Why we are launching an accelerator for PR agencies

We are today unveiling OneAccelerator to launch new PR agencies that will either stand alone as limited companies or grow as a business unit within PR Agency One.

It is open to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to take the leap with some support, freelancers who are ready to grow a business, and PR Agency One employees who want to give their own company a go.

Starting your own business is not for the faint-hearted and there are lots of barriers to entry. These include a lack of capital, no support, an undefined proposition, or an inability to run back-office processes such as credit control, payroll, or marketing.

The accelerator is designed to offer all that support and more. There’s a strong start-up culture in tech, with accelerators, incubators, and funding available to kick-start companies. In the PR industry, there is a lack of support. It is thought that because a PR person only technically needs a good idea, a laptop, and a phone to start up, these services are just not needed.

Think again. Starting up, no matter the sector, is daunting.

This year we are celebrating our first decade of operations, and starting the accelerator with the aim of identifying high-potential business plans that will lead to the creation of not only new businesses but also new jobs.

We have a good track record and would make a great partner. In 10 years we have won more than 50 industry awards, and we are currently the PRCA’s mid-sized consultancy of the year 2021/22. We have a large roster of clients which includes Decathlon, Allied London, Gazprom Energy, One4all Gift Cards, and mthree.

OneAccelerator has been designed by PR Agency One’s founder and managing director, James Crawford, and Stephen Waddington, the former chair of the CIPR who is Visiting Professor of Practice in Public Relations at Newcastle University.

The accelerator will support new agency start-ups with capital, marketing and sales support, and back-office resources, as well as de-risking the funding gap between starting an agency and it generating a sustainable income.

The accelerator is aimed at:

• Freelancers who have ambition and are passionate about growing something themselves but lack the resources and the full set of skills to take it further
• In house or agency staffers who think it’s time to strike out on their own, but don’t know where to start and have no funds to support them as they do so
• Senior PRs who feel they have reached a plateau in their career with few new opportunities in their current job

Potential applicants will attend a series of half-day workshops covering various aspects of starting a business, from market and proposition to agency economics and investment models. If still interested, they will submit a business plan and 12-month financial forecast and present it to the PRAO management team.

Successful applicants will then become business partners and be able to access a wealth of resources from IT to HR, as well as PRAO’s industry-leading measurement and digital lead generation tools.

PRAO will also provide significant funding for up to six months, with the goal of breaking even after 12 months. In exchange, they will take majority equity in the first year, following which the new agency partner will be able to earn in over time.

There are lots of people who want to start their own companies but don’t know how to, don’t have the confidence, or perhaps believe they haven’t the full range of competencies needed.

We know from experience that starting and running a business is tough and we have all the experience and know-how to fast-track a start-up PR agency. This incubator will equip fledgling entrepreneurs with the inspiration, insight, and concrete tools to turn their idea into a business and quickly take it to the next level.

PR Agency One has been built by creating an environment that attracts talent, cultivates knowledge, and shares experience, and it’s a philosophy that has served us extremely well over the years.

All of our past and current staff are encouraged to be entrepreneurial, to be pioneers who seek out new challenges. That’s what this new incubator is about, allowing people, including our own staff, to take a leap of faith, safe in the knowledge that we will be there every step of the way with support, tips, and valuable insight.

Stephen Waddington said: “Thousands of businesses are created every year, but latest figures show that 20% fail within the first 12 months, rising to 60% by year three. Among the reasons they fail is because they run out of cash, they lacked a good business model, had poor marketing and because they didn’t have the right team in the business.

“OneAccelerator takes these barriers out of the equation, and any start-up company we invest in will be given every opportunity to make the transition to become a success story and achieve its full potential, because it is also in our interests that it flies.”

For more information visit: https://www.oneaccelerator.co.uk/