficulty of owning and managing a client relationship, building a team, working with the uncertainty that comes with income streams and industry fluctuations? Because that’s what’s implied when you say “Yes”.
Businesses fail because people haven’t considered these things. They may have said “yes” but they didn’t account for all the factors – they had the wrong answer. To have the Right Answer is to know that you can do those things confidently. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy – a lot of those things are not only difficult, some of them never end. But being able to have the Right Answer means you’re willing to do it.
Until somewhat recently, I’ve not had the Right Answer. And knowing that meant my response to the question would have been “No”. Do I have the Right Answer now? Mostly… While a lot of my career has certainly given me the experience to address many of the challenges, there’s some parts (owning and managing a client relationship, in particular) that I’ll admit I’m weak with, especially difficult clients.
Get me in the Right Place at the Right Time – talking to someone in need of a service – and I will have the Right Answer. For the first part, I’ll need to get better at networking, and that’s another problem…
