Is Your Business A Solo, Hero Or Agency Structure?

The great thing about having your own business is that you get to design it. Hello, freedom!

But sometimes we get so busy, that we forget to make the most of this freedom. What I often see happening in particularly small businesses, is that the business is driving the person as opposed to the other way around.

So what are these three business structures you speak of? These names are “Kate Specials” But they are well-known structures.

Solo
Often businesses will start here. The idea of a Solo business model is you manage every aspect of your business and you don’t rely heavily on delegating tasks to others to get done. You’re solely responsible for producing and developing the products and services that are offered to keep your business afloat. You might have a bookkeeper and accountant or virtual assistant, but it’s more ad hoc and lean.

The pros are you have full control. You have no need to manage anyone. It’s simple, and it also has a cash flow where it is just relying on yourself. This is also the con, if you do not have work, you don’t have any clients or income.

Hero
I call this next one Hero because you are the face of the business and the CEO. You do the client work yourself, but you have a team that makes the business him. So think of marketing systems, accounts, administration, online courses and programs, and client inquiries.

Your team might also do the client work, but it always goes back through you to the client. People come to your business because of you, you are the face. The pros are you have full control, you can rely on the team to do all of the background work. The cons are managing and leading a team and trusting people to represent you, and you can become the bottle-neck.

Agency
If your team is dealing directly with the clients, maybe consider this third model. This is where you are the CEO of a team of competent people who have their own clients and they work directly inside your business. The pros are this business doesn’t rely on you to run it or get income. The cons are you’re one step further away from the client. So ensuring that you have the right people is really key.

So how do you choose which is the right structure for you?
First, have a think about what sort of business do you want to have? Do you want to be actively involved with the clients every day? Do you want your face and voice to be that of the business? Or are you wanting to be stepping aside and having the business run as its own entity? I encourage you to think about these three models. Have a think about which one you’re currently in. And then think about where you would like to be because the leadership for each of these three models is quite different.

If you are (or want to be) in the Hero model or the Agency model, read about my Solo to CEO Program starting soon. It’s an eight-week course where we go through everything that you need to lead your business, whether that’s a hero business or an agency business. Join the waitlist here!