Acquiring Minds: Recent Episodes
Will Smith
Buying a business is an amazing path for many successful entrepreneurs. Learn how to buy a business from the entrepreneurs who have already done it. Stories, insights, & valuable advice about acquisition entrepreneurship. Hosted by Will Smith, who is on his own path to acquire a business.
Connor Pera shares how taking incremental steps led to buying his first business much sooner than expected.
Topics in Connor’s interview:
- Trade-offs of a part-time search
- Importance of taking action
- Competition in the web-to-print industry
- Pros and cons of an SBA loan
- The appeal of managing people
- His mistake of not accounting for working capital adjustments
- Feeling anxious before closing
- Transitioning to ownership and fatherhood at the same time
- The importance of knowing oneself
- The value of his business school education
References and how to contact Connor:
- connor@theprintauthority.com
- The Print Authority
- Connor’s Twitter thread about his acquisition
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Josh Medow brought a mindset to his search that he would reshape whatever business he bought into a high-growth company.
Topics in Josh’s interview:
- Calling over 1,000 business owners during search
- Buying a business with no money down
- How EOS transformed his business
- His 10-20 year outlook
- Comparing his military experience with business leadership
- Laser focusing on one target market
- Building their own SaaS tool for their customers
- His most transformational leadership hire
- What matters to him more than money
- His plan to IPO
References and how to contact Josh:
- Mercury
- Persist IQ
- Traction by Gino Wickman
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Tim Ericson brings lessons from 13 years as a startup founder to the $4m printer rental company he recently bought.
Topics in Tim’s interview:
- His experience in a VC-backed startup
- Searching for a remote-friendly business
- Using his sales skills to find a business
- Buying Short-Term Copier
- The types of customers they serve
- Comfort running a remotely-managed, multi-city business
- His vision to double the business
- Installing an operations manager
- Boring is the new sexy
- Investing in other searchers’ deals
References and how to contact Tim:
- Setting up Hubspot CRM for an Acquisition Search for Free!
- tim@smb.fund
- tim@committed.ventures
- Short Term Copier
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
August Felker did a search fund, then later a self-funded search so he could own & build his business for years to come.
Topics in August’s interview:
- Buying a business without an MBA
- How cold calling led to his first deal
- Buying an “elevator asset business”
- Early lessons in leadership
- What he loved about traditional search
- The resiliency of the insurance industry
- The normalcy of 3-year earnouts
- Self-funding his second deal
- His vision for building a brand
- The niche of working with searchers
References and how to contact August:
- Oberle Risk Strategies
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Summary from Webflow: HoldCoConf co-founder Kelcey Lehrich shares key findings from a survey of 100+ holdco operators about their businesses.
Topics in Kelcey’s interview:
- How HoldCoConf started
- Why holdcos are so popular
- Arguments against holdcos
- The “everything tastes like chicken” layer of business
- Surprising survey results
- What becomes possible at $50M in revenue
- Hiring leadership in holdcos
- Debating centralized vs decentralized models
- Use of global hiring
- Concerns about a recession
References and how to contact Kelcey:
- 365 Holdings
- HoldCoConf
- Holdco Survey
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Nick Akers had a vision for supportive, employee-first leadership. Buying a business enables him to realize this vision.
Topics in Nick’s interview:
- His background as an inventor
- How the TV show Succession mirrors real life
- Why he chose Swiss search accelerator Novastone
- What motivates him more than money
- His focus on building a positive company culture
- The MSP industry and its appeal for searchers
- His plan for bolt-ons in the MSP industry
- The importance of cash flow and working capital
- His first 2 months as CEO
- Why he likes having investors
References and how to contact Nick:
- STL Communications
- Novastone Capital Advisors
- Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Familyby Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Nick Wheeler reflects on investing countless hours to buy a beautiful business, only to have the seller kill the deal.
Topics in Nick’s interview:
- Finding a commercial landscaping business
- Winning the sellers’ trust
- How he interpreted early red flags
- Lessons learned about due diligence
- Conflict with sellers over working capital
- Why the deal fell apart
- The financial cost of the broken deal
- The emotional cost of the broken deal
- How brokers can help (or hurt) your deal
- What Nick is most grateful for
References and how to contact Nick:
- nick@sage-succession.com
- Hood & Strong
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
George Goates bought a small shuttle business that he's grown 4x in 8 years, partly by running buses for municipalities.
Topics in George’s interview:
- Buying a transport/bussing company
- Pivoting into operating city buses
- Importance of relationships in securing contracts
- Impact of Covid
- Government corruption in urban transit
- Promotion opportunities for his employees
- Nasty cost of doing business in bussing: frivolous lawsuits
- Potential for inorganic growth through acquisitions
- Different niches within transport
- Relevance of a finance background in his business
References and how to contact George:
- RTW Management
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Sajama Mitta wanted to make strategic decisions at the head of an organization. Buying her own business was the answer.
Topics in Sajama’s interview:
- Using her investing background to evaluate businesses
- Buying an environmental health and safety consulting company
- How the founders made themselves replaceable
- How they keep their clients in compliance with regulations
- The fragmented nature of the industry and opportunities for growth
- How California compares to other states on regulations
- The problems she enjoys solving
- The importance of team empowerment and employee satisfaction
- Shifting the quality of revenue and focusing on recurring projects
- The technical knowledge she has gained since buying CDMS
References and how to contact Sajama:
- sajama@cdms.com
- Chemical Data Management Systems
- Women in Small Business Statistics in the U.S.
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Manny Saxena quickly bought 3 street-sweeping businesses to become the largest player in NorCal. A big PE fund noticed.
Topics in Manny’s interview:
- The importance of maintaining a strong pipeline during search
- Why he chose a street-sweeping business during COVID
- The transition into running a blue-collar business and motivating the team
- Why he recommends in-person conversations with sellers
- Advice for other immigrants in business
- The importance of attitude and soft skills in hiring
- Managing long-term contracts in an inflationary environment
- The decision to sell the business to a private equity firm
- The pros and cons of having a union presence
- His ongoing roll-up strategy in the solar industry
References and how to contact Manny:
- HBR Case Study: Swept Up in Uncertainty at PowerSweeping
- Mars Equity Partners
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Karl Hughes recently bought a podcast production agency & explains why "productized service" businesses are attractive.
Topics in Karl’s interview:
- Starting a super-niche content marketing business
- The benefits of productizing a service
- Saying no to the wrong revenue
- What he learned about using cold outreach to find sellers
- Acquiring a podcast production company with his partner
- What he likes about digital businesses
- His vision to build a holdco
- The small changes he made immediately
- Why buying small was the right move for him
- Cashflow management in digital businesses
References and how to contact Karl:
- Karl’s article Buying a Business: Acquiring the Podcast Consultant
- The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins
- Draft.dev
- The Podcast Consultant
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Mitchell Sorkin started by buying 3 ATMs in 2021. Today he has over 140 machines and is targeting $5m EBITDA in 3 years.
Topics in Mitchell’s interview:
- The difference between arbitrage and building a business
- Mitchell's journey to acquiring 140 ATM machines
- How to evaluate an ATM route
- Revenue and margins in the ATM business
- Challenges with SBA financing
- His most controversial Twitter thread
- Future plans to raise a fund
- 3 ways to profit in the ATM business
- Dealing with theft
- How people underestimate ATMs
References and how to contact Mitchell:
- Stack Influence
- ATM Brokerage
- Mitchell’s Twitter thread about the Korean seller
- info@sorkinatm.com
- Marshall & Sterling
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Chris Munn, Bakari Akil, and Bruce Vann reflect on being Black men who bought businesses & why this path is so powerful.
Topics in this interview:
- What inspires and motivates them as business owners
- The three necessary factors for capitalism to work
- Unclaimed opportunities for minority businesses
- The impact of entrepreneurship on family and future generations
- Changing your mentality to lead a company effectively
- Being “buttoned up” vs. being authentic
- Dealing with sellers who want to talk U.S. politics
- Overcoming challenges and persisting in the face of adversity
- The limitations of “climbing the ladder” in a W2
- Why now is the best time for Black people to buy businesses
References and how to contact:
- Bakari Akil LinkedIn - Twitter - Graves Hall Capital
- Elliot Holland LinkedIn - Twitter - Guardian Due Diligence
- Bruce Vann LinkedIn - LuXout Products Inc - Blinds & More
- Chris Munn LinkedIn - The Fairfield Company
- Dame Dash Full Interview at The Breakfast Club Power 105.1
- Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model
- HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
- Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun? by Reginald F. Lewis and Blair S. Walker
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Matt Huggins bought a small water & cable utility doing $200k/year. 15 years later, his holdco is on track for $20m/yr.
Topics in this interview:
- Matt's decision to step off the academic track
- Matt's career as a professional online poker player
- Transitioning from poker to small business
- Acquiring a utilities company for a group of condos
- The surprising complexity of running a utilities company
- Starting a manhole lining business
- The stability and diversity of the water industry
- Acquiring businesses from retiring owners without needing capital
- The value of a fractional CFO
- The reward of helping employees
References and how to contact Matt:
- Peak Group Companies
- Advanced Lining
- Peak Water Services
- Advanced Pump & Equipment
- Gordo Sales
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Today's guest recounts the many ways her acquisition has misfired, revealing how hard owning a small business can be.
Topics in this interview:
- The clash between personal values and effective leadership
- How the seller misrepresented the business
- Ongoing legal issues that distract from operating
- The possibility of the business collapsing
- What she missed in due diligence
- Difficulties in leadership transition and the impact on morale
- How the business affects her personal relationships
- The need for a support system and external advisors
- Key employees leaving to start competing shops
- Why she gives the business a 65% chance of surviving
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Holdco entrepreneur Chase Murdock buys very small businesses with potential for rapid growth & decades of staying power.
Topics in Chase’s interview:
- Starting a custom suit company with $750
- Decata Group's “car wash integration process” for acquisitions
- Workshop SLC’s 5x growth in the first year of acquisition
- Getting out of the “small business death zone” ASAP
- The knife fight of acquiring and growing small businesses
- The #1 ingredient in company building
- Maslow’s hierarchy of business needs
- What surprised him about the trades industry
- Conviction in the ability to 5x a business in 5 years
- The intellectual challenge of building a holdco
Links and how to contact Chase:
- Decada Group
- Tailor Cooperative
- Workshop SLC
- Built by Design Construction
- Northern Electric Company
- Tatton Baird
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Amir Haboosheh was drawn to the double-opportunity in acquiring home services businesses: the financial, and the impact.
