How should I build an automation agency in South Africa targeting small B2B service businesses—should I start with one offer or multiple, and how do I acquire the first clients?
Treat it like my own agency but in South Africa: sell the offer before you build anything, test a range of offers (6‑30) to see what resonates, land your first clients mainly through Upwork with a tilt toward cold email, and only then productize the winning service into a repeatable offer.
Thanks for the question. Shipping an automation isn't really needed—you don't need to ship it at all because the shipping happens during the building process. You start by talking with somebody who likes what you have to offer, get them on a call, discuss the problems and solutions, do quick math to see how much the problem is costing them, and pitch your solution at a fraction of that cost—usually around 30%. Once they agree, you send a proposal, they sign it and pay you a little money. I like doing a 50/50 upfront and then upon delivery structure for a small intro offer, then transitioning to a retainer fully paid up front at the beginning of each month. After they sign, you need to get them on a kickoff call to walk through expectations, scope, timelines, and confirm the scope again before starting work—this is your point of highest leverage. If there are project problems, deal with them now while you have some of their money and haven't done work yet, rather than at the end when they're holding money out on you. On the kickoff call, you also have them sign up to the necessary platforms (like Make.com or N8N) so they have everything they need upfront and you never have to bug them again for access; the only messages you'll get are positive happy updates. As a Make.com partner and NN verified creator, I get preferential treatment like a thousand free operations via affiliate promo codes, which adds 3‑5% to your margin because they use your affiliate links and trust you as an authority. You have no liability for recurring payments—they take that on. Before the end of the call, you have all the credentials so you never have to bug them again. That's how you actually go about doing the shipping. To find clients in the really early stages of your automation agency, join Maker School.
Nick advises Jake to stick with packaged automation services rather than moving to custom projects, because custom work suffers from scope bloat and inefficiencies. He suggests leveraging Jake’s existing mortgage‑originator network: compile a list of all B2B clients and leads from that work, plus any other network connections. In a spreadsheet, put clients in column A, ways you could help them in column B, systems you could build or sell in column C, and pitch price in column D. Then warm‑pitch each contact by referencing your automation work and asking if they know anyone who might need it. Start with existing clients and leads, then expand to your wider network for referrals. This approach uses your proven problem‑solver reputation, making outreach far more effective than cold outreach. After exhausting warm contacts, you can still add a scalable outbound mechanism (e.g., B2B cold email) to reach strangers, but the warm path is the fastest route to revenue.
I wouldn't recommend starting with B2B SaaS if you're new to business. Instead, begin with something simpler like an agency that offers a straightforward service implementation. If you still want to pursue B2B SaaS, get your first customer as quickly as possible—don't spend time engineering the product. Create a simple landing page, a basic dashboard, and a minimum viable feature that outperforms competitors, then push it in front of as many people as you can. Keep usage costs low and give away slots so people try your service, learning through feedback rather than planning. If you're just starting out, I would definitely avoid B2B SaaS.
All agencies share the same fundamental shape: lead generation at the top (via ads, cold emails, cold calls, etc.), which funnels into a sales event (typically a discovery or closing call). From there you onboard the client, fulfill the promised service, and manage the client—checking in on progress—before delivering the project, possibly with a revision cycle that leads to another transformation event where you resell them. I’ve documented this shape in the three automation agency sales flows and a roadmap to $25k/month automation that you can download for free. The real key to success isn’t becoming a top AI or automation specialist; it’s becoming a good business person who understands the container (the agency model) and what you put inside it. This mindset can be learned in a couple of weeks, and you don’t need to be expert at the specific service you’re offering.