Launch a Freelance Agency

Proof required

Write a service definition document covering: (1) the specific service offered, described in one sentence that a potential client could read and immediately know whether they need it; (2) your rate (hourly or project fee) and a 2-sentence justification for why the rate is appropriate for your target market; (3) a list of 10 named potential first clients (company or individual name, why they are a fit, and your planned outreach approach for each).

What gets checked

• Service is described in one sentence — a service that requires a paragraph to explain is not yet well-defined.
• Rate justification references the target market — not 'I charge £100/hour because that's market rate' but 'I charge £100/hour because my target clients are Series A startups whose internal cost for this work would be £150/hour at minimum'.
• 10 named clients with specific outreach plans — not 'reach out to people on LinkedIn' but 'email Alice at CompanyX who mentioned needing [service] in a LinkedIn post last month'.

Common mistakes

• Service description requires 3+ sentences — if you cannot describe the service in one sentence, you have not defined it precisely enough.
• No named clients — a first client acquisition plan without names is not a plan.
• Rate has no justification — a number without reasoning means you have not yet validated the rate with the market.

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• The service definition must be evaluable — ask 'if I showed this sentence to a potential client, would they immediately know whether they need it?' If not, it needs sharpening.
• The rate justification must reference the target market's alternatives — what would the client pay for this work if they didn't use this agency?
• The 10 named clients should be real and reachable — ask how you know these names and what your actual connection to each is.

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Proof required

Share a redacted screenshot of the signed contract or statement of work (scope and fee visible; client name can be redacted). Share a redacted screenshot of the first payment received (bank statement or payment processor showing the invoice amount). Write one sentence on which specific outreach method from your M1 list resulted in this contract.

What gets checked

• Signed contract or SOW and first payment received are both shown.
• The outreach method that closed the contract is named — which of your M1 actions converted.
• The fee in the contract matches the rate defined in M1 — if the rate changed, name what changed and why.

Common mistakes

• Letter of intent presented without payment — 'they've agreed in principle' is not a closed contract.
• Payment received but no signed scope document — payment without a documented scope means the project risk (scope creep) is entirely on you.
• First client came from outside the M1 list entirely — this is not a failure but it should be named: what acquisition approach worked when your planned approach did not?

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• Both the signed document and the payment must be present — a signed contract without payment received means the contract is not yet executed.
• Ask which specific M1 outreach action produced this client — the conversion method is useful data for the next phase.
• If the fee is lower than the M1 rate, ask why — a discounted first contract is understandable, but it should be named as a deliberate decision, not a default.

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Proof required

Share evidence of £3K/month or more in contracted revenue (invoices, bank statement, or payment processor — at least 2 distinct clients visible in the evidence). Share one written testimonial from a client whose project is complete (can be a direct quote from an email or a LinkedIn recommendation). Write 50 words on how the agency delivers work: who does what, and what the repeatable process looks like.

What gets checked

• £3K/month from at least 2 clients — a single client paying £3K/month is a consulting retainer, not an agency.
• Testimonial is from a completed project, not a current one — in-progress testimonials lack the credibility of completed-work testimonials.
• Delivery system description is specific — 'I do the work myself' is an honest answer; 'we have a team of contractors managed via Notion and Slack' is an honest agency description.

Common mistakes

• Revenue from a single client — the agency proof requires at least 2 active clients simultaneously.
• Testimonial is generic: 'working with them was great' — a testimonial that names the specific outcome achieved is more credible.
• Delivery system absent — an agency without a described delivery process is a person with a trading name, not a scalable service business.

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• The revenue evidence must show at least 2 distinct clients — invoices, bank entries, or payment processor entries should have 2 recognisably different client references.
• The testimonial should name a specific outcome — ask: 'What specific result did this client achieve that they credited the agency with?'
• The delivery system description is the credibility differentiator — an agency that has no described delivery process is likely delivering everything ad hoc, which limits scale.

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