Topics in Amir’s interview:
- Why Amir wasn’t interested in a digital business
- Offering blue collar employees shares in the company
- Snowball’s plan for going public
- Snowball’s playbook for operating businesses
- How to hire a good GM for your business
- How to incentivize operators
- Acquiring a marketing company
- Why SDE isn’t everything
- How Anderson Air doubled revenue in 3 years
- Retaining the brands post-acquisition
Links and how to contact Amir:
- Snowball
- Acquira
- Enduring Ventures
- The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
- Anderson Air
- Digitally Savvy
- Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
- Get A Grip: How to Get Everything You Want from Your Entrepreneurial Business by Gino Wickman
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Mark Sinatra returns to explain what to diligence from an HR perspective when buying your business.
Topics in Mark’s interview:
- Top 3 things to diligence in your acquisition when it comes to HR
- How industry associations can be a source of deal flow (once you're already acquired)
- "Book of business" acquisitions
- Best type to execute add-on acquisitions
- How to prioritize what to integrate in an add-on acquisition
- How to recover from losing a big customer
- Value of personality profiling tools in hiring
Links and how to contact Mark:
- mark@aspenhr.com
- ETAequity.com
- AspenHR.com
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Sam Rosati shares a framework to clarify your search criteria & reduce the months it takes to find a business to buy.
Topics in Sam’s interview:
- The reason search takes so long
- How to speed up your search process
- Underwriting criteria of SBA lenders
- Knowing how to kill a deal
- Considering the fit of the searcher as CEO
- Understanding SBA loan framework
- Importance of recurring or repeating revenue
- Opportunities and risks in buying small
- Managing criteria to get enough deals in the pipeline
- Common mistakes searchers make
Links and how to contact Sam:
- Links to all Sam’s projects
- Pursuant Capital
- Nick Haschka
- Sam Rosati’s investor list
- Raise $800k to Buy an $8m Business | Kevin Bibelhausen Interview
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
James Bloom has 8x'd a small mechanical contractor he bought only 4 years ago, despite it being a competitive industry.
Topics in James’s interview:
- How his background in M&A informed his due diligence process
- How he ensured a smooth transition
- Commercial HVAC vs. residential HVAC
- Why he funded growth out of his own pocket
- Reducing his weekly work hours from 100 to 60
- How his business differentiates itself in the construction industry
- Growing his staff from 8 to 80
- Growing revenue from $3M to $25M
- Working with unions
- Bringing in outside capital to grow
Links and how to contact James:
- jbloom737@gmail.com
- Excel Mechanical Contractors
Buy your ticket to the ETA conference devoted to self-funded search:
- The Self-Funded Search Conference (Sep 30 & Oct 1 in Dallas)
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
3 days into Monte Marcum's acquisition of an established franchise, key equipment breaks. Then the crises kept coming.
Topics in Monte’s interview:
- Buying 2 existing & adjacent franchise businesses at once
- How Filta’s customer pricing is structured
- Why commercial kitchens love his business
- Combining two businesses
- Equipment starts breaking on day three
- Monte’s series of fetal position moments
- What exactly is hard about running a business
- How one rockstar employee guided him through a season of crisis
- The biggest risk of buying small
- The importance of a support system
Links and how to contact Monte:
- Codie Sanchez: These “Boring Businesses” Will Make You Rich
- Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions
- John Schooler update episode on Acquiring Minds
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Niklas James started off as a self-funded searcher, but evolved into being an independent sponsor of 7 acquisitions.
Topics in Niklas’s interview:
- Why he returned the funds raised for his traditional search fund
- How the painful challenges of his first acquisition set him up for success on later deals
- Why SaaS isn’t as sexy as it seems
- Evolution from self-funded searcher to independent sponsor
- Definition of an independent sponsor
- Why HVAC is so attractive
- Growing his home services business
- What type of person should consider independent sponsorship
- The difference between searchers and independent sponsors
- The difference between a holdco and independent sponsorship
Links and how to contact Niklas:
- niklas.james@gmail.com
- McGuireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference
With SIG, you can buy your own business and retain majority ownership:
- Search Investment Group
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Martin Bispels updates us on the DTC ecommerce business he bought in 2020 and had grown to almost $2m/yr one year later.
Topics in Martin’s interview:
- Using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
- Building and managing a great remote team
- Why he doesn’t sell on Amazon
- The difference between buying and shopping
- Opportunities for bolt-on products
- Marks of a good ecommerce business
- The power of story to differentiate your product
- Moving his supplier from China to Vietnam
- Finding a good 3PL
- Keeping the founder in the business
Links and how to contact Martin:
- Martin@upperparkdiscgolf.com
- Upper Park Disc Golf
- Carro app
- Frangiosa Farms
- Keith Linebach: 8 Figure Exit, 2 Years After Buying the Business
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Derek Turner has done both a traditional search fund and self-funded. We hear both stories & explore the differences.
Topics in Derek’s interview:
- The advantages of a geographically-focused search
- His method for pitching business owners doing cold outreach
- Challenges within the laser van business
- Being a good soldier vs being a sucker
- The downside of growth
- The perils of buying from unpleasant owners
- How the company grew with no marketing
- Hiring a GM to run the business
- Why have a board with a self-funded acquisition
- Why self-funded search feels different than traditional search funds
Links and how to contact Derek:
- Roll-a-Shield
- Derek’s Twitter thread “When does a ‘good soldier’ become a ‘sucker’?”
- Derek’s thread on traditional search (being a CEO) vs. self-funded search (being an owner)
With SIG, you can buy your own business and retain majority ownership:
- Search Investment Group
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
2 previous guests, Mike Botkin & Adrian Pinto, are joining forces to grow a landscaping empire throughout the Southeast.
Topics in Adrian and Mike’s interview:
- Adrian and Mike meeting through Acquiring Minds
- Why it was difficult for Adrian to get a line of credit for his business
- Mike’s holding company acquired Adrian’s landscaping company
- The pros and cons of buying assets vs. stock
- How an SBA loan can hamper growth in some situations
- Why Mike says acquisition is a talent game
- How they structured their acquisition
- Adrian’s role as CEO post-acquisition
- How rolling equity can benefit the seller
- Mike’s holdco origin story
Links and how to contact Adrian and Mike:
- Mike’s LinkedIn & Twitter
- Adrian’s LinkedIn & Twitter
- Adrian's recent episode: How to 2x Sales in a Service Business You Buy
- OneOutdoor
- Georgia Scapes
With SIG, you can buy your own business and retain majority ownership:
- Search Investment Group
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Alex Michael was seeking to acquire not just a business, but freedom. One year later, he reports back on how it's going.
Topics in Alex’s interview:
- Top line growth in the last year
- How he diligenced Wallaroo Wallets
- How he uses Amazon PPC ads
- The limitations of an Amazon FBA business
- An expensive lesson about traffic diversification
- Launching new products
- Having his family involved in his business
- Living life on his own terms
- His unconventional thoughts on productivity
- The topics he writes on
Links and how to contact Alex:
- QuietLight
- Alex’s Substack
- Wallaroo Wallets
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:
- More Staffing
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Shane Ehrsam went full-time in his search & used systematic broker outreach to buy a great business in his local market.
Topics in Shane's interview:
- Why he didn't acquire a franchise resale
- Shane's experience in the Acquisition Lab, Walker Deibel's program to buy a business
- Why talking to other searchers is so important before beginning your own search
- Mechanics of his broker outreach
- Importance of cold calling brokers
- Buying a business in stock (vs. the more traditional asset purchase)
- All about the dealership business
- Full standby note — what is it?
- Day 1 experience
- How being an SMB owner feels different than life in corporate
Links & how to reach Shane:
- Acquisition Lab
- Episode with Jordan Carter about full-time vs. part-time searching: A Brutal Search Rewarded with Success After 3 Years
- Episode with Jesse Sunquist on: Reflections After 1 Year of Searching Full Time
- Episode with Doug Johns about building rapport with sellers & brokers: Opening Up to Franchises to Buy a Great Business
- Surface area of luck
- North Texas Trailers
- shane AT ntxtrailers DOT com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Jordan Novgrod sold his house, tapped his 401k, and went all-in to buy an $800k SDE business he found on BizBuySell.
Topics in Jordan's interview:
- Finding a great business on BizBuySell
- Blogging the search process
- Key rule of thumb on SDE
- Importance of buyer-seller chemistry
- Machine shop businesses - pros & cons
- Transferring key relationships post-sale
- Day 1 speech
- How Jordan built rapport with his new employees
Links & how to reach Jordan:
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Sweaty Startup
- Search Investment Group (SIG)
- Jordan's substack: Small Business Acquisition
- @JordanNovgrod
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Burk Adams' work was keeping him from his family. With just $100k in cash, he tapped his 401k to buy a $2.3m business.
Topics in Burk's interview:
- Using your 401k to buy a business with ROBS
- Buying a business being the most impactful thing he's done in his life
- Realities of a C corp vs. LLC
- Teaching his kids acquisition entrepreneurship
- How it seems easier to have bought a business in 2015 than now
- The feeling of giant SBA loan repayments every month
- His business acquisition being a full send
- How he thought about the failure risk
- Why he liked PC Enclosures
- Acquisition price & numbers
- Buying a $2.6m business while only having $100k in cash
- Revenue numbers
- Handling the brutal first 6 months (and how it was healthy for the future)
- What's worse: depression or panic?
- Strong growth in the last few years
- How to think about one-off purchase vs. recurring revenue businesses
- How to think about buying a manufacturing business
- Small business ownership vs. being a consultant
- 2 new businesses that have come out of his acquisition
Links & how to reach Burk:
- PC Enclosures
- Storm Shell, Burk's outdoor TV enclosure business targeting consumers
- Backyard Snowstorm, the snowmaking business Burk started with his son
- Guidant Financial
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
It looked like a dream: $2m EBITDA, recurring, large market. Only after Judd Lorson bought it did he learn the truth.
Topics in Judd's interview:
- Searchfund accelerator pros & cons
- Understanding investors' role in your acquisition
- Importance of 100% transparency with employees (even pre-acquisition)
- Debt collection business pros & cons
- Discovery that he's acquired a bad business
- Managing hostility with sellers
- What is the proper attitude for buying a business?
- How to resign as CEO the right way
Links & how to reach Judd:
- The Acquiring Minds debate about Self-Funded Search vs. Traditional Search Funds
- judd DOT lorson AT gmail
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Taylor Wallace was over tech. He acquired a small business and with it a renewed sense of impact (and opportunity).
Topics in Taylor's interview:
- Tech burnout
- Working in tech vs. running a small business
- Buying indy vs. franchise
- Injecting tech-industry best practices & ambition into small business
- How do friends in tech respond to his foray into doggy daycares?
