I just started an Digital Agency, BUT..?

[theshark99]

Me and a good friend recently started a digital agency, where we help small businesses with their branding, SEO and social media marketing.

We currently target businesses internationally, is that foolish?
Should we instead offer our services to local businesses in our own country?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[J0seF]

Depends on the market of your country. Where are you based ?

 

[ellay]

Yes, you should! ;^)

 

[theshark99]

Depends on the market of your country. Where are you based ?

Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

[Heiko]

I would start locally. Probably easier to get clients + your customers know who to talk to, where to reach you etc. - You can always expand into other countries/regions later on.

 

[TheMarquis]

The international path is way more competitive. Start slow, grow some capital, build a good portfolio, and after that you should also try the international way. Good luck!

 

[GOOGLEDUCK]

of course not foolish, you are not a pizzeria, you are a digital agency, get all clients you can, worldwide
I hope your agency is AI based somehow though, because the "digital agency" world aint no longer what it was

 

[Hawkeye Digital]

Me and a good friend recently started a digital agency, where we help small businesses with their branding, SEO and social media marketing.

We currently target businesses internationally, is that foolish?
Should we instead offer our services to local businesses in our own country?

Any help is appreciated.

You can try BHW , its nice platform to start with sir .

 

[PHPInjected]

Me and a good friend recently started a digital agency, where we help small businesses with their branding, SEO and social media marketing.

We currently target businesses internationally, is that foolish?
Should we instead offer our services to local businesses in our own country?

Any help is appreciated.

As @Heiko has said, it's easier to maintain a local client base as the business owners have a picture for who are and where to contact you should their be an issue.

Furthermore, it depends if the workload is worth it for both parties involved where you currently reside.

So, the business owner turning potential leads or traffic into sales. Also, you putting in the correct SEO work to project budget ratio.

 

[Dopious]

Should we instead offer our services to local businesses in our own country?

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Yes, go with your local customers, might even try to get some subcontractor work for other agencies in your local area. Do network meetups and lunches seems to work good in our Scandinavian culture.

 

[SilverClouds]

As much as my failing agency, uh, failed, I was able to get local clients fairly easily (it's just the rates are shit and a lot of people try to scam for free service) where foreign clients are just harder to get. A lot of people start spamming US businesses and don't have any sales for months. Check if there are any easy ways for you to get clients in your area that aren't completely cold outreach. The fact that company exists doesn't automatically mean they want/need any marketing services.

 

[Marco_6379]

Start always locally and find the workflow that fits you easily. Make it scalable and outsource boring or hard tasks.
Then once u have a strong portfolio u can reach out many international companies.

 

[Illumi_96x]

That's actually a very interesting business strategy since you can expand your business to the whole planet. You can't go wrong with that.

 

[AshOasis]

Me and a good friend recently started a digital agency, where we help small businesses with their branding, SEO and social media marketing.

We currently target businesses internationally, is that foolish?
Should we instead offer our services to local businesses in our own country?

Any help is appreciated.

As many others, I'd recommend going for small local businesses first. Especially since you're targeting small business owners, the ones that are based around you will be a lot more receptive to your offers. It would be easier for you as well, since you should already be somewhat familiar with local market and trends.
And from the perspective of a small business owner in a far away land - as a recently established agency you'd be less trustworthy for them to work with.

But that's just how I see it and your situation might be different in reality - judge for yourselves and best of luck.