Ep 167 – Albert Banks, Apertus – How Merging With a Peer Agency Can Break Your Growth Ceiling

Agency Bytes is a podcast for creative, marketing, and advertising agency owners that packs a ton of important agency information on one topic, from one expert into a 25-minute brief. Why 25 minutes? Because who has the attention span for much more these days, and you can squeeze in a listen between meetings with time for a bathroom break or coffee refill before your next meeting. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ep 167 – Albert Banks, Apertus – How Merging With a Peer Agency Can Break Your Growth Ceiling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In episode 167, I sit down with Albert Banks, founder and principal of Apertus and a twenty-plus-year agency veteran who built MyJive, merged with Union, and sold to Valtech. We talk about losing ninety percent of his revenue when traditional agencies brought digital in-house, the 2020 repositioning toward performance marketing, and why splitting account and project management changed how they grew clients. Albert walks me through the merger that pushed both agencies past their plateaus, what a well-run integration looks like inside a global acquirer, and why your peers might be your best future deal partners. If you're running an agency, this one is a reminder that a sellable business and a good life don't have to compete. Albert makes the case for building something operationally sound whether or not you ever sell it, getting the menial work off your plate, and deciding what you actually want before chasing someone else's goals. Key Bytes • Run a business that is sellable, whether you ever sell it or not. • Your best new business usually comes from the clients you already have. • A merger can turn two plateaued agencies into one mature business overnight. • Skipping hard decisions during integration feels kind, but it rarely serves the team. • Similar partners can still make great decisions if diverse viewpoints are welcomed at the table. • Today's competitor may be tomorrow's merger partner, so build the relationship now. • You can't plan an exit while you're still buried in the menial work. • There will always be more work to do, so make time for the life you're working for. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and intro to Albert Banks 01:18 From computer engineer to accidental agency founder 03:18 Losing 90% of revenue and rebuilding the positioning 06:41 Splitting account and project management to grow clients 08:06 Staying on through the acquisition and integration 12:33 Merging with a peer to break through the growth ceiling 17:47 Why your peers might be your future deal partners 19:47 Life after the exit as a fractional advisor 24:12 Building a sellable business that still gives you a life 27:24 Rapid-fire questions and closing thoughts Albert Banks is a 20+ year agency veteran, former developer, and "recovering" agency owner. Over two decades, he scaled and transitioned his own firm, from founding digital agency Myjive, to merging with Union, to ultimately completing an acquisition by global digital agency Valtech. Today, Albert is the Founder and Principal of Apertus, where he serves as a fractional leader and advisor to independent professional services firms. Drawing on his firsthand experience navigating growth plateaus, post-merger integrations, and exits, Albert helps agency founders build operationally sound, highly profitable businesses through operational and financial excellence, employee engagement, and M&A/sale preparation. https://apertus.co/   / albertbanks