uixa’s 2023 Perennial Report
A recap of our first 6 months of running an agency.
Mateo Jakelic · 20 February 2025
Hi, I’m Mateo Jakelic. I'm running a digital agency in Austria called uixa with my two friends: Kristijan Damjanov and Markus Pichorner.
This is a recap of our first 6 months of running an agency. It's our first attempt at understanding how an agency operates, and a look into the future of how it can change as it grows. I intend for this to be a resource to others trying to do the same thing.
I have done a few freelancing jobs as an individual prior to creating an agency. I identified that scaling by myself would take longer. Sometimes I still take on a few clients on my own, but my priority now lies more on uixa and scaling the agency.
This report is inspired by Ian from Gardener / gardener.
uixa is just a name.
It is actually a group of three (now four) partners, together with a mentor, who are combining their experiences to create something meaningful and different.
1.3 million
Based on some quick research, there are about 1.3 million agencies in Europe. So why would someone like you who is reading this remember and use uixa.agency as a service provider?
We specialise in custom website design, placing a strong emphasis on individuality. With over 50% of websites relying on templates, many brands risk losing their unique identity. Our custom designs ensure that small and medium-sized businesses can showcase their services and products in a way that highlights their distinctiveness, all while keeping the solution affordable.
Along the way we discovered our passion for videography, which we converted to a service. A service where we create high-quality, engaging videos that tell your brand’s story. Whether it’s for social media or your website, our videos are created to enhance your online presence, increase engagement, and leave a memorable impact.
We also recognise that a website without a strong brand or product design lacks true quality. That’s why we specialise in branding and product design, ensuring a seamless, consistent look and feel that enhances the overall user experience of your website.
Additionally, we offer professional photography and digital marketing services, such as advertising, providing your business with everything it needs to stand out and thrive in the digital world.
Firstly let's take a look at the finances, because that is probably why you are here, to see how “successful” we are.
My opinion is that bookkeeping/finances is a skill that everyone should work on. Until today I am still doing the finances on my own, as soon as I am confident in my finance skills I intend on hiring professionals.
The main reason I started an agency is to work with friends and create something meaningful while expanding my knowledge. Money wasn’t my primary motivation; it was the freedom to break away from the confines of a traditional full-time office job.
Though money quickly becomes a challenge as an agency service provider because it’s hard to rely on a consistent monthly income.
Revenue
Revenue that we made in the first 6 months.
€18,081.00
- Average deal value
- around €2,000.00
- Average rate across all billable hours
- €30.00/hr
Salary
At the time, both Markus and Kristijan were still studying, so we didn’t establish regular salaries for them. Instead, we worked on a project-based system, paying ourselves based on the projects we completed.
Mateo€6,929.42
Markus€3,096.00
Kristijan€1,591.00
As you can see, this isn't your average salary. For me it was about 1.1k a month. But this doesn't matter, usually you will not have a salary in the beginning, we were actually very lucky to have this. So reading this, don't expect a big salary as soon as you start.
You can expect to gain a new passion, build meaningful relationships, acquire valuable knowledge, and create unforgettable experiences.
However, be prepared to face more challenging and stressful situations along the way.
Expenses overview
- Most of our expenses were big investments in equipment/tools we use
- €6,464.58
- We also spent this on business development
- €591.00
- We bought a Sony FX30, which allowed us to start a new service.
- We are all working remotely so there was no need for office spaces. In my opinion everyone who is starting out should not invest into an office space.
New businesses
Lead Source
- 45%of leads came in from our mentor
- 30%of leads came from existing clients
- 25%of leads came from our network
0%
were cold inbound leads
Learnings
Put yourself out there, no matter how good business is at the moment!
You will always have less-performing months or even no performance at all, and this sucks. Start doing marketing for your agency as well. You don’t have a never-ending network that you can rely on. Besides getting new clients through marketing, you will also gain credibility.
Write everything down,
from how you are creating websites, to how your design work is done. Having a document on hand, where you have all of the instructions will help you cut down on those clumsy mistakes that ruin your reputation. From 2024 we have started creating a play book, where we are outlining all of our services in details, down to the very tasks.
Stick to one language for communicating and documentation.
Kristijan and I are from Slovenia, Markus is from Austria, so everything is communicated in English. If you are also starting think about the future and only stick to one language for communicating and documentation, I would therefore recommend English, as you never know who your next partner is going to be.
Identify your strengths and focus on them.
Focus on getting good at your thing, let's be honest, you have everything in your disposal 24/7. The only thing that is stopping you is yourself.
Understand the importance of a mentor and colleagues.
Even though you have everything at your disposal, you need time and you will make many mistakes. The time to learn new things will drastically decrease if you have a mentor and colleagues, as a mentor can teach from their experiences and knowledge, while colleagues will make mistakes and you can learn from them together.
Fun facts
We changed our website twice, currently working on the 3rd version.
The name uixa was mostly generated by AI, a combination of ux and ui.
uixa is an Austrian-based company.
Resources
The biggest game changer for me was creating a library of online resources. This helps me in my design/development work and with running the agency. Since I don't like gatekeeping things I will be sharing this with you.
Geist Font, we use this font for the agency’s brand
Hetzner, best server/cloud for websites in combination with CyberPanel
Andrea Egli, you can find a lot of custom code for different website functions, if you are working with Elementor, but should also work with other builder.
Footer designs, the best repository for footer designs
Awwwards, the best repository for website inspiration
HAWRAF Non-negotiables, cool read
The Meaning of Design, cool read
Pangram Fonts, repository for fonts
Raw. agency resources, some cool resources from a Slovenian based agency that I am inspired by. .raw. Thank you. 🙂
Also on the list are:
- https://obys.agency/, https://locomotive.ca/en, https://www.jkrglobal.com/, https://numbered.com/, https://www.agentur-loop.com/, https://www.pentagram.com
How to get rich Tweet, interesting tweet
Google Earth Studio, use it for life-like animations
How to do great work, just start reading it and you will immediately like it
Bravo Studio, no-code front-end for app development (good entry for coding apps
Supabase (Back-end), back-end for app creation
CSS buttons & elements, button and other elements for websites
D.U.N.S number, if you want to publish an app on iOS you will need this
Frames for colour grading, film stills as colour grading references
Setting up custom mails on CyberPanel
Filming ideas & Interview with Claudio Miranda
Gardener’s 2022 Perennial Report, the idea for this report came from here
We're not a "Traditional Agency™"
Headless Website, something to look into if you are an e-commerce brand
Website Inspiration (Animations, Effects, and more)
Vidclue, video library: social media video ideas
Lenis Smooth Scroll, best smooth scroll for websites
Thank you!
All reports
