Ask HN: How to grow a Digital Agency?

#1

Post by proteinfisher » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

We are a software agency (based out of US) that does custom software development. Things have been going incredibly well for the past 2 years, to a point where I am looking into hiring our first full time employee. The entire staff as of today is made up of 1099 contractors.

I am still actively involved in all projects, which sometimes causes a lot of headache when we are nearing deadlines. I am the only one that does lead generation, contracts etc. as well.

As a result, there is a lot on my plate everyday. I am inclined to hire a senior dev/architect to lead our projects and let me focus on the operations. Am I thinking in the right direction here? We have received feedback before from our clients that they love the fact that I am actively involved in their projects, which is what I am trying to move away from to focus on other aspects of the business.

Looking for tips, inputs as to how does one grow an agency while making sure that the projects are still rolling in, and code quality is being maintained.

Re: Ask HN: How to grow a Digital Agency?

#2

Post by kidgorgeous » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 3:00 PM UTC

You have to transition from senior dev to businessman, or businesswoman. A businsee person is nothing more than a middle man for labor. Focus exclusively on lead generation and hire competent developers to implement the work. That's the only way to grow. Just tell your clients you're acting as the project manager from hear on out. That can mean anything from doing unit tests to simply playing around with the application to make sure it works. Eventually, you'll outsource this position as well.

Re: Ask HN: How to grow a Digital Agency?

#3

Post by arkitaip » Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 3:11 PM UTC

What kind of work do you want to do? What kind of life do you want to live?

As the owner of the business, you can pretty much shape the business to fit your needs but you need to recruit good people who can take over your current workload.

Do you still want to work closely with customers every day? Then hire an CEO/manager to manage the business.

Want to work as the CEO yourself? Hire people who can manage your customers' projects.