I sold a content business. 3 lessons for indie hackers from my experience
Last year I sold a content business, a website and community for writers that I’d built over the previous seven years.
I sold because I was ready for a new challenge, and eager to clear my plate so I could begin a new project. I also wanted to bank a return on the sweat equity I’d put into this asset over the years.
This was my second time selling a business, and yet I still felt like I was figuring out many of the pieces on the fly. I didn’t work with a broker or M&A advisor because I had multiple offers from competitors in the space. I did have a great lawyer, and also hired a valuations consultant to get feedback on how to run a bidding process.
I left that experience feeling good about the sale, but also knowing that those of us who sell businesses in the 6, 7 and low-8 figure range need more resources and support. That’s why I chose to focus on this niche for my next media company, They Got Acquired.
Looking back, I learned a few lessons throughout the process of selling my own company that I think might be helpful for other founders who hope to sell a business one day.
Here’s some knowledge I gained that might be insightful for other indie hackers:
💡 You don’t have to work full time on a project to create a business you can sell
I built The Write Life as a side project over the years. I never put my full-time energy into it, and I never relied on it for more than bonus income.
When I launched it in 2013, I was running a small content marketing agency. Our team grew The Write Life just like we grew blogs for other companies, investing some of our client revenue into building the site.
Later, I transitioned into a leadership role at a startup, and had two kids in three years. I had no time or energy for a side project, so I hired an editor to keep The Write Life running.
Even once I left that startup role in 2019 and began fiddling more with SEO for The Write Life, I still only put a few hours each month into the company.
While the site never had my full-time attention, it had a few other things going for it:
- High-quality content
- Aged domain (2013) and high DR back-links
- Solid reputation in the writing space
These elements made it a valuable asset that competitors in the space were eager to get their hands on — even though it was “just” a side project.
💡 Exits can be meaningful even if they’re “only” six figures
Contrary to what Silicon Valley suggests, you don’t have to sell a company for hundreds of millions of dollars to be successful.
Selling for six or seven figures can be incredibly meaningful for a founder, especially those who bootstrap and retain all ownership.
Of course, running a profitable business without ever selling is a huge success, too, one we don’t celebrate enough.
I sold The Write Life for mid-six figures. It’s not never-work-again money, but it was still life-changing. It allowed me to take some time off to explore what to build next without worrying about my family’s finances, and now I’m using some of those proceeds to fund my next startup.
That next startup, They Got Acquired, celebrates 6, 7 and 8-figure sales. Not only are they more attainable than the massive sales typically covered in mainstream tech publications, but for many of us, they’re also more desirable.
Building with this goal in mind allows us to bootstrap, stay lean, and maintain a work-life balance that feels good. The grow-at-all-costs hustle mentality isn’t required.
There are lots of different ways to build a startup, and there are lots of easy to exit. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your journey has to look like someone else’s.
💡 Multiples aren’t set in stone
M&A firms and marketplaces often share common “multiples” for different types of businesses; that’s the multiple of revenue for which the business sells.
Content businesses, for example, tend to sell for 2.5x-4x multiples. So if you had a business that brought in $100,000 each year, and you sold the business for $300,000, you landed a 3x multiple.
Here’s a summary of recent multiples from the founder of FE International, a brokerage firm.
Yet there’s a caveat: multiples are only a guide. If you sell to a strategic buyer — one that can combine your business with theirs to increase the value of both businesses — far greater multiples are within reach.
If I had set my expectations for a sale at the level of common multiples, I would’ve drastically underestimated the true value of my business. In practice, your business is worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it. And that might be more than a formula suggests.
👊 Each of these insights can be useful for anyone selling a business. But I like to think they’re particularly helpful for those of us who bootstrap, work on more than one project at once, and generally approach entrepreneurship with an indie hacker mindset.
