Would you recommend starting an agency like yours if English isn’t my first language, considering potential language barriers during sales calls and client closures?

You don’t need to be a native English speaker to run an agency. I was born in Germany and only started speaking English around age 14, and I’ve built my agency without problems. If you can’t hold a fully professional conversation, you can focus on leads in your own country. In Germany, businesses often need services like yours because they’re less familiar with AI and automation. You don’t need extraordinary English to sell, but speaking the client’s preferred language does help. There will always be a slight disadvantage if you’re less comfortable than the client—maybe a 1 % edge case where it even helps—but generally you’ll have a harder time expressing yourself. Learning English expands your market to a wider audience with more money, since most technology and communication are in English and most money is allocated in English‑speaking countries. The trade‑off is the time and energy you must invest in learning and communicating in a language you’re not comfortable with, versus staying in your native market where the audience may have less money and require more education. Overall, I recommend you go for it.