Acquiring Minds

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 br...

Episode 100! To celebrate, 5 early guests come back to share how things are going at their acquisitions, 1 year later.  2:48 - Chris Edwards acquired a flooring business 18:15 - Philippe Vanderhoydonck, a B2B media business in the pets industry 35:49 - Cassi Niekamp, a fencing business 1:02:12 - Andrew Pierno is buying multiple small SaaS businesses 1:25:54 - Mike Botkin bought a small landscaping...

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...

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 behi...

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...

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...

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 pers...

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 busin...

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 wit...

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...

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 indus...

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...

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 b...

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...

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 Usi...

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...

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...

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 valuati...

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 ec...

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 ph...

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 &a...

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 Dil...

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...

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-funde...

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...