From College Savings to $155K Exit: How Alvaro Built and Sold 'Increasingly'

How Alvaro Turned College Savings into a $155K Business Exit

Sometimes it all starts with one tough call. For Alvaro Rodrigues, that was deciding to spend his college tuition savings, not on class, but on an online marketing course. Originally from Peru and living in a new country, Alvaro faced an uphill battle: he barely spoke English, had no inside knowledge of the digital agency world, and didn’t have a safety net. There’s no movie-moment—just long days, a little bit of fear, and a lot of figuring it out as he went.

Starting from Zero: Door-Knocking in a New World

Alvaro’s story began far from the glossy office spaces and slick SaaS dashboards that saturate the startup world. He started simple: walked the streets of Miami, knocking on the doors of local businesses that needed all the help they could get with digital marketing. Most owners didn’t know a Facebook pixel from a fidget spinner, but Alvaro offered them real results. He worked on their Google ads and social campaigns, picking up skills as fast as he could type—or could afford not to sleep.

Learning Through Everything—Even Mistakes

He didn’t nail it right out the gate. The first few months? Rough. Alvaro dove after any money-making idea he stumbled on: affiliate pages, random Fiverr gigs, Amazon drop-shipping—the lot. He battled with what people call "Shiny Object Syndrome." Only when he decided tofocus on one thing: running paid ads for businesses that genuinely needed the phone to ring, did things start taking off. With every account, he improved. He tracked results obsessively, experimented endlessly, and built a personal network on grit more than polish. Sometimes his English wasn’t perfect; sometimes client calls got awkward. Didn’t matter. Every lesson was fuel.

Building the Brand: Increasingly

He spun up a website, "Increasingly," branding the agency as ROI-obsessed. Clients didn’t care much about his accent—they just wanted more calls and more revenue. The business grew through word-of-mouth, some cold emails, and careful referrals. Alvaro refined his pitch, stuck to the channels he knew best—mainly Google and Facebook Ads—and gradually built up a stable client list. If a service didn’t drive results (SEO, Instagram growth hacks), he cut it. He didn’t hire until there was no other way—but for a long time, it was just him, balancing campaigns, reporting, and sales in equal measure.

Recognizing When to Sell

Scaling was the next hurdle. To break through the ceiling, Alvaro knew he’d have to hire account managers, invest in new systems, and risk more money. The problem? He didn’t feel ready for that next level of people management and complexity. He was tired, ready to let someone else take the wheel and “10X” what he started. Instead of running in place, he started looking at online marketplaces.

Choosing Flippa Over Other Platforms

Flippa was the first real option. No brokers with massive fees, no gatekeepers—just a lot of serious buyers, including agency pros from the US and Europe. The valuation tools made it obvious he could get a fair deal. Alvaro’s listing, complete with financials and metrics, climbed the ranks and caught attention from several buyers. He appreciated that Flippa’s support helped him handle due diligence, buyer questions, and the actual handover, especially since English wasn’t his first language.

Navigating Questions and Closing the Sale

Selling a business—especially for the first time—isn’t easy. There are lots of nerve-wracking conversations and midnight number-crunching. Flippa’s vetting process, plus advice from their support staff, made sure nothing got missed. Alvaro kept things transparent; he answered every question from potential buyers, and in the end, a US agency owner wired him $155,000. The transition was calm, with every step signed and checked.

Life After the Exit: What Changes?

With the wire hitting his account, Alvaro didn’t just have a financial windfall. He had proof his skills, discipline, and risk-taking paid off. The sale let him take a breath, step back, and plan his next ventures. Just as important, he realized that selling online businesses wasn’t some impossible dream—he started talking to new entrepreneurs, sharing the playbook, and even consulting part-time while exploring his next big thing.

What’s the Real Secret?

Alvaro shrugs at the idea of a magic bullet. For him, it was always about focus, ruthlessly cutting wasted effort, learning from mistakes every single week, and not letting fear about his accent or background keep him from big opportunities. He kept his service simple: revenue growth for businesses, nothing more. And when he realized scaling up meant more stress than he wanted, he found a smooth path out.

Advice for First-Timers

• Pick one niche and fixate on client results more than anything else.
• Delay hiring until your service delivery is repeatable or until you physically can't handle the volume alone.
• Don’t chase fast money or unrelated side gigs. Focus compounds fast.
• If you want to sell, use platforms with strong vetting and active support like Flippa—it’s less risky.
• Get your numbers and documentation in order well before you list—buyers will ask everything.
• Your background matters way less than your results and reliability—let the work speak first.

Conclusion: The Playbook for a Real-World Exit

Alvaro’s journey isn’t about overnight riches. He put in long hours, handled rejection, pivoted from dead-end ideas, and eventually built something worth selling. His path shows that anyone with grit and a willingness to focus can break in, grow, and even exit with life-changing money, without ever fitting the Silicon Valley stereotype. No glossy backstory needed—just a clear promise, reliable service, and the guts to take the next step when the time is right.