Firm vs. Agency? It’s the Wrong Conversation.
I’ve been having conversations lately about what to call Vail Creatives. Are we an agency? Are we a consulting firm?
My answer is that I don’t really care for either label, because the models they represent are fundamentally broken.
The real problem isn't the word; it's the misaligned incentives underpinning the business models of the professional services industry. Both sides create dependency. It’s a trap, and I’ve seen too many good teams get caught in it.
The Agency Trap: Dependency by Ongoing Retainer
You hire an agency to execute. They have a specific skill—building Shopify sites, running marketing campaigns, creating content. Regardless of the quality of their work, their business model requires you to need them forever.
They build you a beautiful website with proprietary code that only they can update. They hold the keys to your ad accounts and guard the "secret sauce" of their process. Their incentive is to keep you on retainer, making themselves an indispensable, permanent line item on your budget. Now you’re trapped by their siloed knowledge.
The Consulting Firm Trap: Dependency by Slide Deck
You hire a consulting firm for strategy. They interview your team, analyze your data, and deliver a “brilliant”, 100-page slide deck outlining the path forward.
You’re still left to figure out how to actually make the journey. The firm’s work is done, and yours is just beginning. Their incentive is to sell you the next strategic phase—the implementation plan, the analysis of the plan, the post-mortem of the analysis. It’s a cycle of theoretical advice that, at best, sells you a separate “execution phase.” Now you’re trapped by endless phases of hypotheticals.
Our Model: Built for Your Independence
This is why I founded Vail Creatives. We're a firm, yes. Our work is strategic, high-level, and rooted in expert counsel. That being said, we operate on a new model, built on our core belief: our only incentive is your success and independence.
We don't want to keep you on retainer for the same problem. Our goal is to solve it so thoroughly that you don't need to hire us for it again.
We do this by embedding with your team, building your internal capabilities, and transferring knowledge as we go. We solve the problem and leave your team stronger, more confident, and fully equipped to own your own growth.
We're betting that by making you successful, you'll face new, bigger, and more interesting challenges down the road. And when you do, our hope is that you'll choose to call us again because you trust us to help you win.