- Going from digital nomad to brick-and-mortar business owner in Tampa
- Increasing doggy daycare capacity 2x
- Will more than 2x revenue by next year
- What he paid (roughly) for 1st and 2nd acquisitions
- Growth strategy
- Buying small vs. buying big
- Doggy daycare business - should you do it?
Links & how to reach Taylor:
- Paws 'n' Rec
- Baton
- @taywall
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Episode 100! To celebrate, 5 early guests come back to share how things are going at their acquisitions, 1 year later.
Links to guests' previous episodes:
- Chris Edwards - How to Survive Acquiring a $3.5m Flooring Business.
- Philippe Vanderhoydonck - How to Acquire Your First Business in 3 Months
- Cassi Niekamp - Buying a $1.2m Fencing Business & Earning Trust Quickly
- Andrew Pierno - How to Build a Portfolio of Micro SaaS Businesses
- Mike Botkin, first ep - How to Buy a Landscaping Biz & Boost Profits Quick
- Mike Botkin, second ep - How to Buy Landscaping Businesses
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Andrew Harbin first bought an awning business, then bought a fencing franchise to keep his crew working through summer.
Topics in Andrew's interview:
- Should you buy a seasonal business?
- Buying a second business to offset seasonality of first business
- Twitter thread that opened his eyes to building wealth by buying a business
- Buying a business that is for sale by owner
- Revenue + SDE of the awning business he acquired
- Growth he's achieved in first years of ownership
- How the awning business works (revenue sources, staffing, org chart)
- Buying a $300-400k SDE business
- Why hiring temps for seasonal businesses is unappealing
- Fencing business: buying vs. starting from scratch vs. starting a franchise
- Pros/cons of franchises
- Big Jerry's fencing franchise
- Tips for entrepreneurs considering buying a fencing business
- Nature of stress in SMB vs. corporate
- Loneliness of being a small business owner
Links & how to reach Andrew:
- Twitter thread that turned Andrew on to buying a business
- Venango Awning
- Big Jerry's Fencing
- @ADHarbin
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
James Temple & his mother acquired a struggling Mathnasium franchise in 2009. Today, they do $7m across 19 locations.
Topics in James' interview:
- Buying vs. starting a franchise location
- Is rolling up easier in a franchise system?
- Turning around underperforming franchise locations
- How to assess the risk of a franchise system
- 3 criticisms of franchises that MBA student always have
- Numbers behind his first acquisition
- Growing to 19 franchise locations in 13 years
- How a 19-unit franchise business is structured & operated
- Evaluating franchise opportunities from a risk-adjusted perspective
- Revenue range of Mathnasium franchises
- Mathnasium fees
- What exactly do you get from a franchisor for the franchise fee?
- Passion and purpose — is it necessary?
- Franchise consultants (and how they are incentivized)
- How to start investigating opportunities if you're interested in a particular franchise
Links & how to reach James:
- Mathnasium
- FDD Exchange
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Sumana Sanjeeva got into ecommerce by chance. 3 years later, she's acquired 4 ecom businesses & sold one for over $5m.
Topics from Sumana's interview:
- Brick & mortar vs ecommerce businesses
- Best type of ecommerce to buy for a first-timer
- Buying an ecommerce business knowing very little about it
- Learning quickly how to sell on Amazon
- Finding an ecommerce business on BizBuySell
- Terms of her deal
- One decision that made the business thrive during COVID
- Selling to aggregators
- Talking to 14 of them
- Terms of her sale
- Cash flow issues with a growing ecommerce business
- Her 3 new ecommerce acquisitions
- Focusing exclusively on FBA
- Running in-person learning center franchises
How to reach Sumana:
- sanjeevasumana AT gmail
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Toni Kononova bought a ghostwriting business for $500k to experiment with buy-then-build while limiting her downside.
Topics in Toni's interview:
- What to love about a ghostwriting & editing business
- The business of self-publishing
- What is "vanity press"?
- Why a terrible website can be OK
- Getting close on a small B2B SaaS business
- Lowering her SDE criteria
- Numbers & terms of her acquisition
- De-risking an acquisition
- Buying a business while having a full-time job
- Why keeping her full-time job helped get the loan
- Running the acquisition as a side hustle
- Employee turnover & sales decline during transition
- The popularity of search among Silicon Valley workers
- Search in Russia
Links & how to get in touch with Toni:
- Write My Wrongs
- toni AT writemywrongs DOT co
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Frustrated searchers: this episode is for you. Jesse Sunquist shares 4 lessons from a year of hunting for a business.
Topics in Jesse's interview:
- What he learned going from part-time to full-time searching
- Why brokers prefer working with full-time searchers
- "Spouse-funded" searcher
- How TRULY difficult it is to get your first deal done
- Embrace change when it comes to your search criteria
- How personal each searcher's journey is
- The perils of comparing your search to others'
- The temptation to buy (very) small
- Opening your mind to acquiring a franchise
- Isolation & loneliness during search and how to counteract it
- The importance of just getting started
- Over-investing in your tech stack, website, LLC formation, etc. is procrastination
How to reach Jesse and other links:
- Original post on Searchfunder: Reflections after 1 year of searching full time
- @jsunquist on Twitter
- jesse AT mtsophia DOT capital
- Jesse's search website, Mt Sophia Capital
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
When most people would be considering retirement, Anne Ristic started a new chapter of her career by buying a business.
Topics in Anne's interview:
- Deciding to buy a business at age 60
- How Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired her to buy a business
- How she budgeted her target acquisition size
- Raising money from banks for an acquisition in Canada
- Canadian banks' familiarity with search
- About AES, the business she bought
- Growth potential for PEO in Canada
- How much industry research she did
- How she envisions growing AES
- Meeting the managers during the transaction process
- Nuances to search in Canada
- communEtA, the student-run investment group
- Being a woman when buying a business
Reach Anne at:
- anne AT agencyemployment DOT ca
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
How Doug Johns overcame his reservations about being a franchisee to acquire a dream business with $1.8m EBITDA.
Topics in Doug's interview:
- Buying a franchise vs. independent business
- Opening your mind to a franchise
- The many (overlooked) benefits to being a franchisee
- Calling yourself "independent investor" instead of "searcher"
- Running a search like a B2B sales process
- The appeal of a deal with few addbacks
- Why home service businesses are so appealing as acquisitions
- Loving, rather than running from, managing people
- Why the top home service businesses have more sophisticated funnels than the Fortune 500
- ServiceTitan
- Where the opportunity is when the business you buy is already well-run and mature
- Owning a plumbing company without knowing anything about plumbing
- The numbers of Doug's deal
- The exact multiple is way less important than you think
- Using ROBS to buy the business
- Why high growth can make a business harder to finance
- Understanding debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) thresholds
- Doug's tip for choosing an SBA lender
- The $500k value of Doug's appeal to the seller
- Going to meet a seller face to face
Reach Doug at:
- doug DOT johns AT couffley DOT com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
A primer on lead gen businesses from Jaime Arias, who bought a 14-year-old biz that generates online leads for dentists.
Topics in Jaime's interview:
- Choosing self-funded over a traditional search fund
- Buying tiny sites on Flippa
- The opportunity with "old" internet businesses
- 3 types of sellers on Flippa
- Using BuiltWith to generate proprietary outreach list
- About Patients4you
- Lowering acquisition targets from $750k - $1m cash flow to $200k - $400k
- "Rank & Rent" model for local lead gen
- What are you really buying with a lead gen business?
- Lead brokers
- SEO vs. PPC for lead gen
- Isn't Google Ads too competitive already for local lead gen?
- Getting comfortable with Google algorithm risk
- Why Patients4you is an agency more than a lead gen website
- Deal terms
- Using BizBuySell for digital businesses
- Centurica
- How he's growing Patients4you
- Slow feedback loop of local lead gen businesses
Reach Jaime at:
- jaimearias.com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Sam Turner is 3 acquisitions into a 5-year plan to buy HVAC businesses across the UK that together cash flow £6m/yr.
Topics in Sam's interview:
- How the businesses he buys are run and by whom
- Buying without the benefit of an SBA loan
- Why HVAC?
- Why buying small business is more appealing than real estate
- Harbour Club with Jeremy Harbour
- The value in acquiring businesses in a highly-fragmented industry
- Deal structure for his first acquisition
- Sam's goal for revenue/EBITDA/multiple and his own wealth
- Buying small vs. buying big
- Buying an HVAC with mostly new construction vs. maintenance revenue
- White collar people buying blue collar businesses
Reach Sam at:
- sam DOT turner AT advantos DOT com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Kevin Swenson shares his story of buying a $3m real estate appraisal firm as a platform to roll up the fragmented space.
Topics from Kevin's interview:
- Why the real estate appraisal industry?
- How to add value as the entrepreneur doing a roll-up
- Roll-up dynamics
- Appraisal businesses vs. appraisal management companies
- Story of his acquisition, the platform business
- The "Your Sure Thing" philosophy
- Buying in an industry where you DON'T have experience
- The nature of real estate service businesses
- How to mitigate risk when buying a real estate service business
- Acquisition opportunities in real estate services beyond appraisal
- How it's going since the real estate market slowed
- Pivoting a roll-up strategy to react to the market
Reach Kevin at:
- @KevinWSwensonJr
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Ramon Van Meer bought an ecommerce business doing $30k/mo. A few tweaks & months later, it was up to $400k per month.
Topics in Ramon's interview:
- What to look for in an underperforming ecommerce business
- How to quickly improve an ecommerce business
- The effect of turning on paid advertising
- The true nature of running an ecommerce business
- The power of niches
- User experience buying a digital business versus an offline business
- Who should buy versus build
- How to make money in content
- Growing a content site from scratch to a $9m sale in 2.5 years
- The dangerous temptation of buying too many businesses
- Buying a YouTube channel
- Decline of a YouTube channel business immediately after acquiring it
- SBA loan for a YouTube channel acquisition
- Buying a SaaS business
Reach Roman at:
- @ramonvanmeer
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Alpha Paw
- Ramon's viral Twitter thread: selling $35m of dog ramps
Jason Cline left corporate at age 50 to buy a flower distribution business (in cash). SDE is up 3x after just one year.
Topics in Jason's interview:
- Pivoting from 20+ years in corporate to SMB ownership
- 3 criteria for what business to buy
- Buying a business in cash (no SBA loan)
- The business of flower distribution
- Selling to big retailers like 7-Eleven & Circle K
- How to detect growth potential in a distribution business
- 2 ways to retain drivers in distribution/route businesses
- Distribution businesses are really car businesses
- Scan-based trading
- 2 key techniques Jason used to transition successfully into the business
- Working "in" the business for the first 6 months
- Testing changes
- The numbers behind flower distribution
- Ideal size of SDE for target business
- What's more important than SDE
- Jason's growth since acquisition and plans for expansion
Reach Jason at:
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Jordan Carter started as a part-time, generalist searcher. 3+ years later, he bought a biz doing $2.4m with 40% margins.
