What "ownership" actually means when you work with Coyne Labs
"You own everything" is a marketing phrase most agencies throw around. It usually means very little when tested. Credentials are on the agency side. Accounts are on the agency side. Code lives on the agency's private repo. Content gets rewritten into a proprietary CMS. When the client tries to leave, half the operation cannot be extracted.
Coyne Labs operates differently on purpose. Here is exactly what you own, when you own it, and how the handoff actually works.
What you own from day 1
Domain registration. We never register the domain on our account. It stays in your GoDaddy account (or wherever it was before).
All Google properties. Search Console, Analytics, Business Profile, Ads — all on your Google account. We get delegated access. You can revoke it at any moment.
All social accounts. Any social property we help you build stays on your login. We get delegated access.
All ad accounts. Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads — all on your business accounts. Billing to your payment method.
All email accounts. Resend, Mailchimp, or whatever tool we use — registered to you.
All lead data. Every lead that comes in through the website routes to your inbox and, if applicable, your CRM. We see the data to report on it. You own the data.
What you own at month 12
At month 12, if you want the full operational handoff (or even if you do not — we document it either way), you receive:
The complete Next.js codebase. Your GitHub repo, your Vercel project, full commit history, deployment ability. Portable to any hosting provider. Readable by any Next.js developer.
The full content library. Every blog post, every service page, every piece of copy — in plain text form that can be migrated to any CMS.
The full design system. Component library, color system, typography, Tailwind config — documented and portable.
All integration credentials and documentation. Every third-party service we use is documented with access credentials transferred to you.
Full GBP access. You were always the primary owner. Any delegated access we had is removable by you anytime.
The playbook documentation. We leave behind a written playbook of what we were doing, why, and what the next operator should continue doing.
What you do not own
The Coyne Labs internal tooling. If we use internal scripts, dashboards, or proprietary systems to manage the operation, those are ours. You get the outputs, not the tools.
The retainer team. If you want to hire someone to run the operation after we hand off, you need to hire them yourself. We are not obligated to maintain a staff for your business once the engagement ends.
Why we operate this way
Retention through dependency is an old agency model we reject. It traps clients, breeds resentment, and produces mediocre work. Retention through value is the alternative — clients stay because the work is good and leaving would mean losing something they value.
Operating this way keeps us honest. Every month we have to earn the retention. No lock-in. No hostage assets. No data held back.
What happens if a client leaves
Most do not. Our retention rate is strong because the work works. But when a client does leave — usually because they want to bring operations in-house, or they are acquired by a company with an existing agency relationship, or they retire — the handoff is clean. Within 30 days, everything is theirs. We often stay available for consulting calls if they need help.
Why Coyne Labs
Ownership is core to the business model. For more on the operating principles behind this, read the Coyne Labs difference. Or book a call and we will walk through exactly what ownership looks like for your business.