Learn How to Buy & Own Businesses

Acquiring Minds is a media platform all about buying, owning, and operating small businesses.

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Upcoming Webinars

Nov 21
Thursday
Thursday
Nov 21, 2024
Understanding the Waterfall
Learn the "waterfall", the standard model for when & how all the players in a search deal are paid, or paid back.
With
Bill Barlow, James David Williams
Register Here

Webinar Recordings

Nov 14
2024
Thursday
Nov 14, 2024
Where Searchers Go Wrong: Part 1
Acquisition Lab's Chelsea Wood shares what separates the searchers who succeed in closing a deal from those who don't.
With
Chelsea Wood
Watch Recording
Nov 1
2024
Friday
Nov 1, 2024
How to Run a 2-Year Search in 2 Months
Increase the velocity of your deal analysis to arrive at "the one" faster, avoiding the notorious multi-year search.
With
Johannes Hock
Watch Recording
Oct 24
2024
Thursday
Oct 24, 2024
Cap Tables 101: How Capital Structure Works When Buying a Business
How to structure a partnered search, structuring for outside capital, seller equity rolls, post-closing employee equity
With
James David Williams, William Barlow
Watch Recording

The Podcast

Nov 18
2024
Monday
Nov 18, 2024
How 2 Entrepreneurs are Rolling Up a New Market
Francisco Del Rio & Diego Silva are 5 acquisitions into a venture to consolidate veterinary practices in Chile & beyond.
Francisco Del Rio & Diego Silva
Nov 14
2024
Thursday
Nov 14, 2024
How to Become an Independent Sponsor
Sam Rosati & partners built the Sunbelt's largest commercial fencing contractor in 3 years. But the origins were modest.
Sam Rosati
Nov 11
2024
Monday
Nov 11, 2024
The 2 Professors Who Helped Start the ETA Movement
The story behind "Rick & Royce", who've probably done more to grow entrepreneurship through acquisition than anyone.
Rick Ruback & Royce Yudkoff
Nov 7
2024
Thursday
Nov 7, 2024
Buying a Job to Build a Business
When he realized he was willing to do the work himself, Matthew Railla bought a $500k SDE termite inspection business.
Matt Railla
Nov 4
2024
Monday
Nov 4, 2024
$6m Business, 3 Minutes From Childhood Home
Iris Levine bought a 30-year-old construction firm just steps from the rough Nashville neighborhood where she grew up.
Iris Levine
Oct 31
2024
Thursday
Oct 31, 2024
Buying a Business to Build a Life
Seattle-based Dan Drake & his wife wanted to raise their kids in Bend, Oregon. Buying a business allowed them to do it.
Dan Drake
Oct 28
2024
Monday
Oct 28, 2024
Buying & Building a $60m Manufacturer
When, at age 29, Gat Caperton bought a furniture maker in his native West Virginia, he was also buying himself a career.
Gat Caperton
Oct 24
2024
Thursday
Oct 24, 2024
2 Years to Buy, Double & Exit a Medical Billing Firm
Nik Hulewsky bought a $3.2m medical billing company during peak Covid, anticipating a surge in demand. He was right.
Nik Hulewsky
Oct 21
2024
Monday
Oct 21, 2024
Small SDE, Big Upside: Buying a Business with 5 Employees
Kristiana Laugen left tech to buy a 40-year-old pool business with $300k SDE. Fast growth from a small base is the plan.
Kristiana Laugen
Oct 17
2024
Thursday
Oct 17, 2024
Leaving Amazon to Buy a $3m Apparel Brand
Tech industry vet Eric Bauer wanted to build something for himself. Buying a hat brand across the country was the path.
Eric Bauer
Oct 14
2024
Monday
Oct 14, 2024
Business Collapse After Going All-In
Justin Willess liquidated his 401k to buy a $8.5m construction business. He lost the business and may lose his house.
Justin Willess
Oct 10
2024
Thursday
Oct 10, 2024
Margins in Mulch: Buying a $1m Erosion Control Business
As a banker Greg Bruns dealt with business owners, wanting what they had. When a friend bought a business, he saw a way.
Greg Bruns

Sneak Peak: Upcoming Episodes

21
Nov 2024
Thursday
Nov 21, 2024
Buying Blue Collar (But Automated & Asset Light)
Carley Mitus bought a home inspection business doing $380k SDE that runs leans & requires only 10 hours per week.
Carley Mitus
25
Nov 2024
Monday
Nov 25, 2024
High Margin & Big Upside in Lice Treatment
Derek Croft bought a $1m SDE business with a national footprint in an unusual niche. Just don't call him The Lice King.
Derek Croft
27
Nov 2024
Wednesday
Nov 27, 2024
Micro-Acquiring to $300k SDE on 5 Hours Per Week
Link Moser built a nearly-passive business portfolio by acquiring tiny web design & hosting shops on favorable terms.
Link Moser
02
Dec 2024
Monday
Dec 2, 2024
The Thrill & Validation of Becoming an Owner
Michael Johnson started searching in April. Today he's having the time of his life as owner of a $1.2m printing business
Michael Johnson
05
Dec 2024
Thursday
Dec 5, 2024
Buying in a Huge but Overlooked Market
Fragmentation & an enormous TAM drew Jonathon Tupper to buy a 30-year-old business in the asset-based lending industry.
Jonathon Tupper
09
Dec 2024
Monday
Dec 9, 2024
First Acquisition in March, $200m by Year End
Jordan Dubin and his partners are rolling up a home services industry. They blew by their 5-year goal in the first year.
Jordan Dubin