Because when you create something valuable that someone else wants to buy, it doesn’t matter whether you worked on it full time or raised venture capital or spun it off into its own LLC. It’s still an asset you can sell, one that can be meaningful for you and your family.
Got questions? I’m happy to answer them in the comments.
Great post and lessons! I love how you focused on the long game approach and highlighted the fact that you don't need to work full-time on a project. So many gems in here definitely going to share.
Glad it was useful!
I really like what you do. How can I train to posses the skills you have? (BTW: I chat with you and two different forums)
I'm excited about this project and the content you'll put out. Looking forward to the podcast as well.
Do you think the content space is talked about less than it should be in the indie founder space?
Well, it's less talked about than I personally would like it to be =) I love following the growth and acquisition of content sites, so you can bet we'll showcase those on They Got Acquired since it's my specialty.
So many resources focus on SaaS. And that model is a big opportunity, but the truth is that there are lots of other types of companies that work too: content/media, marketplace, communities, etc.
Amazing how you spread knoledge and experience. In your example happends what mystical masters always said: meanwile your give to eveerybody else you gain authomaticaly.
Thank you so much Alexis
How to find buyers for a digital marketing agency? Where to search for them?
Depends on the size of the business. Here are the four common ways we see sellers finding buyers: https://theygotacquired.com/resources/how-to-find-a-buyer-for-online-business/
Agree!
Still, I must add that reserving less time requires you to adapt your working principles:
Thank you for posting this, Alexis. I signed up for your They Got Acquired newsletter - nice work!
You shared how you got 1,000+ email subscribers to your newsletter. What are your next steps now to scale it?
You wrote this in your article:
"Once we get our launch feet under us, there are a few more tactics we’re excited to try for growing the list, including setting up a referral program through SparkLoop, and buying ads in other newsletters with similar target audiences."
How do you plan to find newsletters with similar audiences considering your newsletter covers a fairly rarely discussed topic? Will you just target entrepreneurs/investors in general?
Can you suggest any resources on marketing a free newsletter?
Hey -- We're targeting entrepreneurs / founders / builders in the online space in general. Have you tried SwapStack.com? It's a good place to find niche (small and often affordable) newsletters to advertise in. We're trying some of that now to keep the momentum going.
Did you read this post? Lots of ideas on how to market a free newsletter: https://alexisgrant.com/2022/02/07/how-we-got-1000-email-subscribers-before-launch/
Thank you, I've never heard of SwapStack. It looks awesome! I just signed up and will check it out.
Yes, I've read your post and most of your advice doesn't work for me because I don't have a network. I've mostly exhausted all the direct opportunities I have and got about 150 subscribers. Now the rest needs to come from "cold" sources.
As a side note NOT directed at you specifically (I really appreciate your advice), this is always frustrating for me when people say that the easiest way to grow your newsletter in the beginning is to reach out to everyone you know.
What if you know very few people? What if you're creating content in English but you don't live in an English-speaking country? What if you don't use social media?
I hear you. It's really hard. Can you use content marketing? Posting on sites and forums like Indie Hackers? Or pitch yourself as a podcast guest who can share your experience?
Yes I participate in a relevant subreddit on Reddit, sometimes mention my newsletter on another forum and will possibly consider podcasts in the future as well.
For now, yet again I wanted to thank you for the Swapstack suggestion. I've read so much about newsletters but never heard about this awesome platform.
I pitched 17 most relevant newsletters and will book a few spots for sure this week already. If everything goes well it should help me get a few hundred new subscribers.
So thanks so much, Alexis - I'm super glad I saw your post here and that you replied to my comment.
This is a great read, Alexis. Agencies are pretty hard to run, but your experience is inspiring. Hoping for more success on your future venture!
Thank you so much, Alexis. What marketing activities do you do to grow your content company? Especially interested in how you will get up the ground your recent company, They Got Acquired.
I do a lot of content marketing, since that's what I'm good at.
