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

Aug 7
Thursday
Thursday
Aug 7, 2025
The "Plant Your Flag" Strategy: Build an Empire with ETA + Franchising
Learn how to enter a franchise system in order to execute a programmatic acquisition strategy once you're on the inside.
With
Connor Groce
Register Here

Webinar Recordings

Jul 24
2025
Thursday
Jul 24, 2025
Working Capital for SMB Acquisitions
Learn to account for working capital in your deal and avoid one of the trickiest pitfalls for first-time business buyers
With
Heather Endresen, Chris Williamson
Watch Recording
Jul 22
2025
Tuesday
Jul 22, 2025
The Math & Logic of Deal Making
Learn the numbers & math behind smart structures to ensure that logic, not emotion, drives your acquisition decisions.
With
Chelsea Wood
Watch Recording
Jul 17
2025
Thursday
Jul 17, 2025
Common Legal Diligence Issues (and How to Handle Them)
A deep dive into the common sticking points that often occur in deals — and how to overcome them.
With
William Barlow, James David Williams
Watch Recording

The Podcast

Jul 28
2025
Monday
Jul 28, 2025
A $10m Acquisition for Freedom and Family
Anica John bought a print-on-demand business to have more time with her kids without compromising her career ambitions.
Anica John
Jul 24
2025
Thursday
Jul 24, 2025
You’ve Been Served: Buying a $1.3m Process-Serving Company
At a low point in life, Raj Kankaria was served papers. But he liked the business and bought a process-serving company.
Raj Kankaria
Jul 21
2025
Monday
Jul 21, 2025
One Year, 3x Revenue, and a Clear Path to $15M
Enrique Rodriguez bought a project-based construction business (gasp) with $1.4m in revenue. One year later it's at $4m.
Enrique Rodriguez
Jul 17
2025
Thursday
Jul 17, 2025
From Searcher to Sponsor: How to Buy a $22m Business
Yan Vinarskiy began as a self-funded searcher but shifted his model mid-search when he found a business too big for SBA.
Yan Vinarskiy
Jul 14
2025
Monday
Jul 14, 2025
Saying No to CEO Roles, Yes to Ownership
Accomplished CEO Marci LaRouech sought to build a business without investor pressure. A sub $1m HR firm was the way.
Marci LaRouech
Jul 10
2025
Thursday
Jul 10, 2025
From Sales Freefall to $1.2m/Month
By reconceiving the paint dealership he bought as a marketing & sales organization, Ryan Adams pushed it to new heights.
Ryan Adams
Jul 7
2025
Monday
Jul 7, 2025
Reviving a Covid-Crushed Business: $0 to $6m in 3 Years
Adam Rao took a chance on an exhibit production business that had generated zero revenue in 15 months. It's gone well.
Adam Rao
Jul 3
2025
Thursday
Jul 3, 2025
Scaling a Tiny Acquisition to a PE-Backed Exit
Phil Miller turned a tiny pet shop doing $100k in sales into a regional pet boarding brand — and the ideal PE platform.
Phil Miller
Jun 30
2025
Monday
Jun 30, 2025
New Way to Pursue ETA: Searcher-in-Residence
Matt Brunnig hired aspiring SMB owner Kevin Peer for special projects, strategy & more at his $3m manufacturing holdco.
Matt Brunnig
Jun 26
2025
Thursday
Jun 26, 2025
From Stalled Search to $750k SDE: The Power of Speed
A friend pressed Grania Michel to change her search as if she had to close in 4 months. She was under LOI 2 weeks later.
Grania Michel
Jun 23
2025
Monday
Jun 23, 2025
The Path from $2.5m to $60m in a Tree Business
Brian Hartman 3x'd revenue in 2 years at the tree business he bought, then partnered with an investor to grow even more.
Brian Hartman
Jun 19
2025
Thursday
Jun 19, 2025
How a First-Timer Pulled Off a $52m Acquisition
With no PE background, Nick Huber had to learn quickly as he raised money to acquire a fast-growing offshoring agency.
Nick Huber

Sneak Peak: Upcoming Episodes

31
Jul 2025
Thursday
Jul 31, 2025
Buying a $200m Franchisor (Not Units, the Whole System)
Tyler & Zach Gordon's search for an overlooked industry with good prospects led to a franchise system of thrift stores.
Tyler and Zach Gordon
04
Aug 2025
Monday
Aug 4, 2025
Building a $25m FedEx Route Empire from $100k Equity
Avery Tomek bought his first little $1m FedEx route with an SBA loan. 3 years later, he has 240 trucks and $600k weeks
Avery Tomek
11
Aug 2025
Monday
Aug 11, 2025
From 16 Years in Corporate to a $1m SDE Acquisition
After years of corporate success, Jesus Wong yearned for something else. When he discovered ETA, he knew he'd found it.
Jesus Wong

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”?
display / hide FAQ question

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.