What happens after you sell your agency?

There’s a lot written about exits. You’ll find countless books, podcasts, and guides that frame it as the ultimate goal - the endgame. But the reality is often much more nuanced. In my experience, it wasn’t a finish line at all. It’s just the start of a very different chapter. And any sale is a very personal experience which is unique to the circumstances of the individual founder. 

At the time we were approached, we weren’t actively looking to sell. In fact, we’d just laid out a new growth plan with some ambitious revenue and profit targets. We were a few months into that journey when the first speculative enquiry landed. Completely unprompted, and to be honest, it caught me slightly off guard.

That said, it wasn’t entirely surprising that it would happen at some point. Shopify was growing rapidly and agencies with strong capability in that space were becoming increasingly interesting. Other agencies were starting to look at how they could bring that capability in-house without building it from scratch.

We took the first approach seriously and explored it properly - which I’d always recommend doing (as does the great David C Baker in this article), if nothing else to learn what matters to you and what doesn’t. 

In the end, it didn’t feel like the right structure or cultural fit. But it gave us perspective. We understood the process better, and we were clearer on what we’d want - or avoid - if something else came along.

A couple of months later, it did.

This second approach felt much more aligned, both in terms of values and ambition. We decided to take it further.

The Decision Isn’t Just About the Deal

There’s a huge amount of useful content out there about preparing for an exit - and I read, listened to and watched plenty of it. It helped me understand how deals are typically structured, what buyers look for and what makes an agency ‘attractive’ on paper. But one thing that stood out to me through the process was how little of that content talks about the personal side.

Yes, there are principles around valuation, risk and legal terms, but the real decision to sell is rarely a purely commercial one. It’s shaped just as much by your personal circumstances - your energy levels, your family situation, your appetite for risk and what you want the next few years of your life to look like. No book or podcast can account for those things.

At that time we were growing quickly - faster than we could really resource. We were facing more complex legal contracts and had increasing operational demands that were becoming harder to manage with the size and structure we had. The risk was that we wouldn’t be able to capitalise on the growth that was in front of us.

The acquisition offered a way to quickly connect into a bigger infrastructure - one that could support our growth, help us move faster and reduce risk. It also opened up new career opportunities for the team, gave us access to better systems and support and allowed us to focus more on what we were good at, rather than building everything (like HR, operations, legal etc) ourselves. On paper, it worked. But more importantly, it suited the situation we were in.

The Process Is Demanding

There’s definitely a buzz in those early conversations. The idea of what could be, the potential it represents - it’s exciting. But once you move beyond that and into the detail, it becomes clear just how much work is involved.

The process of selling a business while continuing to run it is one of the most demanding things I’ve experienced. The due diligence alone is a full-time job. Solicitors want evidence of (seemingly) every receipt, contract, decision, and transaction from the last few years. You’re fielding queries daily while still leading the team, closing sales, delivering work - all without being able to tell most people what’s going on.

It’s confidential. It’s intense. And it can be exhausting.

Even ‘deal day’ itself didn’t feel how I thought it might. There was no grand moment of celebration - just a quiet sense of completion (on a cold Thursday night at 11pm) followed immediately by the next set of responsibilities - briefing the team the next day, speaking with our clients, navigating the next stage of the journey.

A Shift in Role (and in Mindset)

My title didn’t change and my responsibilities stayed largely the same. I was still leading the business, looking after the team and continuing to drive growth. But the context changed significantly.

I now had a boss. There was a wider senior leadership team I had to get to know and work with. I had new reporting lines, KPIs, systems and processes to get to grips with. It was a very different way of operating and I had to adjust quickly. No one hands you a manual for this part - you learn by doing. 

At times it was uncomfortable of course. But I was open to the change and I found it genuinely interesting to see how a larger agency business operated. At the time, the business that acquired us was 180 people. It grew to over 400 in the time I was there.

This gave me new insights and helped me develop in ways that wouldn’t have been possible had we continued on the same independent path.

That said, it’s important to acknowledge that change at this level also means compromise. Culture changes. Processes become more structured. Decisions take longer. You’re no longer entirely in control - and that’s something you have to be ready for.

So, Was It the Right Move?

For us, at that time - yes, absolutely.

I’ve no regrets about making that decision. It was the right move for the business, for the team and for me personally. We grew faster, tripled the size of the agency within a few years and unlocked opportunities we wouldn’t have reached on our own.

But it came with trade-offs - and I think anyone considering a sale needs to go into it with their eyes wide open. Letting go of total autonomy, adjusting to someone else’s company structure and accepting that your agency will change are all part of the deal.

My advice to anyone thinking about selling is this: yes, read the books and listen to the podcasts. Understand what a fair and sensible deal looks like. But don’t underestimate how personal the decision is. You need clarity on what you want from the next phase of your life, because no one else can define that for you.

If you’re open to change and ready to evolve, an acquisition can be a brilliant opportunity. But if you’re someone who needs to retain creative control and autonomy, then it’s worth considering whether another route - like succession planning or external leadership support - might be a better fit.

Ultimately, there’s no universal right answer. But being honest with yourself about what matters to you - and why - will help you make the right call when the moment comes.

PS: Looking to grow your eCommerce agency? We support ambitious founders through both our Agency 360 growth programme and as a Board Advisor. We’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt (so to speak) having started, scaled and exited one of the first Shopify Plus agencies in Europe.