Here's how we got our first 1K subs: https://alexisgrant.com/2022/02/07/how-we-got-1000-email-subscribers-before-launch/
Great. Thanks.
thank you for this Alexis!
I agree, media companies do not get enough credit! I'd argue agencies don't either - places like Finsweet have massively changed the Webflow game and provided an incredible boost to Webflow's business.
I'm biased though, since I own a branding + GTM agency 🙃.
Love your next project and subscribed! love the "booyah!" i haven't heard that phrase in forever 😂
I've bought into the hustle culture lie before and now I just want to grow companies that give me peace of mind while having a great time. life is too short to be swamped in overwork.
Thanks for this! I agree on agencies, we've seen a few interesting agency stories at They Got Acquired. One you might like:
https://theygotacquired.com/agency/jc-social-media-acquired-by-lowandbehold/
Through this work, I also came across a female-owned M&A firm that specializes in agencies: https://www.wearebarney.com/
Thank you! Checking both out. Always happy to see other women-owned professional co's!
Hi Alexis, the new project looks great, I've subscribed. My startup actually needs a lawyer and I saw you linked to yours. Did you pay per hour or a fixed fee? And if per hour, roughly how much was it? Trying to get an idea of costs. Thanks in advance!
I believe most M&A lawyers (and maybe most lawyers generally) still go on an hourly fee.
I ended up paying about $10,000 to the M&A lawyer who helped with my latest sale (it was a mid-six-figure deal): https://www.wiggin.com/person/andrew-ritter/
That's a NY-based lawyer. I also know one in Florida who's hourly rate is more affordable, has experience in M&A: https://gauncelaw.com/
You can tell either of those I sent you.
This is one of the resources we want to build at They Got Acquired, a directory of M&A lawyers who are willing and happy to work on 6- and 7-figure deals.
Thanks a bunch, Alexis. Microacquire has a list of advisors, some of whom are lawyers. But it doesn't give the best information on them. I'd love to see some reviews and pricing for example.
Thank you for allowing us learn from your experience, Alexis.
Glad it's helpful!
Really love the insights here. I just checked out theygotacquired and I'm really impressed.
If it's not confidential, how're you monetizing it? (or how do you plan to).
Thanks! Almost nothing is confidential with me =)
We plan to monetize through the database. We're sharing stories on the site individually, then we add everything in to the database and we'll share insights from there.
We're also monetizing through newsletter and podcast sponsorships.
I think selling your business can go wrong if you are not actively trying to build, but sell it ¯\(ツ)/¯
True! Makes sense to build something YOU want to run, then if you can sell it, that's a bonus.
Learning a lot from this piece :)
I do have a noob question though.. How did you find these people that want to buy your company from you?
Most of them found me through the years. They were competitors in the space and noticed us because of 1) our brand reputation and 2) our SEO rankings.
Through my work with They Got Acquired, I've noticed this is common for businesses that do well; they often have offers from strategic buyers. But if you want to sell and don't have offers, there are also ways to go about it: network hard and pitch companies you think should consider purchasing it, or go through a broker or M&A advisor. Or list on a marketplace.
I also want to develop a website and sell it to business owner. Business owner. I have a good idea Like I will develop a website of a local business then I'll sell to that business owner. For Example today there is a trend of using smart glasses. Many people start using smart glasses for their homes offices. Today smart glasses have been started using in hospitals, colleges and on other places because they looks beautiful and keep the privacy safe and also they are budget friendly. I have done research a lot on this business I have seen a site which I can build easily I am sharing it with all of you. https://www.smartglasstech.us/ this site I think is the best in all related to smart glass business. I will Develop website like this and will do some SEO then I'll sell it to the local business owner. Do you think this idea works better?
Hard to say without knowing too much about it, but just because something's done once doesn't mean you can't do it better! There is room for lots of competitors in every market.
Why do you choose to sell your projects once they begin to have success instead of developing them further? Why look for a new challenge when you are having success? Not criticizing in any way, I want to understand your thought process!
