Buying a marketing agency in South Florida

• A large share of revenue from retainers, with clients who have stayed several years.
• A niche: a clear type of client or service that brings referrals and work the team can repeat.
• Margins measured without media spend, so you can see what the agency actually earns.
• Account managers, not just the owner, who have their own relationships with clients.
• Written processes, and reports that clients actually read.
• Client ad accounts, websites and domains set up in the client's name, with access given to the agency, which avoids fights later.
• No single client making up a large share of revenue, and top clients who came from different sources.
• Prices that have gone up over time, with the scope of work written down so extra requests get billed.

• Revenue by client for three years: how much comes from the biggest clients, and how long clients stay.
• Media spend separated from agency fees, and how markups are disclosed to clients.
• Client agreements: notice periods, who owns the creative work, and whether the agreements can be assigned to a new owner.
• Who does the work. Leaning on freelancers is flexible, but it raises questions about whether they should be employees and who owns what they create.
• The owner's role in selling and in client relationships, and how long a handover you'll need.
• Any disputes over results, billing or ownership of work.
• Dependence on one advertising platform's rules or partner status, which can change overnight.
• Software subscriptions and tools in the owner's personal name that need to move to the business.

• Which clients would leave if you left?
• How much of your revenue comes from retainers, and how long do retainer clients usually stay?
• How do new clients find you?
• Does the agency make calls or send texts for clients, and how do you get consent?
• Who owns the ad accounts, websites and domains you manage?
• Which clients did you lose last year, and why?
• What work goes to freelancers, and do they sign agreements handing their work over to you?

South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.

Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.

Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.

Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.