11- The Acquisition That Almost Broke Us: An Agency Owner's Candid Reflection

Summary In this part of the interview, Brett Snyder discusses the decision-making process for determining which tasks are handled by full-time staff versus contractors in his agency. He emphasizes the importance of access to subject matter experts and the need for consistency and institutional knowledge in retainer work. He also explains the benefits of having full-time employees for project management and strategic oversight. Brett shares his experience of acquiring a web development shop and the challenges it posed, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, he decided to shut down the web development line of business due to the decline in RFPs and the need to focus on the agency's core competencies. In this conversation, Brett Snyder, the CEO of Knucklepuck, shares his experience with a failed acquisition and the lessons he learned from it. He discusses the challenges he faced in integrating a web development business into his marketing agency and the lack of overlap between the two client bases. Brett emphasizes the importance of having a clear understanding of the risks and potential outcomes before making an acquisition. He also highlights the value of having a fractional CFO or financial advisor who can provide informed insights and help make data-driven decisions. Brett encourages leaders to acknowledge and learn from failures, normalize the discussion of failures, and recognize that profitability is a choice. Keywords employee experience, hiring best practices, resourcing for projects, full-time employees, contractors, core competencies, ancillary work, institutional knowledge, project management, strategic oversight, web development, diversification, reputation, brand visibility, challenges, decision-making process, acquisition, integration, diversification, growth strategy, risk mitigation, client acquisition, data-driven decisions, fractional CFO, failure, profitability Takeaways Access to subject matter experts is crucial for providing clients with the resources they need to be successful. Retainer work requires consistency and institutional knowledge, making full-time employees a better fit. Ancillary work can be outsourced to contractors, allowing for more flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Project management and strategic oversight are important functions that can be better handled by full-time employees. Acquiring a web development shop posed challenges, and the decline in RFPs during the pandemic led to the decision to shut it down. When considering an acquisition, it is important to assess the overlap between the client bases of the acquiring business and the business being acquired. Lack of overlap can make it difficult to integrate the two businesses and achieve the desired growth. Having a clear understanding of the risks and potential outcomes of an acquisition is crucial. Leaders should consider the long-term viability of the acquisition and have a plan in place for different scenarios. Having a fractional CFO or financial advisor can provide valuable insights and help make informed, data-driven decisions. They can assist with financial forecasting, assessing profitability, and identifying potential risks. Failures are valuable learning opportunities. It is important to acknowledge and learn from failures, rather than rationalizing them away. Sharing failures and lessons learned can help inspire and educate others in the industry. Profitability is a choice. Leaders should prioritize profitability and make decisions that drive profitability in order to reinvest in the business and support growth.