For me, it comes down to 1) how I want to spend my time and 2) where the biggest opportunity lies.
With The Write Life, I was no longer excited by growing the site. It felt like who I was a decade before, and I wanted a new challenge.
For my previous company, there was simply a bigger opportunity than what I was building on my own. (That one was an acqui-hire, where I went in-house with the buyer company to build the content operation there.)
I also thrive in the early stages of a business. I like building things from scratch.
Nice article. Do you have any tips for writing and SEO for a consumer SaaS like atomcal.com/?src="ih"?
Here's something I've written about SEO: https://alexisgrant.com/2021/01/13/seo-playbook-increased-website-traffic/
Thanks for sharing @alexisgrant really interesting insights. I hope I am on the right track for https://atomcal.com/?src="ih". I really like how you explained how having a high bar for content has served you well.
If you have any comments for Atomcal, your feedback will be helpful :)
Love the story
Thanks!
You seem to be a "content - PR - communications" SME. How can bootstrappers leverage the "lessons learned" from your story? Especially in the area of the "SaaS cold start problem".
Yes, writing/communications/marketing is my strength, so I tend to lean into that for whatever I'm working on.
Can you say more about your question, give me more context, so I understand what you're trying to get at?
The SaaS cold start problem for bootstrappers.
This is great, Alexis. Thanks for sharing. I've mulled so many content businesses over the years but have not executed on any. Enjoyed learning from an expert.
Just curious: What was the hardest part of selling these businesses? I've no familiarity with selling a business but the process seems daunting.
Honestly, the hardest part is building a business that has value =) Selling it is the easy part!
One hard part if you're selling for 6 or 7 figures is finding the right professionals (M&A advisor if you need one, maybe a broker, lawyer, etc.) to help you. I struggled with that.
And learning the process of how to sell. There's a learning curve the first time you go through it, like going through anything the first time. There are some great resources out there on this, you just have to know where to look, and not everyone can find them when the time is right.
Both of these challenges are why I started They Got Acquired!
Great information. I have a content business as well and one day will be looking to sell. When selling, did your competitors contact you or did you reach out to them?
Most of the companies that wanted to buy reached out to me, but I also drummed up some competing offers by talking to people who were connected in the space.
I wrote more about that in this post: https://alexisgrant.com/2021/09/19/how-i-sold-online-business-the-write-life/
One interesting trend we're already seeing in the companies we're covering at They Got Acquired is that some sellers successfully cold-pitch their way to an acquisition. We have a podcast episode launching soon on this topic.
Totally worth reading, Alexis! Good luck for your next venture.
Thanks for the support!
My pleasure!
Thanks Alexis. I'm building a SEO fuelled E-com site- so I'm investing heavily in content as well. Good to know the content and traffic is worth something is all else fails
Yes! Revenue is still king, but if you can built a funnel that brings in traffic consistently, you've already built something you can sell. That's likely valuable to someone else.
Thanks for sharing these lessons. If possible, I'd like to know when you decided that you would sell this business one day and did it changed your goals and strategy. I often hear that what you need to achieve is not the same thing if you want to sell or if you just want to grow.
I subscribed to your newsletter ;-)
Hey -- I decided about 9 months before selling it that I wanted to do so. But I was pondering it even before then because I had offers from competitors.
I used those 9 months to optimize the site for a sale (in my case, that meant increasing SEO traffic as much as possible, but in other situations it would probably look like increasing revenue). I'd already systemized the site to run without me though. If I hadn't done that, that would be my first step to get it ready for a sale.
I think the biggest shift in my brain when I think of building a business to sell is ensuring I have the right people and processes in place to run without me. However, ironically, that's also a really good move if you're keeping the business, because it makes it more enjoyable to run.
Thanks! Yes I agree, whatever we decide, having the right people and processes to run without us is key. That's actually what we're doing right now: hiring the right people.