How Agencies Can Deliver More Value by Letting Go

In the traditional agency model, you eventually reach a phase of the engagement where the core app has been built, and further features will be billed at an hourly rate for a dev managed by the agency. That hourly rate can be double or triple what the dev is receiving - because the agency will provide management services or some other kind of support alongside those hours.

But by the agency charging rent on every hour that dev works, they become a pebble in the client's shoe, making it that much harder for them to accomplish their goal of building a successful product. It is unlikely that they are providing value on every hour that the dev works, to where a 2-3X multiple is justified.

If our north star is the client's success, then it seems that a more favorable arrangement can be made; the client working directly with the dev, without the agency's involvement.

For the client, they get a dev who is already trained, and the cost of hiring them just went down.

For the dev, they get a client they are familiar with, and a raise relative to what the agency was paying them.

For the agency, the amount of hours doing management work just went down, and the amount of hours doing high impact work just went up. You have allowed yourself to step out of where you are not adding much value, and step into areas where you are most needed.

Areas such as training the client and their team in how to manage Stripe subscriptions themselves. Showing their UI/UX designer how to go straight from Figma to WeWeb, streamlining their development process. Workshops for their backend developer in how to use Xano, so they can bind data directly to the front end and eliminate bottlenecks. You can also continue to provide management to the dev, according to a set schedule.

The agency becomes a high-impact catalyst, enabling the client to stand on their own two feet faster and more effectively. By focusing on empowerment rather than dependence, you can create a win-win-win scenario for the client, the dev, and the agency. The client gets a successful product, the dev gets on-going work, and the agency gets to make a real difference while maintaining healthy margins.

It's a model that aligns incentives around the ultimate goal - the client's success. You're not just building a product; you're building a capability within the client's organization. That's the kind of value that forges long-term relationships, and benefits everyone involved.

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