Let's Buy a Business

Michael Bereslavsky is the Founder and CEO of Domain Magnate. It has led him from solo ventures in building, promoting, and monetizing websites, to over a decade of buying and growing internet businesses and successfully completing over 300 deals. We dive into… — Specific deals on how he found off-market businesses for sale — Hair or red flags on a deal? Sometimes lean in… — Where you're first dea...

Shaylan Hurley texted me and said, I just quit my job and bought 2 companies…that will get your attention. We dive into mentors, finding deals, structuring deals, and how to stand out. Shaylan is also very good at attacking with full force his fear. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusiness.com/ https://forms.gle/RRcXpe3dK7pNGqv16 Connect...

Jayson Lowe left corporate Canada/America in 2008 and never looked back. This is a fun conversation around all things entrepreneurship, grit, and starting with the end in mind. We dive into… — Making the leap to entrepreneurship — Why Hiring Coaches and Mentors is crucial — Pressure is a Privilege — How to manage multiple companies at once You can learn more about Jayson below. Episode Resources C...

If you are looking at businesses for sale, you'll notice a lot of add-backs. Some will make sense and others won't. You need to educate yourself on how to dig through the data. In the end, the buyer needs to operate the business the same way the seller operates the business. "Owner add-backs are items that they claim you should not need to pay once the owner leaves the business" - Michell Baldrige...

Time and time again buyers evaluate businesses on a few main criteria. It's called the 4 Pillars of Value and it helps determine whether a business has a high multiple or lower multiple. 1. Risk Mitigation 2. Growth Prospects 3. Transferability 4. Documentation / Verifiability This is a framework from Quiet Light which I've linked to their blog below. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie htt...

Jim Oliver has quite the entrepreneurial journey. He owns 22 businesses. Yes, 22 businesses. Jim finds great talent and then overpays them. We spend most of our time on what is known as infinite banking. We dive into… - What infinite banking is - How it works to buy more cash flow producing assets - Cash Flow vs Savers You can follow Jim here at CreateTailwind.com and the Breakaway Wealth Podcast....

Jennifer Anderson is a listener of the podcast. She's super cool and has a traditional career but on the side has bought, built, and now SOLD an online business. Jennifer packs in the value and gold nuggets in this short episode. Episode Resources https://quietlight.com/ https://empireflippers.com/ https://feinternational.com/ https://www.bizbuysell.com/ https://flippa.com/ http://webequityshow.co...

Matt Putra is an eCommerce expert and fractional CFO for eCommerce brands. He's built, bought, and consults for many eCom brands. We dive into… — Typical eCom Margins — eCom Must-Haves (Gross Margin, Email Lists, Areas for Improvement) — eCom Nice to Haves (VIP Groups, 30% Customer Retention, 3 to 1 customer lifetime value over acquisition costs Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://li...

David Barnett has been an owner, broker, buyer, seller, and everything in between. He's written a dozen books or so about buying and building companies. This is a fun conversation. We dive into questions such as… — Are small businesses a better investment than properties? — Is this a good business? — I've heard you can buy a business with zero down. Is that true? — Are there businesses I can buy w...

One of the most popular episodes of last year was Walker Deibel. I talk a lot about Walker Deibel, his book, and his courses. Now we have him live. Walker is a phenomenal entrepreneur and has seen incredible success through his acquisitions. He also sees 100's of businesses as a lead broker for QuietLight Brokerage. Walker talks about how to stand out as a buyer, why personal guarantees are requir...

Stephanie started in insurance and left the corporate world when asking for a raise and she was denied. She left and built an insurance agency which led to an exit 16 years later. Stephanie then sold her business after she realized the different ways the rich view money and started putting things to use therewith cash flow investing. We dive into… — Exiting her business of 16 years — Cash Flow ove...

The value you are creating in your job or business is either being multiplied by a small % or a large %. When you own equity in a business, for every widget you sell today, someone will pay you 3-20 widgets for that one depending on the multiple. The people I would want to switch career places with all have a few things in common: High Accountability Work on Interesting Businesses and Projects Own...

