I started web and app design freelancing around 2 years ago. I found some major success on Fiverr but honestly the work I find through Fiverr is very small scale and not as interesting to me anymore. After some research I think it would be cool to go the design agency route, where I start as a freelancer and then try to scale operations from there to lead the agency rather than design full time on my own.

The question is how do I begin scaling independently outside of Fiverr? How do most web design agencies find their higher paying clients?

Normally, I leverage high-quality clients I find from Fiverr to work outside of the platform and encourage clients to spread word of my services over referral. Is there a more consistent way of acquiring clients? (i.e. cold calls, meetups, etc.)?

Should I not focus on being profitable in the beginning as I scale and solely focus on growing the agency?