Topics in Jordan's interview:
- Part-time vs. full-time searching
- Consulting in order to generate income while searching
- Misconceptions about how easy it is to find a business to buy
- How much cash Jordan saved for his self-funded search
- Generalist vs. industry-specific search
- Using interns for search
- Value of speaking with owners (even if they don't want to sell)
- Optimal percentage of time to devote to deal sourcing
- Accessing equity capital
- Adding value to a super niche business you're completely new to
- Growing a business 40% in 2 years after acquisition
- Buying a grant-writing business
- The pain of losing an LOI
Reach Jordan at:
- @jordanpcarter
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- B&A Grant Services & Software
- Search Investment Group
- Episode 41, featuring Jordan and partner Robert Graham at SIG: The Argument for Self-Funded Search
A deep-dive into the market for SaaS businesses with Thomas Smale, founder of leading SaaS brokerage FE International.
Topics in Thomas's interview:
- Pros & cons of SaaS
- SaaS valuations
- SaaS vs. ecommerce
- Competing with private equity for SaaS deals
- Using an SBA loan to buy a SaaS business
- Micro-SaaS
- First-time buyers doing a career pivot by acquiring a business
- Most common mistake among first-time buyers
- Passive nature of online businesses
- SaaS products unlikely to go zero?
- Acquisition strategy: converting on-premise software to cloud
- Proprietary outreach to find SaaS sellers
- How economic climate is affecting SaaS valuations & multiples
- Ecommerce valuations & multiples
- Young ecommerce businesses - dangerous?
- Advice for first-timer buyers
Reach Thomas at:
- @ThomasSmale
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- FE International
Kinza Azmat arrived in the US at age 6, speaking little English. Today she's the new owner of a thriving RE brokerage.
Topics from Kinza's interview:
- Becoming a business broker to learn acquisition & access deal flow
- Thinking that finding a business to buy would be easy
- How business brokerages generate deal flow
- Financial & location criteria of her search
- Unlocking deal flow by expanding geographic criteria
- Dealing with gender, racial, and other biases in sellers
- Tying seller note to business performance
- The business of apartment locators
- Competitive moats for apartment locators
- Rebranding
- Small business owner life vs. corporate cog life
- Getting your spouse on board
- Pregnant as a new owner
- Type D and Type F reorganization
- Following (and breaking) the Asian-American pattern
- America as land of opportunity
Reach Kinza at:
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- WTA Realty
Lisa Forrest shares key findings from a survey of 49 entrepreneurs who bought a business after a self-funded search.
The findings discussed were based on these questions:
- How did you find your deal?
- Did you conduct a full-time search?
- How long did you search before you found the deal you closed on?
- Do you think your acquisition price valuation was fair?
- How long did it take you to discuss valuation with the seller?
- Did you have a competitive deal process where multiple buyers were vying for the LOI?
- What do you think the critical success factors were in sourcing and closing your deal?
- Did you go up or down market compared to your original expectations?
Reach Lisa at:
- lisa DOT forrest AT liveoak DOT bank
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- The report will be published at Live Oak Bank's search fund resources page... but not for 2 weeks.
- If you can't wait, email Lisa at the address above👆 and she'll get you the raw data now.
Seasonal. Nonrecurring. Key person risk. Trish Higgins recounts how Chenmark got excited about an unlikely acquisition.
Topics in Trish's interview:
- Building a holdco versus taking a job in private equity
- What Chenmark does, why it's special
- Chenmark's founders' goals: impact, interestingness, financial
- Why isn't the holdco model taught in business schools?
- The story of Cap'n Fish Cruises
- Unit economics of a boat tour business
- Is seasonality really so bad?
- Managing seasonality
- Are boat tour businesses attractive generally?
- Finding differentiation in a crowded industry
- Bait & tackle shop framework
- Chenmark's second boat tour acquisition
- How Chenmark approaches learning an industry where they've acquired a business
Reach Trish at:
- trish AT chenmark DOT com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Cap'n Fish's Cruises
- Subscribe to Chenmark's Weekly Thoughts
- Episode 55, featuring the other Chenmark co-founders: 7 Years Later: Leaving Wall Street to Buy Small Businesses
- Episode 64, featuring Trish: How & When to Make Changes at Your Acquisition
Ujwal Velagapudi acquired a multimillion dollar vending empire with thousands of machines & 7 figures of cash flow.
Themes from Ujwal's interview:
- Big vending businesses vs. small
- Building a big vending business by acquiring small routes
- Economics of vending
- Logistics of vending
- Tiny acquisitions to build confidence & experience
- Differentiating yourself as a buyer on MicroAcquire
- Using phantom equity to hire general manager
- Benefiting from OnlyFans growth
- Working with a dishonest seller
- Buying an online business
- Buying an FBA business
- Buying a small gym
- Buying a historic neighborhood sports bar
- Buying downmarket commercial real estate
- Using Craigslist for acquisition of businesses & real estate
Reach Ujwal at:
- @UjwalVelagapudi
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
- The Acquisition Lab
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Byron
A lender and a searcher explain how to quickly identify a business you should NOT buy, saving you months of wasted time.
Themes from Ryan & Heather's interview:
- Killer #1: Valuation
- Killer #2: Stupid Margins
- Killer #3: Going Too Small
- Killer #4: Bolt-on vs. Platform
- Killer #5: Competing with Private Equity
- Killer #6: Geography
- Killer #7: Red Flags
- Killer #8: Needs to Support Leverage
Links & mentions:
- 15 Time Killers in SMB Search - full document from Live Oak
- All of Live Oak Bank's search fund resources
Reach Ryan at:
- @smbquest
Reach Heather at:
- @EndresenHeather
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Alex Michael bought a wallet brand doing $650k on Amazon. Alex delves into how FBA works & what the growth levers are.
Themes from Alex's interview:
- Why ecommerce?
- Difficulty competing to buy an ecommerce business
- Process of a ecommerce acquisition with a Quiet Light listing
- Anatomy of the first call with a seller
- How to be a good buyer
- What to say to a seller in a competitive environment
- Diligencing an ecommerce business
- Cost breakdown of an FBA business
- Supply chain risk in ecommerce
- Promoting an FBA business on Amazon
- Amazon's PPC flywheel
- ACoS and TACoS
- Daily ad spend, net margins, revenue, SDE
- Platform risk with FBA businesses
- Adding a Shopify store to diversify distribution
Reach Alex at:
**** Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Wallaroo Wallets
- Centurica
- Quiet Light
- Stephen Speer and eCommerce Lending
Multiples for ecom businesses jumped 50% since 2018, but Quiet Light's Joe Valley says that trend is about to reverse.
Themes from Joe's interview:
- The ecommerce buying mania of 2021
- 2 pieces of advice for acquisition entrepreneurs looking at ecommerce
- How ecommerce multiples will change
- How ecommerce deal terms will change
- Seller financing in ecommerce
- Future of the ecommerce aggregators
- History of the ecommerce aggregators
Reach Joe at:
- joe at quiet light dot com
**** Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Download Joe's book The Exitpreneur's Playbook
- Subscribe to Quiet Light listings
- Subscribe to new listing alerts from Centurica
- Thrasio
- Carlos Cashman of Thrasio
- Profound Commerce
- Syed Balkhi
- Ramon Van Meer
- Walker Deibel
How James Maxwell & his partner found a 22-year-old janitorial biz & successfully installed a GM in a city of 100,000.
Themes from James' interview:
- Searching in a small market
- Choosing NOT to outsource due diligence
- Janitorial business pros & cons
- Partnered search
- What deal flow looks like in a 100k city
- Hiring a general manager
- Does an MBA help with buying a business?
- Why self-funded over traditional?
Reach James at:
- jmaxwell 814 @ gmail dot com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Business broker Clint Fiore explains how to most effectively work with brokers to find good businesses to buy.
Themes from Clint's interview:
- Brokers' pet peeves about acquisition entrepreneurs...
- ...and how to avoid them
- Most important thing you communicate to a broker
- Life cycle of a business for sale
- Searcher branding
- The reality of the "silver tsunami"
- Seller psychology
- The master skill right now for buying businesses
Reach Clint at:
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Clint's newsletter, Probably a Good Deal
- Texas Business Buyers
Alex Mears draws on years of experience at Carlyle & Blackstone to support and invest in searchers (70 & counting).
Themes from Alex's interview:
- The most valuable businesses of all
- Attractiveness (or not) of home service businesses
- Seller integrity
- When to require speaking with key employees
- Thesis-driven search
- Search accelerators
- New accelerator The Brydon Group
- Alex's pivot to entrepreneurship: why now?
Reach Alex at:
- alexander dot mears @ brydon dot com
- The Brydon Group
- Apply to the first cohort here (deadline: June 15th)
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Steve Ressler
- George Dutile
- Alex's session on Searchfunder: Tutorial: Live Modeling an Example Self-Funded Deal & Key Factors Involved
- Alex's session on Searchfunder: Modeling for Traditional Search Deals - Intro to Building Financial Models
Jason Andrews paid $250k to a buy-side advisor to help find & acquire his first business — and would 100% do it again.
Themes from Jason's interview:
- Paying a premium for a good business
- Working with a buy-side advisor: price, value, what they do
- Speaking to 30 sellers
- Buying a business in your 40s
- Taking a big swing
- Where he invested his time during due diligence
- Whether he was "buying a job"
- The consulting agreement he structured with the previous owners
- Buying big or buying small
- Going from corporate to small business
- Pros & cons of group purchasing organizations (GPOs)
Reach Jason at:
- @Jandrews707
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Register here for the live session with Chelsea Wood of the Acquisition Lab:
- What size of business should you buy?
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- The DVS Group
Chelsea Wood has worked with 250+ business buyers & identifies 7 challenges that commonly interfere with their success.
Themes from Chelsea's interview:
- The irrational need to be an expert on every part of your acquisition
- Incessant need for more, more, MORE information
- Good ol' imposter syndrome
- You don't brand yourself
- You're too rigid
- You're too loose, get desperate
- You don't put in the effort for deal flow
Reach Chelsea at:
- chelsea at buythenbuild dot com
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
- Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Apply to the Acquisition Lab
- Buy Then Build Facebook group
How Chris Munn runs his first acquisition, a $800k cleaning business in Tampa, while being based in LA.
