6. Setting Up Your Own Agency

The most obvious path to follow once your business has proved a success is to expand it in the traditional manner, taking on staff or partners to absorb extra work and increase profits. Expansion of a pure copywriting business can be problematic, however, which is one reason why large copywriting agencies are pretty rare.

For a start, copywriters tend to be chosen on the basis of individual skills and your clients might not appreciate you handing their work on to a colleague or subordinate. The margins involved in supplying copy, while ample for an individual or a small business, might not be sufficient to support additional staff. And it is easier to build a brand if you are recognised in having expertise in one of the industries that consumes copy, such as advertising, direct mail, the web, journalism or public relations.

If you can claim particular expertise in one of these areas and want to expand your business, it might be an idea to consider setting up an advertising, direct mail, web, press or public relations agency that can provide copywriting as part of a range of services relevant to the industry.