From one CEO to another,

The last few months have been rough.

Not because of performance issues or market slowdowns.

But because two new clients smart, successful businesses nearly lost everything when switching agencies.

I’m talking about:

  • Their website

  • Google Ads

  • Automations

  • Pixel data

  • AI signals

Years of insights and performance history

Gone or almost gone - because they didn’t own what was rightfully theirs.

And I get it. As CEOs, we hire experts so we don’t have to think about hosting logins or pixel setups. But if you assume your agency or contractor set things up in your name…

You might be one password away from chaos.

Let me walk you through two real (and painful) examples - and show you how to protect your business.

Use Case 1: The $2,800/Day Mistake

A new client had just signed with us, excited to grow.

Then - boom - their website went down.

No heads-up. No access. No backups.

Here’s what happened:

  • Their old agency owned the hosting account

  • Let the subscription expire

  • Never transferred ownership

They had no idea… until everything went dark.

In a scramble, they reactivated an old site - just to stay visible.

But their real, optimized site? Still stuck.

Now for the part that hurts:

  • 1,000 users over the last 2 weeks

  • 16 qualified leads

  • 25% of those usually turn into customers

That’s $40,000 in lost deals over 14 days

Or $2,857 every day their site isn’t live

All because no one asked a simple question:

“Do we actually own our infrastructure?”

This isn’t a tech slip-up.

It’s a real business risk with real revenue on the line.

And it’s a perfect example of why data ownership is not optional in 2025.

Use Case 2: Another Client Held Hostage by a Freelancer

Another client had worked with a freelance contractor to build their marketing tech stack.

  • Automations in Zapier

  • Pixel and conversion tracking across Meta + Google

  • CRM integrations and data flows

All of it tied to the contractor’s personal Gmail.

When he left the project?

They were one password away from losing their entire funnel.

The worst part? They had no idea how vulnerable they were - until we brought it up.

These Aren’t Tech Problems. They’re Business Risks.

As a fellow CEO, this frustrates me.

You’re doing everything right: growing your team, investing in digital, hiring specialists.

But if you don’t own the systems those experts build? You’re scaling on someone else’s foundation.

And in the AI era, where your performance improves based on your OWN DATA SIGNALS…

Losing that infrastructure isn’t just inconvenient - it sets you back months.

We’ve seen:

  • $100K in ad testing disappear

  • AI recommendations that no longer learn from real feedback

  • Teams wasting budget “re-learning” what the pixel already knew

  • Entire systems rebuilt because no documentation existed.

  • Your accounts are yours

  • Your tracking is under your credentials

  • We document every automation, every funnel, every naming convention

  • You own the AI data pipelines as we just help optimize them

We treat access and ownership as part of our onboarding and offboarding SOPs.

Because our job is to make you smarter, faster, and not more dependent on us.

🔍 Data Ownership Audit: Are You Really in Control?

Here’s a quick checklist to see if you’re in a safe spot:

✅ Do you own your domain and website hosting?

✅ Are your ad accounts (Google, Meta) registered under your business?

✅ Do you have admin access to GA4, GTM, Search Console?

✅ Are your CRM tools (Klaviyo, HubSpot, etc.) under your company account?

✅ Are Zapier, Make, or AI tools tied to company emails (not freelancers)?

✅ Is documentation saved in a central, company-owned location like Notion?

If your freelancer left tomorrow, would your systems still run?

📦 When Offboarding an Agency or Freelancer

Before you say goodbye, make sure you:

  • 🔐 Change all shared passwords

  • 🎯 Transfer ad account ownership (not just access)

  • 📊 Export all campaign data and audiences

  • 📂 Backup CRM flows, pixel events, and GTM setups

  • 🧠 Request SOPs for any custom-built automation or AI logic

  • 📝 Document what’s been built - don’t assume you’ll remember

Get Your Free Agency Offboarding Checklist

Protect your data, your ads, your future - own your infrastructure.

Get the checklist

🚨 Final Thought

If your marketing systems are working, but you don’t own them, you’re one contractor or agency breakup away from a mess.

Your data is leverage. Your tech stack is equity.

Treat it like you’d treat financial accounts:

✔️ Secure

✔️ Transparent

✔️ In your name

📣 My Call to You:

Make sure your business isn’t building castles on borrowed land.

If you’re not sure where to start, we’re happy to help. No pressure. Just clarity.

Let’s scale smarter,

 - Iulia