Themes from Chris’s interview:
- Real estate vs. small business acquisition
- The importance of getting reps — modeling deals as practice for the real thing
- Running an acquired business remotely
- Buying a business that’s too small
- Being an African-American man and dealing with “pattern matching” from banks
- How Chris gained 30k followers in six months
Reach Chris at:
- On LinkedIn: Chris Munn
- On Twitter: Chris Munn
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Buy Then Build
- HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
Ex-cop John Hubbard bought a $5m trailer manufacturing biz from an absentee owner & expects to grow to $12m by 2024.
Themes from John’s interview:
- Learning how to run a business, hands-on, before acquiring one
- Transferring military skills to business acquisition
- Raising money on Searchfunder.com
- Asking “dumb questions” to learn quickly
- Choosing self-funded over a traditional search fund to achieve the lifestyle he wanted
- Firing half his customers in the first month of ownership
- Why your search shouldn’t ignore manufacturing businesses
Reach John at:
- By email: john at blue cord capital dot com
- On LinkedIn: John Hubbard
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Express Custom Trailers
- Blue Cord Capital
- Sam Rosati on Twitter
- Searchfunder
Digital business buyer Dom Wells shares where he looks for opportunities today in the shifting sands of online business.
Themes from Dom's interview:
- Affiliate, e-commerce, and SaaS businesses and each one's pros/cons
- Online course and content businesses
- Where Dom sees opportunities in digital acquisition
- How to source deals
- Leading brokerages of digital businesses
- Flippa & MicroAcquire
- How to approach the digital space as an outsider
Connect with Dom:
- Twitter: @DomWellsOnfolio
- LinkedIn: Dominic Wells
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Empire Flippers
- FE International
- QuietLight
- MicroAquire
- Flippa
- Onfolio's S-1
Mike Loftus started his landscaping business from scratch, then began buying others to accelerate growth to $4m/yr.
Themes from Mike’s interview:
- Growing a landscaping business organically from the ground up
- Acknowledging your weaknesses and handing them off as soon as you can
- The advantages familiarity with technology bring despite a lack of experience
- Finding acquisition opportunities through unconventional methods
- The importance of recurring revenue in landscaping
- The potential exit opportunities for landscaping owners
Connect with Mike:
- Twitter: @signthefronts
- LinkedIn: Michael Loftus
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Connor's Landscape
- Building a Blue Collar Empire: Adrian Pinto on Acquiring Minds
- 7 Years Later: Leaving Wall Street to Buy Small Businesses with Chenmark founders James & Palmer Higgins, on Acquiring Minds
- How to Buy Landscaping Businesses: Mike Botkin's second appearance on Acquiring Minds
- How to Buy a Landscaping Biz & Boost Profits Quick: Mike Botkin's first appearance on Acquiring Minds
- John Wilson on Twitter
- Mills Snell on Twitter
Lively debate between Greg Geronemus & Robert Graham about the 2 most common models searchers use to acquire a business.
Covered in the debate:
- Quick definitions of each model
- How the economics differ
- Why are traditional search fund terms so fixed?
- CEO vs. Owner
- Accountability, governance, boards, mentoring
- Flexibility & optionality
- Relative risk of both models
- Probability of close
- Probability of success
- Assembling the board as a self-funded searcher
- Is either model preferable for particular industry targets?
- Who is your model not for?
Connect with the debaters on LinkedIn:
- Robert Graham
- Greg Geronemus
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Stanford's 2020 Search Fund Study
- Robert's investment firm SIG
- Greg's investment firm Footbridge Partners
How Keith Leimbach paid 6 figures for a business he saw on QuietLight, then exited for 8 figures two years later.
Register for live episode here: https://bit.ly/3r6P1bD
Themes from Keith’s interview:
- The difference between buying and starting a business
- It’s never “just add marketing,” even when it seems like it is
- Growth by creating new products that customers are telling you they want
- Not being afraid to outsource or delegate
- Why Amazon FBA businesses aren’t for everyone
- The Smash My Trash franchise
- Building laundromats from scratch
- Keith’s near-death plane crash
Connect with Keith:
- On LinkedIn: Keith Leimbach
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- QuietLight
- Empire Flippers
- Website Closers
- Transworld Business Advisors
- Smash My Trash
Due diligence expert Elliott Holland looks at industry & owner/seller risk, and exactly what you can do to address them.
Register for live episode here: https://bit.ly/3NGoSKa
How to reach Elliott:
- Guardian Due Diligence
After big success with affiliate marketing online, @Gundwolf sought to acquire & build a more durable business.
Register for live episode here: https://bit.ly/3tXHIEH
Themes from @Gundwolf’s interview:
- Appeal of durable offline businesses vs. online marketing businesses
- Getting up at 4am to work 4 hours before going to day job
- Achieving success in the affiliate marketing world
- @Gundwolf’s personal philosophy of goals
- Not being taken seriously as a 24-year-old
- Protracted acquisition process
- The importance of the buyer-seller relationship
- Earning credibility among blue-collar crews
- Challenges when both buyer & seller are doing their first acquisition
Reach @Gundwolf at:
- On Twitter: @gundwolf
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Nathan Lenahan acquired an HVAC company with ~$1.2m in revenue for $400k. He's aiming to double sales in 2022 to $2.72m.
Themes from Nathan’s interview:
- The appeal of HVAC over other businesses in the trades
- All the numbers behind Nathan's acquisition
- Benefits of “buying small” in the SMB acquisition world
- High professional satisfaction for skilled trades
- Acquiring an HVAC business without industry knowledge
- The importance of first-rate customer care
- Leveraging multiple acquisitions to create a platform for easier home ownership
Reach Nathan Lenahan at:
- On Twitter: @n8lenahan
- Bart's Heating & Air
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
This is the rebroadcast of a panel that Acquiring Minds recently moderated at the annual ETA Summit at MIT.
MIT's panel description:
"First do no harm, then pull on the growth levers." Should you wait to make changes? Or take every opportunity you see? How and when should you make changes to your team or to your organizations that will help you get the most out of your organization?
Speakers:
- Trish Higgins - Partner, Chenmark Holdings; CEO, Cap’n Fish Holdings. Trish Higgins is a founding partner at Chenmark Holdings, a Portland, Maine based firm focused on the acquisition and long-term ownership of small businesses throughout North America. Outside of work, Trish can be found spending quality time with her husband and business partner, James, and their two kids.
- Markus Scott - CEO, EyeQ Monitoring.Markus Scott is currently the CEO of EyeQ Monitoring, an AI-enabled surveillance and business intelligence technology company located in Atlanta, GA. He acquired the business in 2015 after raising a search fund at Kellogg in 2013. Prior to Kellogg, he worked in middle market private equity and played football at the University of Florida. He is married with two small kids, Ava (8) and AJ (7), and enjoys coaching, spearfishing and bourbon in his downtime.
- Kush Das - CEO, Ennoble Care. Former healthcare consultant, healthcare lawyer, and EMS provider with value-based and community-based care experience. Kush acquired Ennoble Care in 2021.
Having witnessed the power of clean books, Patrick Dichter was driven to buy a $1.2m bookkeeping & accounting business.
Themes from Patrick’s interview:
- The appeal of bookkeeping for acquisition entrepreneurs
- Seeing the power of clean books to transform a small business
- Messaging used to reach out to owners of accounting & bookkeeping firms
- Definition of bookkeeping vs. accounting
- What it’s like to acquire a bookkeeping business when you’re not a CPA
- Industry- and geography-specific search
- Building a proprietary search funnel
Reach Patrick Dichter at:
- On Twitter: @patrickdichter
- Appletree Business Services
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Links & mentions:
- Cassi Niekamp on Acquiring Minds: Buying a $1.2m Fencing Business & Earning Trust Quickly
- Casey Clark on Acquiring Minds: What to Acquire: 3 Hot Sectors for Business Buyers
- RevLocal
- Cultivate Advisors
- Professional Association of Small Business Accountants (PASBA)
- Chris Williams on Acquiring Minds: Stay Open to the Many Flavors of Search
George Vallone unpacks how he used cold outreach to find an off-market cleaning biz doing $1m and buy it for 2x EBITDA.
Themes from George’s interview:
- Prioritizing recurring revenue in the search criteria
- The importance of messaging when approaching business owners
- Using a funnel approach in the search
- The differences between residential cleaning and commercial cleaning
- The economics of apartment turnover
- Using customer service as a marketing tool
- Getting a good deal by betting big
- How to avoid cash flow crunch during transition
Reach George at:
- george at george vallone dot com
- Nuveldy’s Apartment Turnover Services
Before embarking on his search, Alex Glasner interviewed 50 searchers & uncovered 2 key attitudes necessary for success.
Themes from Alex’s interview:
- Wanting to run a business, but not knowing where to start
- Learning from people whose searches failed
- The importance of moving quickly with sellers
- Buying a mission and not just a job
- The value of being decisive in a search
- Merging proprietary and brokered search styles
- Pausing to understand the business before making another acquisition
Reach Alex at:
- alex at workpays dot co dot uk
Looking to buy a part-time online biz as he neared retirement, Dave Bramlett found it in a resume service doing $1.5m.
Themes from Dave's interview:
- Making a career of buying small businesses
- Buying a functioning business allows for immediate cash flow
- Finding businesses on BizBuySell
- Bring in the experts for due diligence
- Maintaining a positive relationship with the seller
- Know your strengths as a buyer
- Always be open to new businesses for sale
Reach Dave at:
- dave at resume writing group dot com
Brandon Adams bought a $850k EBITDA ice delivery company only to discover he'd be doing deliveries himself for 6 months.
Themes from Brandon's interview:
- Doing a local proprietary search
- Identifying brokers you can trust
- Managing purchase price after an anomalous year
- The silver lining of a due diligence oversight
- Being a great leader as a new owner
- The appeal of owning businesses in various industries
Reach Brandon at:
- brandon at k4inv dot com
Damon Chlarson had 3 key criteria, and he found them in an insulation supplier doing $380k EBITDA and selling for $1.1m.
Themes from Damon’s interview:
- Defining your acquisition criteria
- Finding your niche in the market
- Imagining yourself doing the job before buying the business
- Tapping into people’s talents
- Mental health and business success
- Finding opportunities in times of crisis
- Looking back and growing ambition
Reach Damon at:
- @LumberyardDamon
Frustrated after losing 3 jobs, Bruce Vann used savings to acquire a 25-employee, 7-figure curtain manufacturer for 2x.
Themes from Bruce’s interview:
- Paying 2x for a growing 70-year-old business
- Buying a business to pull out of a career rut
- Why finding a business is like a full court shot
- The need for persistence
- Abandoning a proprietary search because of seller overvaluations
- Chasing down leads and not becoming complacent
- The importance of documenting business processes in case of sudden staff departures
- Dealing with uneasy staff during the transition period
- The experience of acquiring a business as a Black man in the U.S.
