The Exit Library

“Not yet. Multiples are down.” “Let’s wait until the market’s hot.” It sounds sensible. It’s also how founders postpone the only thing that actually changes outcomes: buyer confidence. Markets move, but windows don’t save you if the business can’t survive scrutiny. The best exits aren’t timed, they’re engineered. This post explains the timing trap, what “good timing” really looks like inside a buyer room, and how to build optionality so you can move when opportunity appears, instead of hoping it arrives on schedule.

A lot of agencies look great from the inside: full pipeline, busy delivery, strong client list, healthy revenue. Then a buyer arrives, and the temperature changes. It isn’t because the work isn’t good, it’s because the business doesn’t feel ownable under scrutiny. Exit readiness isn’t a vibe. It’s a set of proofs. This post shows the five reasons agencies get discounted even with strong topline, and how to shift from “busy and successful” to buyer-grade and underwritable.

Due diligence isn’t a document hunt. It’s a pricing mechanism. Every gap becomes a term. Every delay becomes doubt. Every inconsistency becomes protection. The goal isn’t to look perfect, it’s to remove uncertainty faster than the process can convert it into discounting. This is the buyer-grade way to run diligence: how to read what buyers are really testing, how to respond with proof not context, and how to keep momentum so the deal stays confident instead of cautious.

Most founders think discounts happen because buyers are trying to get a bargain. Sometimes they are. More often, they’re pricing the gap between the story and what can be proven under pressure. They won’t say that cleanly because it changes the tone of the room, so you get the polite version: “We just need more comfort.” This post breaks down what that really means, what buyers are actually discounting, and how to remove the uncertainty before it turns into terms.

As we enter 2026, founders are hearing two messages at once: “M&A is back” and “deals feel harder than ever.” Both can be true. Activity is there, but the bar has moved. Buyers are taking longer to get comfortable and paying premiums only when the evidence is obvious. This post explains what’s actually happening in UK agency M&A right now, why the market feels more selective, and the common misreads that quietly turn leverage into concessions.

Exit planning isn’t something you start when you “feel ready”. By then, you’re negotiating under pressure. Buyers don’t buy readiness, they buy confidence: confidence the earnings are real, the revenue holds, the team runs the machine, and surprises are contained. This roadmap is how you build that confidence deliberately over 12 to 24 months, so when an opportunity appears you can move fast, stay in control, and stop the deal turning into a scramble.

Most founders prepare for the offer. Almost nobody prepares for what comes after it. The hard part isn’t getting interest; it’s staying buyer-grade for 8 to 16 weeks while a buyer stress-tests your numbers, your team, your story, and your ability to run under pressure. A deal is a confidence transfer, and process is where that confidence is either built or quietly eroded. This post shows you what buyers are really doing in that “messy middle”, where deals drift, terms get heavier, and value leaks without anyone saying it out loud.

Most agency founders are doing the work. They’re busy, they’re growing, and on the inside, it feels like momentum. Then a buyer asks three questions that change the temperature in the room: talk me through the margin, who owns the top accounts day to day, and what breaks if you step out for 60 days. This post is about the signals that answer those questions without a story.