Issue #36: What’s Your Agency Exit Plan?

Last week we were at an agency event in Tampa and I realized that both new & old agencies are treating their business like they’ll be running it forever…which led me to this week’s business tip:
💵 Business Tip: Structure Your Agency Like You’re Going to Exit
Fact: Every agency owner WILL exit their agency. The real question will be are they exiting because they’re forced to, i.e., shutting down, or exiting because they want to!
If you’re reading this, then I guess you want to exit on your terms.
You need to set your agency up to sell before you ever plan to sell it. Here are a few tips to make sure your agency is ready to sell for top dollar:
  1. Have consistent & reliable monthly billings. Get away from the feast or famine project model and sell retainers!
  2. Don’t even think about selling until you’ve been showing consistent growth over a two-year period.
  3. Squeaky clean financials (and no, you’re P&L won’t cut it). On top of your profit and loss, you need to include details by channel if you want to stay competitive.
  4. Showcase your customer lifetime value and make darn sure it’s high!
If you can’t clearly show any of these things to someone outside of your organization, you have to start now.
Remember, every agency owner will exit…how will you?
✈️ See you at T&C in San Diego?
This week Justin & I are spending time with marketers and business owners at the Traffic & Conversion Summit. If you’re here, we’d love to get together.
Justin will be leading the networking meet-up tables, and I’ll be hanging out in the VIP lounge. If you want to get together, just reply to this email, and we’ll make something work.
Talk next week,
Avi
CEO & Chief Wizard