Founders of small brands tend to get caught up attempting to wear all the hats – they try to cover design, marketing, organization, cash flow, public relations, social media, order fulfillment, website design, advertising, photography, styling, retail outreach, and more. The result can be a clumsy juggling experiment that leaves many of them exhausted and emotionally drained.

Bringing on employees for a burgeoning lifestyle brand is important – especially for core tasks like building a product creation infrastructure, directly managing retailers and consumer sales, and designing new product. But many successful veterans of the entrepreneurial world know better than to attempt roles that are outside the realm of their core mission as a company. They realize that their limited time and valuable skill set is best focused on creating product and will outsource for services that are best done by others.

There are many reasons small brands should outsource – here are a few:

You pay an agency or a freelancer for specialized talent and expertise that would be daunting to afford if hired as a full time inhouse team or employee – salaries aside, payroll taxes, health insurance and other employee imbedded costs can add unnecessary pressure to a small brand’s overhead.
An outside voice can lend a sense of objectivity to your efforts and can serve as a mentor. They will keep you abreast of trends and best practices that are valuable for keeping you ahead of your competition.
An agency can bring more to the table in terms of innovative ways to do the best job within their specific field of practice. They always have their finger on the pulse of what is happening in their industry and bring that talent to you – rather than forcing you to seek it out.
An outside agency saves you time. They ensure that certain tasks will be done and not overlooked by your current staff.
An outside agency knows what they’re doing and can do it better and faster than a novice.

Make Sure the Agency Understands Your Brand – all materials including press kits, photography, and social content should align with the zeitgeist of your brand. Are you serious, lighthearted, whimsical, playful, earnest, medical, cutting edge, or traditional? Educate all teams about your brand’s values so that all work they perform is in line with your company’s brand.

Give Support – make sure your agency has all the samples, background information, photography, and product pipeline information to create a sequence of pitches, photos, content and marketing materials to make your campaign a success.

Set a Realistic Budget – an agency needs a reasonable amount of time to conduct outreach, create marketing materials, and generally perform their job without feeling completely rushed to be successful. While pinching pennies is important, giving your agency the bandwidth and focus they need to make you a priority is crucial.

Respect the Agency - we’re not recommending blind faith but trying to micro- manage an outside firm never works well. To avoid this, make sure you get a good flow of reportage on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. From there you can help prioritize efforts and determine the best areas to invest the most time. Focus on pre-established priorities, rather than on the easiest tasks or the squeakiest wheels.

Create Trust – the first few months of a brand-agency relationship are crucial to the success of any campaign. One great way to achieve trust is to show that you trust the agency – paying on time, following through on plans, providing necessary materials, and staying on a clear track together will ensure this happens.

Focus on an End Result – the most important goal to keep in mind when outsourcing is results. Without this, the greatest intercommunication, workflow, or relationship in the world is meaningless. Keep focused on your desired result and don’t allow yourself to be detracted.

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