4 Years as an Agency Founder: 7 Honest Lessons for Freelancers and Founders

When I started, I didn't have the credibility or the operations to pitch big brands. No team, no case studies, no polished website. What I had was experience delivering for clients and a willingness to do the work.

If I'd waited until I felt ready, until the savings were bigger, the offer was clearer and the portfolio was fuller, I'd probably still be waiting. The readiness came from the clients, not the other way round. Every project added a bit of proof, and that proof is what eventually opened the doors to bigger brands.

If you're employed and thinking about it, here's the uncomfortable truth: there's rarely a moment where it feels safe. There's just a moment where it feels possible.

Over four years, clients have come from all over the place: referrals, LinkedIn, affiliate networks. But the channel I'd recommend most to anyone starting out is the one people tend to look down on. My first two or three clients came through Upwork.

Yes, you have to learn how the platform works. And yes, you have to pay for credits to pitch. But those early clients gave me revenue, references and, more importantly, the confidence that this could actually work. That was enough to keep going.

Referrals only start once you've done good work for someone. LinkedIn only works once you have something worth saying. In the very beginning, you need a place where clients are already looking, and freelancer platforms are exactly that.

I never once seriously considered stopping. But I did enjoy keeping an eye on what else was out there, and that's where I noticed something important.

Most people look for a new job from a position of scarcity. They need the next role, so they compromise. Because I had a running business, I didn't need anything. That let me keep my standards very high, both for the opportunities I considered and for the clients I took on, and it showed up in better work and better clients.

The best example is zave.it. At the time, PRVN had a handful of clients and was doing well. Then I saw a YouTube video from Dave saying he wanted to build a startup in the affiliate and partnership space. Having come from that space, I was curious and honestly a bit sceptical. I got in touch with Dominik Oppelt, one of the co-founders, and after our first conversation my gut feeling was so strong that we agreed on the spot. His question was something like: "Can you start next Friday?" I said yes.

It was never a typical agency engagement. I came in as growth advisor, effectively heading up marketing, and with a very small team the role was strategic and hands-on at the same time. We built everything from the ground up, all the way to an exit last August at close to seven figures. I stayed on for another year as growth advisor to see the transition through.

It came at a cost. What started at around 20 hours a week quickly became 30 to 40, because the value was showing up in the numbers. My time was stretched, so I cut back on winning new PRVN clients. But it's one of the best decisions I've made, and I only made it because I wasn't choosing out of need.

For a while I told myself my biggest mistake was going small: small clients, small retainers, and small on acquisition. My rule was simple. Make sure I can properly service the clients I have before I take on new ones.

If I'd wanted faster growth, I could have nailed the pitch, signed ten clients and figured out the operations afterwards. Plenty of agencies do exactly that. I was always more concerned with delivering the highest quality and doing everything I could for each client.

With four years of hindsight, I don't think it was a mistake. It was a trade-off, and I'd make it again. I still deliberately keep only a few clients. Today that means working with bigger brands like HOLY and The Female Company, and the fact that they stay with us tells me we're doing something right.

For me, the proof is in how things end. A couple of partnerships have finished over the years, not because anything went wrong, but because the commercials no longer worked, a brand decided to take affiliate in-house, or team changes shifted who was responsible for what. I'm still on good terms with every one of those clients. Even when something didn't work out the way we planned, I want every client to be able to say: they gave it their all.

I heard this on a podcast once and it stuck immediately: if a client says yes to your price straight away, you're undercharging. It happened to me more than a couple of times. It still happens occasionally.

My pricing has changed a lot over four years, driven by the results we've delivered for other clients and by the operations we've built behind the work. And honestly? I still think clients get a very good deal for what they get.

For freelancers especially: your early prices are a guess, so treat them like one. Every result you deliver is a reason to revisit them, and an instant yes is the clearest signal you'll ever get that it's time.

When you start a business, you want to do everything. You don't look at a specific client or persona. You look at a problem and think: I can solve that. And that. Oh, and that too.

That's how I spread myself too thin in the early days. It feels productive, because every yes looks like an opportunity. In reality, it dilutes your focus, your positioning and, eventually, the quality of the work.

Today I know where I'm most useful: affiliate, influencer and partnership marketing for challenger DTC brands in the UK and DACH. Knowing that makes it much easier to say no to things that aren't a fit, and much easier for the right clients to find me.

Agency owner, growth partner, consultant: I've been called all of them. The label I use most is founder. Not because it sounds better, but because it describes how I think.

Even when I'm wearing my agency hat, I look at every decision from an owner's point of view. When a client gives us media budget, I don't spend it for the sake of spending it. I look for where it will genuinely create value, and sometimes that means not spending it at all, because the right opportunity isn't there yet.

That habit goes back to the beginning. With smaller brands, we'd think very carefully about where to put €500. It was their own money, and if it disappeared, it hurt. Bigger clients benefit from exactly the same mindset: whether it's €500 or €100K, it gets the same diligence.

If you take one thing from this list into your own business, make it this one. Clients can tell the difference between someone spending their budget and someone investing it.

If you'd asked me in year one what success looked like, I would have answered with one word: scale. I put a lot of pressure on myself to grow, grow, grow. I still see agencies scaling like crazy, and part of me notices.

But one of the most important things I've learned is not to obsess over it. The business is doing well and the clients are happy. If we scale, we scale. If we don't, we don't. As long as those two things stay true, I'm happy.

I want to work with bigger and bigger brands, bring them real expertise and learn a lot from them in return. I also still want to help smaller brands when the commercials match. Growth matters to me. It just isn't the only thing that matters.

Those are the moments I want to protect. Sitting with Benjamin in his shop. Helping Fabian sell his tea. Joining a startup like zave.it and becoming part of the team. Meeting clients in person, not just on a screen.

I didn't start PRVN for it to become another corporate job. I started it for the freedom, and for a change of scenery every now and then. Growth, yes, but not at the expense of the reasons I began.

If you're weighing up the jump yourself, my advice is the same I'd give a friend: go for it. Try it. You can always take another job if you don't like it. I genuinely think everyone should try being their own boss at some point, whether that's freelancing or founding something.

And if you've already made the jump, I'd love to hear what your tutorial has taught you. Because the question I'm carrying into year five is one I don't have a neat answer to yet: what does growth look like when it doesn't have to mean scale?