As a small agency, landing your first major client can be challenging. But acquiring your second one can be even tougher—and that process is just one component of building a diverse client base.

Several executives from established agencies spoke with Ad Age about how they overcame those hurdles early on.

“Those years are critical because it is a tough transition,” said Andrew Graff, CEO of Allen & Gerritsen, an independent agency that’s been around since 1985. The first three to five startup years are when founders mature from practitioners to business managers, he said, pointing to that period as a key time for early investment in the business, its range of services and new hires to support additional large clients.f

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