Reach Bruce at:
- bvann at luxout dot com
After seeing 9-figure businesses built through acquisition, Adrian Pinto bought a landscaping biz to build one himself.
Themes from Adrian’s interview:
- Buying a $3-5M landscaping business with 15-20% margins
- Paying 3x, but rapid growth making it more like 2x
- What a buy-side advisor is and when it might make sense to work with one
- How COVID helped his search process
- Why doing his own search was less stressful than a traditional search would have been
- The excitement versus the reality of acquiring bolt-ons to your platform business
- Beginning with the idea of building a strong base for future growth (chassis concept)
- Waiting & observing for months before introducing changes to company processes
Reach Adrian at:
- adrian at georgia scapes dot com
- @Adrian_Pinto2
The 3 founders of Chenmark left promising corporate careers to pursue a multi-decade path of acquiring small businesses.
Themes from the interview with James & Palmer Higgins:
- Why the Chenmark founders decided to do this
- Lessons learned from 30+ acquisitions
- How the founding thesis is performing 7 years in
- The value of an "extreme delayed gratification muscle"
- Intellectual stimulation in corporate life vs. small business
- Buying big vs. buying small
- How has competition in search evolved over the last 5 years
- Chenmark’s diversification strategy
Other recommend podcasts where Chenmark has appeared:
- Invest Like the Best: Trish and James Higgins of Chenmark Capital - Permanent Equity
- Think Like An Owner: Trish Higgins, Chenmark Capital
- Think Like An Owner: Trish Higgins – Chenmark Five Years Later
- Think Like An Owner: Palmer Higgins – Moving to the Operating Side – Ep. 43
- Think Like An Owner: Palmer Higgins – Removing Sales Roles at Mainely Grass – Ep. 61
- The Commercial Landscaper: James Higgins - Reinforcing Areas to Create a More Scalable Platform
- The ThriveTime Show: What’s Your Business Worth? Buying Small and Mid-sized Businesses with Chenmark Capital
Subscribe to: Chenmark’s Weekly Thoughts.
With 4 acquisitions since starting in 2018, Justin Turner explains how his team is building a permanent equity holdco.
Themes from Justin’s interview:
- The appeal of holding on to companies for a longer period
- Why buying a $4-5M business might be easier than buying a $1M one
- Letting the seller relationship develop naturally
- Why paving companies make great acquisitions
- Waiting to finalize the equity until after the deal is in hand
- Setting acquisitions up in a holdco structure
Reach Justin at:
- j turner at traction cp dot com
@Fundof1 was searching for a business in a tight geography, and found a great fit in a $760k appliance repair company.
Themes from John’s interview:
- Buying a $760k appliance repair company
- How to balance very specific search criteria
- Choosing a steady industry
- Walking into a business with an established sense of community
- Deciding between using investors or not
- Focusing on improving the business rather than day-to-day operations
- Remembering to have fun
- Building trust with employees who don’t work in the office
Reach John at:
- @Fundof1
Knowing zero about manufacturing, Josh Paulson found purpose when he bought a small & struggling producer of pet cages.
Themes from Josh's interview:
- Owning the business saved his life
- What manufacturing is like
- Firing all but 1 employee (who spoke little English)
- Reducing the product line from 2000 SKUs
- Rebuilding a business with limited resources
Reach Josh at:
- Quality Cage
Devin Wanzor went from a corporate gig with 50 employees to buying a $3M liquor store and playing golf 3 times a week.
Themes from Devin's interview:
- What makes Devin's liquor store so profitable
- The major risk involved in acquiring a liquor store
- The self-image shift from corporate manager to liquor store owner
- Boosting revenue with an easy price cleanup
- Maintaining a 15-hour workweek
Reach Devin at:
- @DevinWanzor
Mike Curry bought a business only to struggle for years as its new CEO. He shares the lessons that unlocked 2x growth.
Themes from Mike’s interview:
- Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) isn’t just for MBAs
- Buying a business is art and science
- The perks of the traditional search fund model
- Building a strong community of fellow entrepreneurs
- Becoming CEO of an established company
- Earning your employees’ trust
- The need for diverse business leaders
Reach Mike at:
- mcurry at apex physics dot com
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- It's All Your Fault: How to Become CEO of Your Acquisition
JD Klein bought a print shop for $100k, thinking such a small acquisition carried little risk. The opposite was true.
Themes from JD's interview:
- Running a strong-growth, low-margin business
- Selling your house to make ends meet
- Why very small businesses come with higher risk
- Acquirers should hire a financial planner
- Pivoting your strategy when uncontrollable roadblocks emerge
- Pros & cons of the printing industry for acquirers
- Personal victories vs. financial victories
Reach JD at:
- @jdklein33
Geoff Oliver bought 2 laundromats in rural Texas. He shares his numbers & what to consider when acquiring a laundromat.
Themes from Geoff's interview:
- How working as an SBA lender lit a fire for acquisitions
- Looking for a real estate investment and finding a great business instead
- What makes laundromats competitive
- Self service vs. full serve
- Why quality of laundromat equipment can matter more than earnings
- Understanding your customers’ preferences before making changes
- The growth potential of asset-heavy businesses
- The appeal of “zombiemats”
- How to hire a manager for your laundromat
Reach Geoff at:
- @GeoffOliverATX on Twitter
Harvard's acquisition entrepreneurship conference took place last week. Organizer Michael Ledecky shares 5 takeaways.
Themes from Michael's interview:
- Buy a good business in a great industry
- 4+1 Model for searching
- 3 industries for acquisition entrepreneurs to consider
- Mental health in search
- Women in search
- Thai Lee, acquisition entrepreneur who became a billionaire
- Diversifying paths of search
- Predictions for search in 2022 & 2023
Tons of names & resources cited in this episode. Here they all are:
- Michael Ledecky
- 2021 ETA Conference
- Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Club at HBS
- The book that inspired Michael, HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company
- The authors and HBS professors: Royce G. Yudkoff & Richard S. Ruback
- Pacific Lake, and partners Coley Andrews & Jim Southern
- The 4 + 1 Industry Search Framework by Pacific Lake
- Steve Divitkos' episode on Acquiring Minds, From Search Misery to Successful CEO
- Paul Thompson's Search Fund Manifesto
- Andrew Mondi
- Thai Lee
- Jim Sharpe's blog
- Trish Higgins of Chenmark
- Andrew Saltoun
- Search Fund Accelerator (SFA)
- Broadtree Partners
- Irv Grousbeck, developer of the traditional search model
Having searched, acquired, and exited a business himself starting back in 2007, today Mark Sinatra invests in searchers.
Themes from Mark's interview:
- Running a traditional search fund
- How search has changed over the last 15 years
- The challenge of staying optimistic during a traditional search
- The capacity of small and mid-sized companies to absorb change
- Client management during a recession
- Dealing with clients’ attachment to familiar processes
- What a search investor looks for in searchers
- Importance of bringing a deal to investors sooner than later
Reach Mark at:
- mark [at] etaequity dot com
Casey Clark talks hot industries, identifying growth potential in a business for sale, and avoiding common SMB pitfalls.
Themes from Casey's interview:
- Choosing the right industry for you
- 3 hot industries for acquisition
- Acquisition opportunity checklist
- How to convince a seller to let you speak with management
- The “propeller” methodology
- 3 common traps for small business owners
Reach Casey at:
Resisting at first, Mark Litton eventually realized that buying the family biz was the perfect path to entrepreneurship.
Themes from Mark's interview:
- Buying a business from a family member
- Redefining “real” entrepreneurship
- Structuring a deal with 100% financing
- Understanding the business’s numbers before you buy
- Getting through struggles in your first year
- Recession-proofing your business
- Free resources for aspiring acquisition entrepreneurs
Reach Mark at:
- mark at howard medical dot com
- Howard Medical Company
Learn how to find a lawyer for your deal, how much you'll spend, what to look for, and how to avoid suing the seller.
Themes from the interview with @SMB_Attorney:
- Absolutely necessary: a good lawyer
- What to look for
- References? Reviews? Hmm, difficult
- What you'll pay
- Don’t be afraid to negotiate price
- Do they need to be in the same location as your deal?
- You don’t want to sue
- Indemnification: Get familiar with it
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Hire an Attorney for Your Acquisition
A husband & wife bought a therapy practice for $120k, almost dumped it, then grew it for 8 years when PE came knocking.
Themes from Neil's interview:
- Growing a mental health practice from $615k/year to $2M.
- How working in your acquired business (not on it) can save you
- Owning a business with your spouse
- Equipment leasing as a solution to keeping overhead costs low
- To sue or not to sue (the seller, post-acquisition)
- Preferring businesses for sale rather than cold outreach to owners
- When to sell a fast-growing business
Reach Neil at:
- @neilsaidwhat
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a Therapy Practice & Selling for Millions
Jordan Carter & Robert Graham argue for self-funded search over traditional search funds or the "buy small" approach.
Themes from the interview with Jordan & Robert:
- Self-Funded Over Traditional
- Buy Bigger
- Turning $200k into $4M+
- How Much Money You'll Need
- Be Prepared to Move
- No Deal Experience? No Problem
- What Makes a Good Searcher
Reach Jordan & Robert on LinkedIn:
- Jordan Carter
- Robert Graham
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- The Argument for Self-Funded Search
Sarah Romer bought a large but tired hair salon in Austin for $80k. Her first year as owner was the hardest of her life.
Themes from Sarah's interview:
- The formula for estimating the value of a salon or beauty business
- What to do when sellers overestimate the worth of their company
- Where to cut costs after you’ve made an acquisition
- Underestimating the importance of company culture
- The stress of owning and managing a retail business
- The process of exiting a business you’ve acquired
Reach Sarah at:
- Sarah dot Romer at gmail dot com
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy a Salon as an Industry Outsider (and Survive)
Neil Granberry bought a bubble ball business to prove himself as an entrepreneur while pursuing an MBA at the same time.
Themes from Neil’s interview:
- The advantages of a small starter business as a first acquisition
- Looking past media hype that paints billionaire startup founders as the only entrepreneurs
- The value of a customer list
- The beauty of acquiring a small business that is already profitable
- Taking a hard look at a company’s books to negotiate a better sale price
- Delegating operations to trusted employees to better position yourself for a sale later on
Reach Neil at:
- @NeilGranberry
- Nashville Bubble Ball
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Starter Acquisition: Buying a $25k Business
Thanks to changing his search from traditional to self-funded, Chris Williams bought a $1m EBITDA bookkeeping business.