Elliott and I dive into a real deal that was for sale. Elliott has evaluated 1,000's of businesses and has lots of tools and tricks for due diligence on a business. We change the numbers on a percentage basis to keep things anonymous and this is not for sale anymore. What's fun here is that Elliott is more about where the business is today and the risks and I'm more about the growth opportunities...

Patrick, a long-time listener, we connect in San Diego and dive into 4 ways he can find unsexy difficult businesses. I toss in a bonus there too. 1. Where do the owners hang out? 2. CPA, Bookkeepers, Lawyers, Financial Planners 3. Owners know Owners. 4. Mailers Bonus - Suppliers...who supplies these unsexy businesses the raw goods? Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/...

Steve has invested in over 25 different search fund deals. That's a lot. He's also got an incredibly successful entrepreneurial background with multiple exits. We dive into… - Different Types of Search Funds with Pros / Cons - How Investors evaluate deals - Expected Returns for Searchers and Investors Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusin...

Cam and Sean sold their eCom business in May 2021 after 5 years. We dive into… - Why sell their perfectly good business - The selling process - What they learned about their business from selling Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusiness.com/ https://forms.gle/RRcXpe3dK7pNGqv16 Connect with Cameron and Sean https://www.linkedin.com/in/came...

2 Offline, 1 Online Business Listings I'm Looking at Right Now 1. https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/flight-training-center-for-sale/1859092/   2. https://feinternational.com/buy-a-website/19442-saas-recurring-subscription-data-backup-recovery-software-suite-215k-mrr   3. https://www.alpinebusinessbrokers.com/towing-business/   Episode Resources www.liveoakbank.com 10 Step Video serie...

Lisa is back with over 30 years of SBA lending experience. We dive into the From Searcher to CEO doc that Live Oak Bank just published. It's Part 1 but here are a few key points. — Key dependencies that are often overlooked in SMB — Where searchers mess up with working capital Episode Resources Searcher to CEO Guide Self Funded Searcher Lender Office Hours Call, Every Wednesday morning: Register h...

This is a podcast about buying business. I dive into how to stand out as a buyer to a broker. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusiness.com/ https://forms.gle/RRcXpe3dK7pNGqv16 Live Oak Bank is a seasoned SMB lender providing SBA and conventional financing for search funds, independent sponsors, private equity firms, and individuals lookin...

Jesse Safir throws down nuggets of gold here. This is a fun convo with someone who bought a business and doesn't paint the rosy picture. We dive into… - The issues with small businesses - Acquiring 9 months before COVID - Endless pivots to save his business over the past 2 years Check out ABGPrint.com for any of your printing needs. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in...

Sam started a business and then needed an operator as he realized that was not his skill set or his passion. Intersection of operators and capital Deal structures Why buy communities   Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusiness.com/ https://forms.gle/RRcXpe3dK7pNGqv16 Live Oak Bank is a seasoned SMB lender providing SBA and conventional fin...

John recently bought a micro SaaS company while keeping his day job. We dive into… His criteria for searching Lessons learned on this first acquisition What he's targeting right now. John is a great follow on Twitter. Check him out below. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie http://letsbuyabusiness.com/ https://forms.gle/RRcXpe3dK7pNGqv16 Connect with John H...

Henry Johnson bought a Shopify app. Henry is a consummate learner. He has a background in technology sales and is the owner of multiple businesses. Most recently he purchased a Shopify app called PushLast. I've used Shopify for years but never jumped into the app side of things. It's an interesting play for anyone who wants to buy something on the smaller side and not have to go all in. Dive into…...

Disney owns 13 of the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time. They own a huge chunk of TV. Disney did not start those from scratch. They bought them. I do a quick dive into some corporate buying sprees from Disney but every company you've ever heard of (aka large companies) made a bunch of acquisitions to get there. Episode Resources Connect with Ryan Condie http://linkedin.com/in/ryancondie ht...

David Barnett has been an owner, broker, buyer, seller, and everything in between. He's written a dozen books or so about buying and building companies. This is a fun conversation. We dive into… — Don't Start a company from scratch, Buy a Foundational Company First — How to get a deal done — Cash Flow Forecasts — Buyers and Sellers need to Collaborate — SMB's are barely away from falling off a cli...