Agency Strategy & Positioning
Services
Nobody buys a studio. They buy the part that runs without you.
I turn a business built around you into one that isn't — owner-dependency first, then margin, pipeline, and whatever a buyer will want to see before they commit. Sell it, step back, or just hold the option open.
For owners who have started thinking about the end of this chapter, however vaguely.
What I do
Here’s an uncomfortable test. If you stopped showing up for three months, what would your studio be worth? For most owners the honest answer is “less every week”, because the studio is them. That’s not a business you own. It’s a job you can’t quit, dressed up as one.
You’ve spent years building something good, but the value lives in your head and your relationships – which means it can’t be sold and can’t be left. So the options that should be open to a successful owner (selling, stepping back, taking real money off the table) aren’t really open. Nobody buys a business that’s one irreplaceable person and a client list that follows them out the door.
So I help you build the things that turn a studio into an asset: less dependence on you, sharper positioning, healthier margins, predictable revenue, and the proof a buyer needs to believe it’ll keep running without you. Whether you ever sell is your call. Making it sellable is the same thing as making it strong.
Why Work With Me?
Because I’ve actually done the thing. I co-founded Ester Digital and sold my stake. I built the business around Outreach.Software and saw it acquired – investors paid, founders out. I know what a buyer looks for and what makes them walk, because I’ve been on the selling side of the table with my own name on the deal.
Services
What’s Included
The work that makes a studio worth owning – and worth selling. Less dependency, better margin, steadier revenue, and the proof to back it up:
A valuation reality check
An honest read on what it’s worth now, and why.
A plan to reduce owner-dependency
The single biggest thing suppressing the number.
Margin and pipeline work
What makes the business genuinely profitable, not just busy.
Positioning that attracts buyers
So you’re an acquisition target, not a commodity.
The proof a buyer wants
Clean numbers, documented systems, recurring revenue.
Who this is for
The longest engagement I offer, so it only makes sense if there is a real decision at the end of it.
This is for you if
- You've thought about selling, even once, even vaguely.
- The studio shrinks when you take a fortnight off.
- You are the relationship for the top three clients.
- You don't actually know what it's worth.
This isn't for you if
- You want a broker and a data room this quarter.
- You're content for it to stay a job you own.
How the number gets moved
Four stages, and the second one is most of the value.
Step one · Paid · from £150/hr
Value it honestly
I tell you what the studio is worth today and why. Some of that will be lower than you'd like to hear.
Then, if you want the number moved
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Cut the dependency
We find every decision that has to pass through you, and move it somewhere else. This is most of the work and most of the value.
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Fix the numbers
Margin and pipeline, until the business is profitable rather than merely full. A buyer can tell the difference in an afternoon.
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Build the file
We assemble what a buyer will ask for before they ask for it. Deals die in diligence, not in the first meeting.
Other ways I can help
Worth what, if you vanish for three months?
A real conversation, not a pitch. If you don't love the answer, that's the work — and the earlier we start, the more the number moves.
Book a call →
Growth & Exit Readiness FAQ
Do you broker the actual sale?
No – I’m not your M&A advisor or your lawyer. I get the business into the shape that’s worth selling, and worth a good number, then the right specialists handle the transaction.
What if I just want to step back, not sell?
Same work. A studio you can step back from and a studio you can sell are the same studio. One just has a cheque attached.
How long does this take?
Longer than the others. Real value is built over a year or more. There are quick wins, but the number moves over time, not overnight.
Who actually buys design and UX studios?
Bigger agencies rolling up capability, consultancies wanting design in-house, and sometimes private buyers or your own senior team. Each wants different things, so we shape the business toward the buyer that fits.
What makes a buyer walk away?
Dependency on you, messy numbers, one client making up half the revenue, and income that’s all one-off projects with nothing recurring. Most deals die on these, not on the work. We deal with them in advance.
How do I reduce how much the business depends on me?
That’s the heart of it. We move what’s in your head into systems, build people who can own the relationships and the sales, and prove the studio runs through a period where you step back. A buyer pays for a business that survives you – so does your own sanity.