For founders in e-commerce and digital agencies, December hits different.

The busiest part of the year is behind you: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, peak trading, client deadlines. Dashboards have mostly settled, revenue is known. Margins are clearer than they were a month ago and with that clarity, a quieter question tends to surface: Do I push for another year of growth or do I start thinking seriously about an exit?

This question rarely arrives as a clean decision. It usually shows up indirectly. In planning meetings that feel heavier than expected. In growth ideas that look good on paper but feel harder to commit to. In a subtle lack of energy when thinking about repeating another peak season.

In e-commerce and agencies, this shows up more often than people admit, especially after a demanding Q4.

For many founders, growth isn’t just a strategy. It’s momentum. There’s unfinished work that needs to be done.  Systems that are close but not quite right. Retention that could be stronger. Clients that still depend too much on the founder. A sense that the business hasn’t yet shown its real operating potential.

In agencies, it’s often the belief that one more year will finally bring balance. Better retainers. A stronger leadership layer in place. For direct to consumer brands, it’s the hope that the next optimisation, the next channel or the next season will unlock cleaner profitability.

There’s also responsibility. Teams that have grown, customers and clients who rely on the business. Walking away can feel premature, even when the workload is heavy.

Growth, in that sense, feels like the default. You already know the problems. You’ve survived them before, that can be done again.

It often starts with accumulation. Another peak season where revenue grows but margins do not. Another year where acquisition costs rise faster than expected. Another cycle where the founder remains the bottleneck in decisions they believed they would have delegated by now.

In agencies, this often shows up as delivery pressure combined with constant sales responsibility. For DTC brands, it’s the compound effect of inventory risk, cash flow timing, paid traffic dependency and operational drag.

The business may be healthy but the marginal return on effort feels lower. The cost of another year like this becomes easier to quantify, not just financially but personally.

Exit, at this stage, isn’t about giving up. It’s about having options.

The most difficult and expensive place is to be in the middle. Founders who haven’t fully committed to growth but haven’t explored exit either. They push forward half-convinced, telling themselves they’ll revisit the question after the next season, the next hire, or the next milestone.

Growth initiatives lose sharpness when conviction fades. Teams sense hesitation even if it’s never stated. Founders carry the mental load without clarity, especially through peak periods where decisions compound quickly.

The paradox is that avoiding the decision often reduces options later. Not because the business declines but because fatigue sets the pace instead of intent.

They gather information early, quietly, without commitment.

They test the idea of what another year of growth would actually require, not in optimistic projections but in operational reality: More headcount, systems, capital, personal involvement, at least in the short term.

At the same time, they explore what exit could realistically look like for a business like theirs. Not headline multiples but structure, transition and trade-offs.

They talk to people who’ve seen these paths up close. They sense-check assumptions they’ve held for years and most importantly, they preserve optionality before the next year locks them into motion again.

That preparation doesn’t force a decision. It creates clarity.

There isn’t a correct answer here.

Some founders recommit to growth and find renewed energy once the decision is explicit. Others realise that a different outcome would better serve the business, the team and themselves.

The mistake isn’t choosing growth or exit. It’s drifting into another year without choosing at all.

If you’re in that in-between stage right now, especially after a demanding Q4, it’s not unusual.

If you run a UK-based e-commerce digital agency and you’re starting to think about what next year could look like, whether that’s pushing for growth, bringing in a partner, or exploring an eventual exit, I’m always open to a discreet conversation.

If that would be useful, send a short note with a few lines about the business and what’s on your mind. I’ll reply personally.

Keep pushing forward,

Jordan