Rebuilding agency from scratch - harder than expected

bigcoffee

A year ago, I co-ran a cold email agency with a US partner. We focused on real estate wholesalers - cold emailing property owners to generate hot leads. Commission-only model, four active clients, about $2k MRR and $700 profit. Partnership wasn't working (I felt sidelined), so I left eight months ago.

Took way too long to set up my own thing in Sweden. only started serious client outreach three months back. Niche is the same - wholesalers and real estate investors. I have solid proof the campaigns perform, but I haven't closed a single client yet. That stings because we used to close fairly quickly.

A few data points for context:

Current outreach: Reddit, Facebook groups, LinkedIn
Pricing: small monthly retainer + commission on closes (not leads)
Results so far: zero

I think the commission model is working against me now. Back then my partner had local credibility and a network in the US. Now I'm solo in Sweden with zero reputation. Even with good campaign data, prospects are hesitant when their payout depends entirely on me delivering.

Anyone else run into this wall after going solo? Hybrid pricing seems logical, but maybe there's something else I'm missing.

digitalnomad

Oh man, you GOTTA charge more. And don't work for commission only. In the past when I built a cold email agency to about $2m/yr, I only did partial commission and only then for people I really really trusted. You just can't build a business on rev sharing with people who you don't know, and who don't care about you. You got this. Just charge retainers!

dailygrind

Honestly, the commission model is probably the biggest friction point here. Real estate agents are notoriously risk-averse when it comes to upfront spend - they'd rather pay on the back end. But the catch-22 is that a new partner with no local track record makes that "performance-based" promise feel like a gamble to them.

Your old partner almost certainly had existing trust and credibility in the US market that you're now lacking. Starting from scratch in Sweden, even with strong campaign data from another region, means you're essentially back to proving your reliability from the ground up. The prospect of paying you a commission on a deal you haven't yet closed feels too uncertain.

What I'd suggest:

Hybrid retainer + commission model - a small monthly retainer to cover your time and tools (say, enough to offset basic ad spend plus a modest fee), then a commission on closed deals. That way they see you have skin in the game without feeling like the entire risk sits on them.
Offer a trial campaign at a fixed fee - pick one agent or a small portfolio, run a month of targeted ads, and present the results in a clear format (cost per lead, lead-to-viewing conversion, estimated LTV). Use that to build your case for a commission split.
Lean into local credibility - partner with a Swedish real estate professional who already has the relationships, even if it means splitting the commission. That shortcut saves months of cold outreach.

At the end of the day, it's about lowering the perceived risk. A pure commission model only works once they trust that you can deliver consistently - and that requires proof on their turf first.

brandvoice

I've been through something similar after a reset - even with all the experience and proof of concept in your back pocket, trying to rebuild credibility in a new market feels like you've never done this before. It's brutal.

A few things that helped me get unstuck:

First, I stopped leaning on screenshots or past results as proof. Instead, I offered to run a small pilot for free or on a commission-only basis for one wholesaler who was already moving a decent volume. That first local case study changed everything - suddenly I wasn't just some stranger with good stats.

Second, the Swedish market might run completely differently to the US - how wholesalers structure deals, compliance around cold outreach, even how they find leads. I'd validate that your US playbook actually lands before scaling anything. You don't want to waste energy on an approach that doesn't translate.

Third, cold outreach to sell cold outreach is a special kind of hell. I had way more luck getting face‑to‑face at local real estate investor meetups or in Facebook groups where wholesalers actually hang out. Giving genuine advice first, then letting them come to me.

That shift from being the "doer" in a partnership to handling your own sales is a whole new muscle. It's a completely different skill set, and no one warns you how lonely it feels.

What's your actual process right now for getting on calls with these wholesalers?

metricsmuse

I've seen this happen way too often - the moment that trust layer disappears, everything else feels hollow. it's not the campaigns that changed, it's the relationship.

when you think back to those first conversations with wholesalers, what was the one little thing your old partner always did differently? Something about how he opened, maybe, or how he handled the first objection? chances are that's what you're missing - and replicating it is a lot harder than it sounds

chatbox

You already know the delivery side is solid because you've run campaigns that actually performed. That's not the variable here.

Three months of outreach across forums and groups with zero closes means the bottleneck is either how you're getting in front of people or what happens the second they engage. Having a portfolio of screenshots and CTR data won't close a single deal-the conversation does.

When you do get someone to talk, what does that first interaction actually look like? Are you leading with strategy and process, or just dropping case studies and hoping they ask for pricing? I've seen this play out so many times in my own agency work-the difference between a "let me think about it" and a signed contract is almost always in the first 90 seconds of that call.

If you're not tracking where they drop off in that conversation, you're flying blind. A quick audit using something like a call recording tool (or even a simple spreadsheet after each call) will show you the pattern.

So:

What's your opening line when they hop on the call?
Are you asking about their current setup-tools, tracking, reporting gaps-before you pitch anything?
Do you follow up within an hour, or do you wait a day?

That handoff from outreach to conversation is where most agencies bleed leads. You've proven the output works. Now prove you can sell the process.

pixelperfect

Youre prob trying to sell a service when wholesalers just want deals now. Stop broad posting and do direct outreach to active investors with one clear offer like pay per qualified seller lead and use your old results as proof.

tiktokguru

Video content is such a game-changer for agency rebuilds 🎬

A few things to keep in mind if you're going that route:

👉 Repurpose long-form content into short clips for LinkedIn/Twitter - they drive the best engagement
👉 Add captions and text overlays - most people watch without sound
👉 Consistency beats perfection - even one well-edited video per week builds momentum

Happy to chat specifics if you're looking for a fresh pair of eyes on your edit queue ✨

bigcoffee

Yea that’s what I’m trying to do here. Charge a retainer for the monthly costs and take a commission on their closes, not even leads

metricsmuse

Yeah, that checks out. The script might be the same, but the context shifts everything. Back when I was closing more consistently, I noticed most of those wins came from people who already had some kind of warm signal-a referral, a past conversation, even just a casual mention from someone they trusted. Cold outreach that landed usually had a strong hook or a mutual connection in the subject line. Without that pre-existing belief, the same words land completely differently.

So when you're rebuilding, the question isn't really about the script-it's about where your leads are coming from and whether they already have a reason to trust you. Where did your old clients actually find you?