Do you like the idea of starting your own creative agency, but don’t know where to start? Does the idea of having staff and offices put you off? Are you worried that you lack the necessary business-savvy? And do you fear that it will consume your every waking hour? Then this is the book for you.
When John Ashton started an agency from his kitchen table in 2012, he had no clients, no cash and, worst of all, no clue. Yet within a few years he had hit half a million pounds turnover and had a huge roster of clients. Better still it was a lifestyle business that really worked for him – he only worked a 25-hour week and was better off and happier than in his previous solo career.
The key to his success was building a fully flexible agency model that utilised remote-working freelancers. He calls it the Kitchen Table Method.
Whether you’re a designer, a marketer, a developer, a copywriter, a video maker, or one of the numerous other professions that fall within the commercial creative industries, if you follow , you can easily build a thriving agency from your own kitchen table – or, if you prefer, your back bedroom, garden shed, or co-working space.
Funny and irreverent, The Kitchen Table Method is a down and dirty guerrilla guide by someone who’s been there and done it.
The book has four sections or ‘Legs’:
- Leg 1 Culture explains how building your agency around positive values is fundamental to its success.
- Leg 2 Clients tells you how to position your agency and how to win and retain quality clients.
- Leg 3 Collaborators shows you how to nurture and manage your freelance employees
- Leg 4 Cash sets out the fundamentals of financial good health.
The Kitchen Table Method is your blueprint for building a successful agency without the biggest headaches that afflict conventional agencies.
So order a copy now and grab yourself more time, more money and more fun!
Inhoudsopgave
Introduction
Leg 1: Culture
Chapter 1: The foundations of company culture
Chapter 2: Building your company culture
Leg 2: Clients
Chapter 3: Honing your offer
Chapter 4: Identifying client type
Chapter 5: Getting clients
Chapter 6: Keeping clients
Leg 3: Collaborators
Chapter 7: Your greatest asset (and your greatest liability)
Chapter 8: Finding talent
Chapter 9: Some ground rules
Leg 4: Cash
Chapter 10: A bit of terminology
Chapter 11: The basics of financial health
Chapter 12: Pricing
Epilogue
Quiz – Are you ready to start your own agency?
Acknowledgements
Over de auteur
John Ashton is a former journalist and researcher. In 2012 he abandoned his old career and set up his own copywriting agency, Write Arm, despite having no clue how to go about it. To his amazement, within a few years the company was turning over half a million pounds a year. The secret of its success was the flexible model that he developed – which he calls the Kitchen Table Method – using remote-working freelance talent.
In 2019 he established The Kitchen Table Community, which aims to encourage other solo creatives to establish their own agencies using the same model.
He lives in Brighton, England with his family.