# Selling your agency Source: https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency Articles on selling an agency: valuation multiples, earnouts, client concentration, due diligence and succession, by Felix Velarde. [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The white-label extinction](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-white-label-extinction) Most American SEO agencies resell the same white-labelled platforms. AI has called that bluff, and buyers see thirty thousand agencies with no reason to exist. [Read More: The white-label extinction](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-white-label-extinction) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [Buyers look under the hood now](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/buyers-look-under-the-hood-now) Serious buyers no longer settle for the polished management meeting. Strategy days, secret-shopper enquiries and candid client calls inspect the team beneath. [Read More: Buyers look under the hood now](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/buyers-look-under-the-hood-now) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [Pre-build the agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/pre-build-the-agency) Told his window had closed because valuations average three years, a founder started anyway. Most discount factors never reach the accounts. Offers followed. [Read More: Pre-build the agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/pre-build-the-agency) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The client concentration sum](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-client-concentration-sum) A $3m agency with a $1m client expects $2.4m at four times profit. The buyer prices it as the $2m agency it would be without that client, at two times: $800k. [Read More: The client concentration sum](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-client-concentration-sum) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [You didn't invent the multiple](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/you-didnt-invent-the-multiple) The going-rate multiple is the buyer's opening anchor and everything after it moves down. In the US, with more sellers than buyers, be clean or stay unsold. [Read More: You didn't invent the multiple](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/you-didnt-invent-the-multiple) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [A multiple is a measure of confidence](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/a-multiple-is-a-measure-of-confidence) Your multiple is not a grade for twenty years of work. It measures a buyer's confidence in cash flow after you have gone, and every visible risk lowers it. [Read More: A multiple is a measure of confidence](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/a-multiple-is-a-measure-of-confidence) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The seven-week exit](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-seven-week-exit) The best deal I ever did, I left seven weeks after completion, because the agency already ran without me. The alternative is three years working for a boss. [Read More: The seven-week exit](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-seven-week-exit) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The earnout statistic](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-earnout-statistic) Six out of ten agency founders do not finish their own earnout, and buyers price that in. You become most valuable at the point you become unnecessary. [Read More: The earnout statistic](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-earnout-statistic) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The earnout trap](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-earnout-trap) A founder celebrated his sale, then reread the earnout: three years of targets under someone else's strategy. Build the agency so the buyer does not need you. [Read More: The earnout trap](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-earnout-trap) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [The succession problem](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-succession-problem) A founder admitted most clients would leave if he did. Two years building a layer of people with real authority between him and them got a far better deal. [Read More: The succession problem](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/the-succession-problem) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [Client concentration](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/client-concentration) Founders guess their biggest client is 20 per cent of revenue. It is often 55. Above 30, buyers price the risk aggressively. Know the real number first. [Read More: Client concentration](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/client-concentration) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [A happier agency founder exit](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/a-happier-agency-founder-exit) A founder came to me wanting help selling their agency for several million dollars. After half an hour of pointy questions, I told them flat out: give it away instead… [Read More: A happier agency founder exit](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/a-happier-agency-founder-exit) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [Agency M&A secrets](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/agency-m-and-a-secrets) A detailed presentation of the mechanics of agency M&A, including the financial motivation driving agency acquisition, how to maximise your agency’s sale value, how to address discount factors and how to create a great exit. [Read More: Agency M&A secrets](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/agency-m-and-a-secrets) [Selling your agency](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/category/Selling+your+agency) ## [How to maximise your agency’s exit value](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/how-to-maximise-your-agencys-exit-value) This eye-opening article reveals the real reasons buyers pay top dollar and provides a proven framework for maximizing your exit value, drawing from Felix Velarde’s unique experience of founding, selling and acquiring agencies. [Read More: How to maximise your agency’s exit value](https://felixvelarde.com/articles/how-to-maximise-your-agencys-exit-value) ## Let’s talk If you’re serious about building significant value, preparing for an exit, or executing a roll-up strategy, get in touch below. I’ll respond personally.