Themes from Chris's interview:
- Traditional versus alternative search fund models
- The advantages of self-funded search (if you can afford it)
- The appeal of bookkeeping businesses
- How to stand out to potential sellers who have heard it all before
- The first six months after acquisition
Reach Chris at:
- Chris [at] systemsix [dot] com
- System Six
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Stay Open to the Many Flavors of Search
Steve Divitkos shares tips from his acquisition, from the solitude of search to the delicate balance of being a new CEO.
Themes from Steve's interview:
- The full lifecycle of a traditional search
- The biggest myth about entrepreneurship
- Surviving the search process
- Why he bought Microdea
- Managing relationships with the sellers (the price of peace)
- What to do in your first two weeks as CEO
- Why you should diagnose before you prescribe
Reach Steve at:
- His blog & podcast In the Trenches
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- From Search Misery to Successful CEO
A podcast exposed Jason Budd to buying businesses. After 10 years in corporate, he'd found his path to entrepreneurship.
Themes from Jason's interview:
- How Jason found the right business with the help of a mentor and a podcast
- Due diligence when it comes to finances and staff
- Keeping your options open in case a sale falls through
- Technical understanding of your acquired business
- What the history of an established business can tell you
- Getting to know the stories of the people who will work for you
- Being the project manager of your own deal
Reach Jason at:
- Metasystems
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a 45 Year Old Software Business
Closing on his 2nd acquisition in 10 months, Mike Botkin just became Central Florida's largest landscaping business.
Themes from Mike's interview:
- Acquiring a second landscaping business
- Dropping customers to grow
- Developing a playbook for operating a landscaping business
- Treating your employees right
- Downsides of SBA loans and traditional search funds
- The invaluable resource of keeping the previous owner in the biz
- Viewing landscaping from a logistics perspective
- Why landscaping businesses are great acquisitions
Reach Mike at:
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy Landscaping Businesses
Jessica Markowitz used a traditional search fund to search for & ultimately buy a great business. But the road was long.
Themes from Jessica's interview:
- Acquiring a business through a traditional search fund
- Leveraging an army of interns to power the search
- Search fund partnership with a close friend
- Maintaining a good relationship with a business owner even after they decline you
- Running a legal services company without a law degree
Reach Jessica at:
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Anatomy of a Search: 40 Interns, 25 Months, 20 Offers
There are many lenders out there eager to finance your acquisition. SBA loan expert Lisa Forrest explains how to choose.
Themes from Lisa's interview:
- Working with lenders to secure an SBA loan
- Choosing the right lender for you
- How to prepare for your SBA loan conversation
- Getting an SBA loan for SaaS and eCommerce businesses
- How business owners can plan ahead for a cash crunch
- Why now is a great time for buyers
Reach Lisa at:
- lisa [dot] forrest [at] liveoak [dot] bank
- Live Oak Bank
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Choose Your Lender When Buying a Business
Shannon Jones explains how acquisition entrepreneurs should navigate the realities of buying a blue collar business.
Themes from Shannon's interview:
- Killing relations with a blue collar seller by being too "quant"
- Importance of vulnerability when negotiating
- How to know if a blue collar business is in an industry that’s right for you
- Managing blue collar employees and common pitfalls
- Transitioning as a new owner of a blue collar business
- When is the right time to make changes as a new owner?
Reach Shannon at:
- s jones [at] halstatt
- Halstatt Legacy Partners
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- The Poetry of Buying a Blue Collar Business
Due diligence expert Elliott Holland shares the top things he wishes he’d known when he first started buying businesses.
Themes from Elliott's interview:
- Started the due diligence firm he wished he’d had himself
- For LOIs, don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good
- Early information on an acquisition is +/- 40% correct (and that might be OK)
- The information you get post-LOI is what matters
- Don’t be surprised if the seller doesn’t trust you right away
Reach Elliott at:
- Guardian Due Diligence
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- What You Don’t Understand About Buying a Small Business
Nick Haschka shares what's changed in the market since acquiring his first small business in 2016. (Hint: it’s harder.)
Themes from Nick's interview:
- The rise and fall of the “silver tsunami”
- Private equity’s pivot from hands-off to getting dirty
- MBAs jump into the acquisition arena
- The labors of labor shortages
- Why B2C is beating B2B
- Saying yes to no-code
Reach Nick at:
- Cub Investments
- The Wright Gardner
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- 6 Ways Buying a Business Has Changed Since 2016
Less than a year after acquiring a $1m medical billing business, Curt Neider is already looking for his second deal.
Themes from Curt's interview:
- Buying a medical billing company doing ~$1 million/year
- The appeal of medical billing businesses
- Becoming a certified professional biller to understand the business
- How Curt immediately improved operations
- Separate line of credit for working capital (not rolled into SBA loan)
- Acquiring with a partner
- "Altruistic kicker" of buying a business that helps people
- Second acquisition less than a year after the first
Reach Curt at:
- Illuminate Billing Advocates
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy a Medical Billing Business
Key lessons for acquisition entrepreneurs from Andrew Finn, who has grown a service business & acquired SaaS businesses.
Themes from Andrew's interview:
- Opportunity in sub $1m EBITDA businesses
- SaaS vs. services business
- Grooming an operator to extract yourself from the business
- What makes a good SaaS acquisition
- Your acquisition journey — just start
- Jumping from labor to capital
- Capital Camp
Reach Andrew at:
- andrew at g64 ventures dot com
- G64 Ventures
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Investing Like an 1880s Businessman
Don't have the 10-20% cash to buy a business with SBA? Search investor Steve Ressler explains how to attract investors & structure the deal.
Themes from Steve's interview:
- The 4 flavors of search
- Choosing the right investors
- SBA loan math
- Raising the 10%
- Buying a business in an industry you don't know
- Setting investor expectations
- Common mistakes to avoid
Reach Steve at:
- sressler @ gmail
- @steveressler
- His newsletter, ETA Musings
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Using Investors to Buy a Business with SBA
Sales had dropped to zero when Martin Bispels acquired Upper Park Disc Golf. A year later, they are nearing $2 million.
Themes from Martin's interview:
- Buying a business on Flippa
- What Martin asks himself every day to be a good CEO
- Criteria used to identify a business to buy
- Hiring the seller of the business
- True cost of buying a business
- Making a detailed plan before acquiring the business
- Building a team before acquiring the business
Reach Martin at:
- martin at upper park disc golf
- Upper Park Disc Golf
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Growing a Flippa Business to $2 Million
Hard-won lessons about buying micro SaaS businesses from Andrew Pierno, who has acquired 3 and plans to buy many more.
Themes from Andrew's interview:
- Breakdown of the XO Capital portfolio
- How to source micro SaaS acquisitions
- Micro SaaS due diligence
- Paying for operators
- The appealing product roadmap of tiny software vs. large
- Bottlenecks of the tiny model
- Whether moving upmarket make sense
- Wins so far
- MicroAcquire & Flippa
Reach Andrew at:
- @AndrewPierno
- His blog at XO Capital
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Build a Portfolio of Micro SaaS Businesses
Pete Seligman stepped off a comfortable corporate path to buy a small business in 2013. He's since acquired 4 more.
Themes from Pete's interview:
- Why Pete exited the corporate track to acquire a company
- How risky is acquiring a business?
- Role of passion when deciding which business to buy
- Role of industry experience when deciding which business to buy
- How long it takes to succeed in acquisition entrepreneurship
- The type of person who should buy a company
Reach Pete at:
- His website
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Making a Career of Buying Businesses
After years of struggling to launch products from scratch, Casey Allen pivoted to buy a $1.7m coffee supplies business.
Themes from Casey's interview:
- Struggling for years to launch products from scratch
- The benefits of acquiring a company instead
- Buying an e-commerce business as COVID sales take off
- Buying a 24-year-old content site with 12 million annual visitors
- Content vs. e-commerce
- Advice for acquirers who have $10k, $50k, or $250k in cash to buy a business
Reach Casey at:
- His first acquisition, Barista Warrior
- His second acquisition, Interactive Mathematics
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a $1m Coffee Biz After Years of Starting from Scratch
Due diligence pro Ahmed Raza on the 3 key things to evaluate when buying a business in e-commerce, SaaS, or content.
Themes from Ahmed's interview:
- 3 things to evaluate in an e-commerce business you might buy
- 3 things to evaluate in a SaaS business you might buy
- 3 things to evaluate in a content/affiliate business you might buy
Reach Ahmed at:
- His firm, Rapid Diligence
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Top 3 Pitfalls When Buying an Online Business
Charles Barr just acquired DiMartino Plumbing. He considered HVAC & electrical as well but plumbing was the sweet spot.
Themes from Charles’ interview:
- Buying a small business as a path to wealth
- Why plumbing?
- Why he decided against HVAC & electrical
- Numbers on the business & his deal
- Why he’s getting his plumbing license
Reach Charles at:
- His acquisition, DiMartino Plumbing
- @CapitalistChuck
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Why Plumbing Companies Make Awesome Acquisitions
Vivian Chen bought an abandoned online business for almost nothing, then grew it to $5k/mo — while keeping her day job.
Themes from Vivian’s episode:
- Years of false starts before deciding to acquire
- Advice to side hustlers
- Parallels between buying an online business & real estate investing
- When to go full time
- Knowing yourself is key to your journey as an acquisition entrepreneur
- It takes longer than you expect...
- …so get started
Reach Vivian at:
- Modern Innkeeper
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying an Online Side Hustle (for Less than $5k)
Chris Edwards' first 6 months as new owner has been a “bloody knife fight.” But things are looking up, with the business projected to profit $750k this year.
Themes from Chris’s interview:
- Chris’s advice for new owners (be a shock absorber)
- What made Chris a competitive buyer
- Solo buyer vs. having a partner
- How to implement changes as a new owner (hint: slowly)
- High stress, high stress, high stress…less stress
- “The worst decision he’d ever made”?
Reach Chris at:
- @toph_edwards
- His flooring company, Affordable Flooring Warehouse
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Survive Acquiring a $3.5m Flooring Business
Brute Force thrived during COVID, but 2021 hit hard. Sales plunged 60% in one month. Mike Brown bought it to fix it.
Themes from Mike’s interview:
- Why Mike was "acquisition curious" and what made him pull the trigger
- Betting on yourself
- Unsexy local businesses vs. e-commerce
- How the iOS privacy updates are affecting e-commerce
- How Mike handled sales collapsing 60% from May to June
- Adversity making you -- or your business -- stronger (h/t Jocko Willink)
Reach Mike at:
- His e-commerce company, Brute Force
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Acquiring an $8m Distressed E-Commerce Biz
Cassi Niekamp didn't know anything about fencing when she acquired Bowden Fence. But she turned this to her advantage.
