Ever thought about selling your agency? Want to be in the strongest possible position when you finally put it on the market?
UnlimitedWP founder, Ronik Patel, has a few words of advice worth paying attention to.
Ronik recently sold his white-label business to E2M Solutions and sat down with Jason Swenk of the Agency Mastery podcast to share his first-hand experience.
Packed with helpful insights and lessons learned, the conversation makes valuable listening for any owner looking to create a sellable agency.
Let’s dive into the key takeaways, shall we?
Selling a Digital Agency: Key Takeaways From Ronik Patel
Why Build to Sell – Even If You Don’t Plan on Selling
Reflecting on his time earning a Masters in entrepreneurship, Ronik passed on a key piece of advice from a college professor:
“The day you start building your business, you need to start thinking about your exit.”
“I always remember that,” he says. “So, I was never in this to start a lifestyle business. It was always about building to sell right from the beginning.”
His biggest piece of advice for would-be agency sellers?
“If you’re thinking of selling, don’t wait until you’re ready to sell. Start making a list of potential buyers, do an intro with those people, see what they’re interested in, what they might be looking for when buying an agency.”
Jason adds:
“You don’t even have to do the intro with the intention of selling. Build relationships. How can we work together?”
“Set up for an exit even if you don’t plan to exit, because that means you’re building a profitable business.”
Thinking about how I need to structure the agency for a sale to happen.
The One Thing Ronik Wishes He’d Done Sooner
“I wish I’d had a mentor and joined an agency mastermind group much sooner,” Ronik says, sharing his one main regret from building UnlimitedWP into a sellable agency.”
“I only did that in my third year, but I wish I’d done it earlier, because once you join agency groups and get feedback and suggestions, you have to go implement things, and that takes time.”
“It took me eight years to grow and sell my agency, but I could have done it in four if I’d been working with a mentor group from the beginning.”
Advice for Agency Owners: Free Up Your Time
Something else Ronik wishes he’d done sooner is freeing up his own time as an agency owner.
“Don’t have your entire business rely on you. Build systems, processes, and sales funnels to make things happen.”
We dove deep into why it’s so important to get yourself out of the weeds and free up your time to focus on bigger projects here.
Developing AI: What’s Next for Ronik
Despite a successful sale, Ronik Patel isn’t ready to fade into the sunset just yet.
“We’re getting into the AI space,” he explains when asked what the future has in store for him.”
“We’re building an AI product and, naturally, we thought ‘let’s do this for agencies. It’s the one space we know really well. This isn’t just about basic things like content generation. It’s about helping agencies to use AI to be more productive and efficient.”
How We Can Help You Build a Sellable Agency
At UnlimitedWP, we specialize in white label WordPress services that help your agency grow. By working with us to provide first-class WordPress support to your clients, you can scale your business, target new markets and increase revenues, making your agency a much more attractive proposition to potential buyers.
To find out how, contact us today!