Welcome to Confessions of a Micro Agency Owner

Ever feel like you’re drowning in client work while your team fires off endless questions and your to-do list seems impossible? You started your agency to craft a business that aligns with your values and lifestyle, but it’s way more challenging than you thought. You see others flaunting the ‘dream’ and wonder if you’re doing something wrong.

Let’s be honest: Some days, you’re tempted to throw in the towel and open a cozy coffee shop instead. If this sounds all too familiar, welcome to ‘Confessions of a Micro Agency Owner,’ where we cut through the noise and get real about the challenges of running a micro agency.

I want to paint a picture for you.

Imagine you’re sitting at your desk, buried in client work. Your team is pinging you questions on Slack, and your to-do list has about 50 items.

This is the reality for many of us trying to build something meaningful without losing our sanity. And that’s exactly why I started this podcast.

The Reality: Why Does This Feel So Damn Hard?

You launched your agency to create a profitable business that fits your lifestyle and values, but it’s much tougher than you imagined.

You see other agency owners living the “dream” and wonder what you’re doing wrong….and some days, you’re ready to quit.

I want you to know how normal that is. But I also want you to know that you’re skilled, smart, and extremely capable, but owning an agency, even a micro agency, is COMPLETELY different from being a solo service provider.

That’s why you need to build a new foundation for your business that enables you to grow your micro agency sustainably. 

Unfortunately, there’s no manual on exactly how to do that.

Everything out there is meant for a big, traditional agency or are taught by bros in backward baseball caps who make sleazy promises about how fast you can scale.

But you? You want to stay strategically small, which has nothing to do with your mindset and everything to do with the fact you’re not about that big agency life. (You’re unwilling to sacrifice your reputation or values for a quick buck.) 

My goal for this show is to blow up this bullshit advice meant for traditional agencies or taught by the “scale” sharks and keep it real about what it’s REALLY like to build a micro agency.

I’m talking about answering questions like: 

• Is it just me? Why is this so hard? 
• Why do I feel like my team doesn’t get it?
• Why is it so hard to delegate? 
• Will I ever stop having to put out fires all day?
• Why does hiring feel like such a gamble? 
• Will I be wearing all these hats forever? 
• Is it okay for me to not want to grow anymore?
• Is it normal to want to quit and open up a coffee shop? 

In every episode, I will explore these questions to separate fact from fiction while unpacking the typical agency teachings to help answer the question, “Will this help or harm me, my team and my agency?”

Meet Your Host: Maggie Patterson

I’m Maggie, and I’m your guide to building a micro agency that you won’t want to burn to the ground or fake your death to escape from.

I’ve spent my entire career working for OR running an agency. 20+ years ago, I was hired as an account coordinator at a fast-growing PR agency, and the rest is history.

Well, not really. I spent over five years there learning everything I could, then set out independently as a freelancer. Guess who my clients ended up being? You guessed it! Agencies.

For years, I worked with agencies as a strategist and project pinch-hitter. During those years, I saw the inner workings of so many agencies that I thought I’d never want to return to agency life.

Fast-forward to 2016, and I started my agency, Scoop Studios. Things look very different today then they did back then, and now we’re a content production agency working with B2B tech and professional services.

Then, in 2020, I started consulting for micro agency owners, helping them with everything from operations to leadership to marketing.

The Uncomfortable Truths of Running a Micro Agency

This brings us to this podcast, where I’m going to share everything (and I mean everything) I’ve learned with you and what I’m still learning.

There’s a reason I decided to use the name Confessions of a Micro Agency Owner. I want to go behind the shiny, sugar-coated stories about scaling effortlessly and “replacing” yourself to talk about what it is really like to build a team and grow this type of business.

After all, part of confessing is admitting it’s sometimes difficult or uncomfortable, and guess what? That’s kind of my thing, so I’ll tell it like it is and help you create a business, team, and life that you don’t want to burn to the ground or fake your death to escape from. (That last part is based on a true story, which I’m sure I’ll share soon enough.)

In the next few episodes, we’ll be talking about what a micro agency is (and is not) – and spoiler alert, that shit doesn’t build itself.

Plus, we’ll look at why you’re still holding all the pieces and why your Slack notifications are making you stabby, as well as what we can learn from the bros who claim we can scale our agencies without breaking a sweat.

Be sure to subscribe to Confessions of a Micro Agency Owner wherever you listen to podcasts. And really quick, if you could leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, that would be amazing. Those are important for helping podcasts like this one find new listeners!