The Agency Growth Blog - For Owners Who Want Growth

There is a major change coming to the agency world and you should be prepared for it. Right now, there are thousands of agencies who all look similar, are similar sizes, and provide similar services. This means this industry is ripe for a roll-up.

I was discussing this with the agency owners in our Mastermind Group last week. Almost all of them were interested in this process and it was a lively conversation with everyone sharing. 

Some of you may have even had initial conversations with potential buyers. Some potential acquirers are working on rolling up a number of smaller agencies to produce an agency that does over $10 million in revenue and over $1 million in profit each year. 

Depending on who you ask there are between 3,000 and 4,000 inbound marketing agencies in the HubSpot partner program. History teaches us that when there are a large number of similar businesses in any specific industry—roll ups are inevitable.

You’ve seen it in local cable companies, funeral homes and local radio stations, it’s been going on in digital for years. Deloitte and Accenture have been buying digital agencies to bring new service offerings to their clients.

How do agencies compete when there are so many options for clients? There’s downward pressure on pricing. Talent becomes difficult to acquire. Clients have a hard time telling the agencies apart and worse they have a hard time knowing who’s quality and who’s not.

You Have More Options Than Ever Before, If You Start Planning Correctly Today! 

Every agency owner needs some type of exit strategy. What do you think is going to happen when you’re ready to power down or retire? All of us need to think strategically about our businesses and their ultimate transition.

In a wonderful book that I would recommend to everyone, the author talks about building your business as if you’re planning to sell it, even if that’s never going to be your intention. Check out this link for the book, Built To Sell, Creating A Business That Can Thrive Without You.