How To Survive As A Small Agency

“Robert Kiyosaki said only 5% of those who started their own business will survive beyond 5 years, so you must be doing quite well. Doing business now tough or not?” Someone said that to me that when I attended a preview last weekend.

Sometimes, I wonder why I try so hard. In a world dominated by the large, multi-national advertising agencies, there is so little left for small creative agencies. Yet, there is this fire in me that compels me to continue fighting.

I believe that small agencies survive because of our flexibility, responsiveness, creativity and the fact that we don’t have much to lose! We are willing to try really crazy ideas. If they work, our clients benefit greatly. But of course, we must take care to have contingencies such that if they bomb, we can at least still deliver a baseline result for them. That is why we are still around. We take huge risks, but the clients don’t need to. No large agency will be willing to stick their neck that far out.

But once in a while, we need a cash advance. You see, not all clients pay on time. There was this one client who fell back on payment because of a major restructuring back in 2004. Not having 2 campaigns’ fees paid up for 10 months was a nerve wrecking experience that etched in my mind. Not only I had to trim back all expenses, I had to call all my business partners one by one. And, definitely, not all of our partners are as chummy when we fall back on our payments. They have their own cash flow challenges to tackle too. While I am not advocating that we wantonly go out and stock up on credit, but it is good to know that there are services out there that will allow small business owners to take quick cash loans.

Sometimes, being able to tide over a particularly tight period could mean the difference between success and failure. It’s not just about survival. Think about this. If all the small agencies had no cash flow issues, staffing issues and so on, wouldn’t it be nice? But since we will never have paradise on Earth, I would settle for some cash when I need it.

[tags]survival of a small agency, cash advance, business loans[/tags]