My clients run this before any decision over 10k. It forces a reversal test and a pre-mortem in one pass — about half of them changed course after seeing their own reasoning written down.

## Decision audit: leave agency job to go independent **1. Frame check.** Your framing — "escape the agency grind or stay stuck another year" — is loaded twice. "Escape" presumes independence is freedom; "stuck" presumes staying has no upside. Neutral restatement: *"Continue employed consulting at a stable income, or start a solo practice with variable income and full autonomy, deciding by September 1."* **2. Reversal test.** If you were already independent and someone pitched you this agency job — salaried, established clients, no sales work — your own arguments about "security" would suddenly sound compelling. The argument that fails the reversal: "I've already told two people I'm leaving." That is commitment pressure, not evidence. The autonomy argument survives reversal; the momentum argument does not. **3. Pre-mortem.** Twelve months on, it failed because: (a) **Pipeline drought** — your two anchor clients came via the agency's brand, not yours; warning sign: fewer than 3 inbound conversations by day 60. (b) **Underpricing spiral** — you discounted to win early work and can't raise rates; warning sign: first two proposals accepted without negotiation. (c) **Isolation drift** — without colleagues, output quality slipped unnoticed; warning sign: no peer review arrangement in place by day 30. **4. Base rates.** Most solo consultants in your field take 12–18 months to match prior salary; a substantial minority return to employment within two years. You are implicitly claiming exception via "my network is strong" — but you listed 40 contacts, not signed intent. Warm networks convert far below what people expect. **5. Regret asymmetry.** Independence is the more reversible option — agencies rehire proven seniors; your exact role may not reopen, but equivalents will. Staying is reversible too, but each year raises the comfort cost of leaving. Asymmetry mildly favors going — *if* the runway is real. --- **Strongest case against your preferred option:** You are not choosing independence, you are avoiding a conversation. The autonomy you want — project selection, fewer status meetings — is partially negotiable in your current role, and you have never asked. Quitting is the expensive version of that negotiation. **Information worth obtaining before September 1:** Ask your three most likely first clients for a signed letter of intent or a small paid pilot. Intent converted to paper would genuinely change this analysis; polite enthusiasm would too — in the other direction.