Acquiring Minds

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 entrepr...

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...

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 t...

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” fro...

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 ac...

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 t...

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 u...

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 Probab...

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 N...

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 LinkedIn

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 @Gundw...

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 indus...

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: Tri...

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...

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 apartmen...

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 a...

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...

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 indu...

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...

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...

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 le...

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 corp...

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 equit...

@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...

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