Why Entrepreneurship
Through Acquisition?

The riskiest time for a new business is the startup phase.

You’ve got no product, no revenue, no staff, no reputation. It can take years for a business to build those things, if it survives at all.

Now imagine an alternative scenario, where the risk and toil of those early years have passed. Where there are already paying customers, and people & processes in place to serve those customers.

A website with traffic, a phone that rings. The flywheel is already going.

That’s what it means to acquire an existing business. Your job is to improve and grow it, not breathe life into it.

For many entrepreneurs, this is a better fit. Better suited to their skills or station in life. More rewarding, more lucrative, even more fun.

What’s more, there are many trends in your favor.

An entire generation of retiring business owners are looking for an exit. Their businesses are established, sometimes decades old, and yet there is no successor to take the reins. Oftentimes when they finally do retire, they just turn off the lights, pull the door closed, and shut down the business.

What a waste.

Meanwhile, it’s easier than ever to start a business online, from FBA to Shopify stores to courses to affiliate blogs. Which means millions of people start online side hustles, only to lose interest or shift priorities.

In the right hands, these neglected businesses can not only survive but thrive.

And unlike getting a bank loan for a startup (near impossible), banks routinely lend to entrepreneurs who want to buy a profitable small business.

Which means you can finance an acquisition, then pay down the debt with the profits of the business itself.

Many people think “buying a business” is just for the wealthy, or private equity.

Not so.

Thousands of normal individuals acquire a business every year. This site tells their stories.

Not to say that it’s easy.

While buying a business can be a path to wealth, you will not get rich quick. It’s still entrepreneurship, with all the hard work and persistence that entails.

It’s just a different kind of entrepreneurship, one that is overlooked by a media fixated on billionaires and unicorns.

But one that offers the same rewards and professional fulfillment.

Acquiring Minds will open your mind to the possibilities.

FAQ

What type of person acquires a business?
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There are so many that it’s hard to generalize.

But here are a few examples:

You have entrepreneurial energy but you don’t have an idea to pursue.

You’re a mid-career employee looking to pivot into being a business owner. You’re ready to take control of your own destiny but don’t have the years or financial resources to start a business from zero.

You have deep industry expertise that could be applied a small business in that industry to make it grow.

You have a specialized skill set — online marketing for example — that could be applied to a small business that is weak in that area.

You’re interested in a space, like e-commerce or manufacturing, and want to accelerate your education and participation in that space.

You weren’t looking to buy a business but an attractive opportunity has presented itself.

You already have a business but want to acquire another one in order to grow.

You want to build a portfolio of profitable businesses as a path to wealth.

Isn’t buying a business just “buying a job”?
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For many people, yes, they do operate the business that they acquire. You’d call such a business buyer an owner-operator.

This isn’t a bad thing.

Most owner-operators acquired the business precisely because they wanted to actively improve and grow it. They may intend to later reduce their personal activity in the business, or they may continue operating it indefinitely. Or, they may themselves sell the business after growing it over a few years.

Regardless, they’ve realized their entrepreneurial aspirations and become their own boss.

People who want to acquire a business but not operate it are investors. This is a different acquisition strategy, but one that can be extremely rewarding as well. (Just ask Warren Buffet.)

Do I need expertise in the industry of the company I acquire?
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Usually people have some related experience, but not always.

In that case, you should at least have a strong commitment to, and preferably a genuine interest in, learning the industry of the company you acquire.

You should not buy a business in an industry where you have no knowledge nor any interest in gaining it.

Can I buy a business with no money down?
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Yes, it is possible. But “no money down” deals are not the norm and you should be wary of gurus promising that they’re easy to find.

That said, there are a variety of ways a “no money down” situation could occur.

The most common is a 100% seller-financed deal. That is, the current owner of the business sells it to you for $500k (for example) over a 5-year term. You pay $100k per year out of the profits of the business. At the end of 5 years you own the business outright, having put zero of your own money at risk.

This example is an oversimplification, but it does give you a sense of what's possible. Deals like this do happen with some frequency.

More often, however, a deal will be partially seller financed. So in our above example, you might have to pay $150k up front, then the remaining $350k over 5 years.