How to Avoid a Failed Agency Merger By Focusing on Culture

<p>With around three decades of experience running professional services firms, Don Scales understands first-hand how to make them successful. He is currently the Global CEO of <a href= "https://www.investisdigital.com/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Investis Digital</a>, a global digital communications company that helps world-class businesses manage their corporate brands. Today this industry veteran joins us to talk about his experience in the business, the reasons behind failed mergers and acquisitions, and share some funny stories.</p> <h2>3 Golden Nuggets</h2> <ol> <li><strong>If you continue to have to do it all, you’ll never scale.</strong> So many agency owners are at the million-dollar mark and wanting to get to the eight-figure mark. Don’s advice is to <a href="https://jasonswenk.com/constantly-working/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">learn to delegate</a>. Find people who are great at what they do and then get out of their way. You may make some mistakes if you do, but you’ll move on from that.</li> <li><strong>Building a team with staying power.</strong> Consistency is the key when it comes to leadership. Your employees won’t want to come to work every day if they don’t know which version of you they might encounter. Be consistent with your <a href="https://jasonswenk.com/leadership-lessons-navy-seal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leadership style</a> and make your decision-making process transparent, so they will learn to make decisions in that way as well.</li> <li><strong>Why do some mergers fail?</strong> If you look at what people really examine when they look at potentially <a href= "https://jasonswenk.com/acquisition-growth-strategy/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">buying a company</a>, you’ll find that they don't spend a whole lot of time looking at the value set of these companies that they're looking to buy. So many times when a merger or acquisition ends up failing you find out afterward that the cultures were off. You need to spend some time analyzing whether there is compatibility