Themes from Cassi’s interview:
- Bringing a student’s mind to your acquisition
- Using vulnerability to earn trust
- Doubling production in 60 days
- Building rapport with the seller
- Buying the first business you see
Reach Cassi at:
- Her company, Bowden Fence
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a $1.2m Fencing Business & Earning Trust Quickly
Mike Gardon bought websites to be his own boss. His best acquisition does $100k/mo — and he bought it for 5 figures.
Themes from Mike’s interview:
- Why buying a website is better than building from scratch
- SEO & affiliate websites
- Opportunity for smaller buyers of affiliate sites
- Thinking about your websites like a financial portfolio
- The importance of a foundation business
Reach Mike at:
- His personal website, michaelgardon.com
- CareerCloud
- Bonus: Quotebook, a project of Mike's he can pursue thanks to the freedom provided by his business
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Making $100k/mo by Buying Websites
5 tactics to boost sales of acquired e-commerce businesses — and other insights from e-commerce aggregator TCM Digital.
Key themes from Golan's interview:
- There is still plenty of room for solopreneurs to made good e-commerce acquisitions.
- Prices of e-commerce businesses have gone up, but still good value there.
- 5 tactics TCM uses to quickly boost sales of the e-commerce businesses they acquire.
- TCM Digital is an e-commerce aggregator based in Tel Aviv that has acquired 28 e-commerce businesses to date.
Reach Golan Manor at:
- TCM Digital
- Hammock Sky and Lens Ball are two of the TCM brands mentioned in the interview.
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buy an E-Commerce Business: Tips from an Aggregator
How an outsider started with little money and bought 12 translation agencies in 6 years, aiming to reach €5m in revenue.
Key themes from Cédric's interview:
- Acquired a translation agency in 2015 that was doing about €1.5m annually.
- He had little of his own money at that time and took a large loan to make the acquisition happen.
- 6 years later, he's acquired 11 more agencies and is aiming to reach €5m in annual revenue by the end of 2021.
Reach Cédric Sigoire at:
- His translation agency, DEMAN Translations
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- €5m a Year by Acquiring Translation Agencies
With 6 e-commerce acquisitions and counting, Kelcey Lehrich has built 365 Holdings rapidly over the last 4 years.
Key themes from Kelcey's interview:
- E-commerce as a path for acquisition entrepreneurs
- Other businesses Kelcey likes for acquisition entrepreneurs
- Business-buyer fit
- Personal guarantees
Reach Kelcey Lehrich at:
- @kelceylehrich
- His e-commerce holding company, 365 Holdings
- The 365 EIR Program (+ great article on entrepreneurship through acquisition)
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Build an E-Commerce Acquisition Company
An early buyer on MicroAcquire, Spencer Scott acquired a SaaS for $280k. He analyzed the deal like a rental property.
Key points from Spencer's story:
- He wasn't looking seriously for an acquisition but saw an opportunity and grabbed it: Median.
- The tech is what impressed him most. He couldn't believe the product was a small indy SaaS built by a couple developers.
- Median was selling for about 4x revenue, which was $75k ARR.
- Spencer learned the hard way to include teeth in an acquisition letter of intent.
Reach Spencer Scott at:
- @AKASpencerScott
- Spencer's SaaS acquisition, Median.
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Acquiring a $280k SaaS on MicroAcquire
Dan Spracklin acquired a septic pumping business doing $1M annually, then grew it to $3M and margins to 30% in 2 years.
Key points from Dan's story:
- Gray Brothers was a septic pumping business founded in 1929, run by Dan Spracklin's father-in-law.
- It was generating about $1m per year in revenues from 22,000 customers. Septic pumping companies typically have margins of 10-15%.
- Dan & his wife added adjacent septic services to Gray Brothers and improved operations. Within 2 years, they'd pushed revenues to $3m and margins to 30-35%.
- Septic pumping is a great lifestyle business for existing owners: low customer churn, high barriers to entry, recession proof.
- It's difficult for entrepreneurs to start a new pumping businesses, so best to buy out a retiring owner if you can find one.
Reach Dan Spracklin at:
- @DanSpracklin
- Gray Brothers, his septic company
- SoMax Circular Solutions, the sewage conversion offshoot
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buy a Septic Business & Make $3m ARR
Two brothers took over a 110-year-old business in a stagnating industry. 7 acquisitions later, the future is bright.
Key points from Ben's story:
- Ben Grossman & his brother pivoted their 110-year-old family business from printing to promotional products.
- The strategy was executed by acquisition: 7 of them from 2013 through 2021.
- Ben discusses the importance of treating sellers well to build a list of happy sellers that he can show future sellers as a reference.
- He explains how he uses suppliers to source leads on potential acquisitions.
- He also explains how to effectively work with business brokers.
Reach Ben Grossman at:
- Follow Ben on Twitter at @bigrossman.
- He also maintains a personal website that lists all of Grossman Marketing Group's acquisitions at bengrossman.info.
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Pivoting to Swag in 7 Acquisitions
How an online entrepreneur teamed with a family office to acquire & grow a portfolio of 15 websites for over $2 million.
Key points from Paul's story:
- Paul Lemley teamed with a family office to source, acquire, and grow a portfolio of websites.
- They ultimately acquired 15 sites across 3 acquisitions, spending between $2 and $3 million in total.
- Paul highlights 5 lessons from this recent foray into the website deal world.
Reach Paul Lemley at:
- @palemley
- The flagship of his acquisition, RunnerClick.com
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- 5 Lessons from Acquiring a $2m Portfolio of Websites
Rick Schmitz was an inexperienced 22-year-old with no money when he acquired a run-down ski resort and turned it around.
Key points from Rick's story:
- Rick Schmitz was a 22-year-old graduating senior uninterested in pursuing a career in finance.
- He saw a small ski resort for sale in his native Wisconsin. It had been on the market (and losing money) for 5 years.
- Negotiated the original list price down from $1m to $625k.
- Most banks rejected him outright for a loan, but gradually he cobbled together the purchase price.
- 17 years later, Rick has acquired and operates 2 other resorts in the upper Midwest.
Reach Rick Schmitz at:
- His first acquisition, Nordic Mountain
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy a Ski Resort at Age 22
In just 9 months, Mike Botkin decided to acquire a business, negotiated a great deal, and dramatically improved profits.
Key points from Mike's story:
- B & B Landscaping was generating around $800k in annual revenues.
- Acquired it for 2x of SDE.
- Paid 50% cash up front, then the remaining 50% was seller financed with a 4-year loan at zero interest.
- Turns out a third of customer accounts are unprofitable, costing the business money & weighing down margins terribly. Money-losing customers are let go, and prices raised for many others.
- In 9 months, acquisition entrepreneur Mike Botkin has the idea to buy a small business, negotiates a great deal, learns the business, and boosts profits dramatically.
Reach Mike Botkin at:
- @MikeBotkin_
- His acquisition, B & B Landscaping
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy a Landscaping Biz & Boost Profits Quick
Nick Haschka left a Silicon Valley career and bought an office plant service in 2017, then acquired 9 more through 2021.
Key points from Nick's story:
- The Wright Gardner was doing $1-2m in annual revenue, with margins in the 20% range.
- Acquired the business in 2017 for ~3x of SDE.
- Used SBA for 65-70% of the purchase price, 15% seller financing, and cash for the rest.
- Four months after acquisition, SBA banker came to them with another indoor plant services business looking to sell. Acquired that business, plus 8 others since then.
- Acquired businesses average a couple hundred thousand dollars in annual revenue, though some as small as $100k. All asset purchases.
Reach Nick Haschka at:
- @nickhaschka
- His first acquisition, The Wright Gardner
- His community for entrepreneurially-minded SMB operators at https://operators.mn.co/.
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How One Small Acquisition Led to 9 More in 5 Years
How first-time acquirer Philippe Vanderhoydonck found a 30-year-old trade media business & bought it in under 3 months.
Reach Philippe Vanderhoydonck at:
- His acquisition, PETS International
Key points from Philippe's acquisition:
- PETS International is a 30-year-old trade publication that publishes 6 magazines and hosts 2 conferences per year
- Generates 20-35% margins on low-seven-figure revenues
- Opportunity is to expand online presence and product offering
- Acquired for low seven figures, a 3x multiple of annual earnings
- Acquisition went very quickly, only about 10 weeks
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Acquire Your First Business in 3 Months
How former management consultant Scott Whitt acquired and grew a small clinical trials business into the millions.
Key points from Scott's acquisition:
- Triad was generating $850k in revenues & large 70% margins
- Scott acquired it in 2015 for 3.5x earnings
- Used ROBS for part of the acquisition financing
- Grew revenues to $3m in 5 years
- Predicts business can grow to $6-7m
Reach Scott Whitt:
- scott_whitt@outlook.com
- His acquisition, Triad Clinical Trials
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a Clinical Trials Firm & Growing It to $3m
Tyler Deike bought a small manufacturer for the cost of property & equipment, making the business itself almost free.
Key points from Tyler's acquisition:
- Blackhawk Fiberwerx was doing $500k in sales with $100k in profit
- Seller was a retiring and overwhelmed 80-year-old
- Tyler couldn't due-diligence the deal to death — had to "cross fingers and dive in"
- Huge margin of safety. Business was selling for the combined value of its assets, so if business collapsed Tyler could recoup loan by selling assets.
- SBA wouldn't make a loan without soil testing the land, so Tyler got a loan from a small regional bank
Reach Tyler Deike:
- Tyler's acquisition, Blackhawk Fiberwerx
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Buying a Manufacturer for Just the Value of Assets
Mike Yarmo bought a struggling distributor & turned it into a local powerhouse in a different niche — then sold for 5x.
Key points from Mike's acquisition:
- Owner was disengaged, retiring, and looking to sell his food distribution company
- Company was 25 years old but had terrible margins
- Mike & team acquired for low 7 figures, or ~2x earnings
- Pivoted the company, grew aggressively over next few years
- Sold 5 years later for 5x earnings, and 5x original acquisition price
Reach Mike Yarmo:
- On Twitter: @michaelyarmo
- Subscribe to his newsletter
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- How to Buy a $2m Dying Business Then Sell It for 5X
How a 9-month search was rewarded by the discovery of 2 tiny e-commerce companies primed for growth.
Key points from Justin's acquisitions:
- Acquired first company for $160k, or about 3x earnings
- Generated $200k in revenues during first 6 months
- Represented more than a 3x year-over-year increase
- Acquired 2nd co with 100% seller financing
- Plans to 10x both cos value in 3 years
Reach Justin Harris:
Justin's two acquisitions:
- Walter & Rosie
- STACK Candles
Official episode page & full show notes at AcquiringMinds.co:
- Doubling Revenue 6 Months after Acquisition