Freelance vs Agency: Which Model Gives You More Freedom? with Shoaib Ahmed

Should you run your business solo? Or is it better to build an agency?

It’s a question I hear often from creative business owners.

You started your business for more freedom and flexibility.

But somewhere along the way, things changed, and you end up with less freedom than you’d get from a 9 to 5 job.

In this episode, I’m joined by Shoaib Ahmed, who’s lived the agency life, and as a solopreneur. He built an agency doing £30k months with a full team, but realised he could never truly switch off.

So he burnt it down and went all in on his freelance business, where he specialises in helping people build their personal brand.

We break down the trade-offs between staying solo and building an agency and how to find real freedom in your business.

If you’ve ever felt torn between scaling up and simplifying, this is for you.

Covered in this episode:

• The symptoms you’re building the wrong size business.
• The ‘freedom trap’ most creatives fall into.
• How to make a solo business work without doing everything yourself.
• What people never measure when they talk about freedom.
• How to structure your business so you can take time off.
• The one thing more important than client acquisition that most creatives miss.
• How to build trust and win business without constant outreach.
• What most LinkedIn content gets wrong.
• How to know when it’s time to change your business.
• And more…

If you get value from this episode, follow Creative Courage on your favourite podcast app for more transformational content to help you thrive as a creative.

PS: If you want a custom roadmap to grow a creative studio that works for you, rather than the other way around. Click this link - https://resources.mattessam.co.uk/.

LEARN MORE 

Work with Matt to grow your agency - https://www.mattessam.co.uk/creative-life-accelerator

CONNECT 

Shoaib Ahmed on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoaibahmed21 

Matt Essam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattessam/ 

LISTEN 

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2LSpLIyYtBLe03JBC8LjvT  

Apple Podcasts - 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/creative-courage/id1721515799

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcf0CcYK3MtnITQCyGXoVVR-eTu8SEbAV