If you are thinking about selling your agency, you need to understand the role played by a Quality of Earnings report. First, what is it?

Typically a QoE is a report that is commissioned by the buyer. The report is prepared by an outside accounting firm, oftentimes ones that specialize in preparing these reports. The reason for this is because smart buyers don’t pay for revenue—they pay for reliable, sustainable profit.

💥 That will hold up when scrutinized by other investors 💥

This is the key for a seller. More often than not, the QoE will adjust EBITDA. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down. To be clear, the buyers are not trying to screw the seller over, using the downward adjusted EBITDA to justify a lower price.

The QoE is simply adjusting the EBITDA to ensure that it is fair, accurate and in accordance with GAAP because that’s the standard to which the buyer will be subjected to. And those standards are typically higher than what the seller has been using when managing their business.

So, if you are a seller:

1) Recognize and accept that a QoE is going to be inevitable. Buyers are unlikely to transact without one (unless the acquisition is very, very small)

2) Be prepared for EBITDA to be adjusted. It might be the same, it might even go up. But mentally prepare for it to go down.

If you have questions about QoE, feel free to reach out to us.

This is the final post in my series on the options available to agency owners. Today’s topic: Selling your agency.

Those are real concerns. But there are also meaningful advantages to selling—especially if the buyer is someone who wants to accelerate your growth, not just transition you out in 3–6 months.

A sale can offer:

• Access to capital, resources, and expertise to pursue growth you couldn’t achieve alone (e.g., investing in AI or building new capabilities)
  
• The ability to deliver more value to your clients and more career opportunities to your team
  
• A chance to de-risk by taking some chips off the table—income that, if invested wisely, can more than offset your salary
  
• The potential for meaningful upside if you structure a deal with a “second bite at the apple”
  

Thinking about this path? Two things to consider now:

1. Get good advice. Unless you have a background in M&A, work with people who do.
   
2. Know your goals. What do you want from a sale? Your priorities will drive the buyer pool, valuation, and structure.
   

Thinking About Buying Another Agency to Grow Yours? Here’s What to Know.

This is the 4th post in my series on growth options for digital marketing agency owners. This post talks about acquisitions — specifically, the pros and cons of buying another agency as a path to growth.

Buying another agency can be a powerful shortcut. Instead of slowly building capabilities or clients one by one, you can acquire a team, a book of business, and systems overnight.

✅ The Pros:

• Instant Scale: Gain clients, talent, and revenue in one move.
  
• Niche Expansion: Acquire an agency in a vertical or service line you want to grow into.
  
• Operational Leverage: Consolidate overhead, systems, or processes for efficiency.
  
• Valuation Upside: If you can integrate well, the combined entity may be worth more than the sum of its parts.
  

But it’s not without risk.

⚠️ The Cons:

• Cultural Fit: Two teams, two sets of expectations, and one new org chart — not always a smooth blend.
  
• Client Retention: Some clients don’t like change. A poorly communicated transition can mean churn.
  
• Integration Complexity: Tech stacks, reporting, billing — merging operations takes time and focus.
  
• Distraction Risk: The deal and post-deal work can pull your attention away from running your core business.
  

💡 Bottom line: Acquiring another agency can be a game-changer — but it works best when you’ve got clarity on your “why,” a strong integration plan, and a realistic view of the risks.

This is the third post in my series on the four strategic paths available to agency owners.

In my previous post, I shared thoughts on the pros and cons of staying the course. Today, let’s dive into growing organically—a path that many agency owners instinctively choose.

Nearly every agency I speak with is brimming with optimism:

“We’re going to double revenue this year—we just hired a sales team / launched a new service / signed a major partnership.”

And sometimes, that optimism is justified. Especially for smaller agencies, there is real potential to double or even triple in size quickly. One of the biggest advantages of organic growth? You get to pursue your vision on your own terms—no external investors, no M&A complications. Just you, your team, and your ability to execute.

But there are real challenges too.

1. Scaling gets exponentially harder. Going from $1M to $2M is very different from going $2M to $4M. The systems, team, and operations need to evolve—fast.
   
2. The industry is shifting rapidly. AI, evolving client expectations, and changing consumer behavior mean the game is being rewritten in real time. What worked last year might not work next quarter.
   

I’m not saying organic growth is the wrong move. In fact, for many, it’s absolutely the right one. But optimism needs to be balanced with realism. Growth is never guaranteed—and the risks are real.

If you’re committed to this path, do it with eyes wide open. Mitigate the risks. And don’t forget—there are three other paths worth exploring.

In the previous blog post, I shared the four strategic paths available to agency owners:

1. Stay the Course
   
2. Grow Organically
   
3. Grow Through Acquisition
   
4. Sell the Agency
   

In this post, I wanted to explore the first option: staying the course.

For some agency owners, the status quo is a comfortable — and even attractive — place to be. The team is humming, clients are happy, the income is solid, and there’s minimal stress. When things are working, the instinct is often: “Why rock the boat?”

But here’s the challenge with maintaining the status quo — the world doesn’t stand still.
Search engines evolve. Competitors emerge. Client needs shift. And AI? We’re just scratching the surface of how transformative it will be in the agency world.

So here’s my take:
If you’re a few years from retirement, deeply niched, and flying under the radar — sticking with the status quo might be perfectly reasonable.

But if you’re earlier in your career or not willing to “settle down”, this strategy could leave you vulnerable. Complacency is not a moat.

What are the options for owners of digital marketing agencies?

That’s a question I’m hearing more and more from agency owners. On one hand, there are some many opportunities to invest and grow the agency. On the other hand, uncertainty around the economy, constant changes by Google and of course AI are real stressors for owners.

At it’s core, there are 4 options for owners of digital marketing agencies:

1. Stay The Course – for many agency owners, they have found the perfect balance between clients, workload and income. They may lose a customer, gain a customer, lose a team member, hire a team member. But for the most part, things are great and they will remain great for the foreseeable future

2. Grow Organically – these agency want to / need to grow and are committed to doing that via organic means i.e. just winning more customers than they lose.

3. Grow Through Acquisitions – a great way to expand into different product offerings, different geographies or just gain scale

4. Sell – exit altogether, or be bought to be part of something bigger and access resources, capital, talent to help take the agency to the next level.

Over the course of the next few blog posts, I’ll dive into each of these, examining the pros and cons of each. At the end of it, my hope is that agency owners, wherever they are in their journey, will have a much clearer sense of the path forward.