1 Year Later as Buyer of a $1m EBITDA Business

January 12, 2023

T

oday's interview is a return guest, Chris Williams, who acquired a bookkeeping business in 2021.

Chris was an early Acquiring Minds interview, and I wanted to have him back on to see how things have gone for him as owner of the business he'd just acquired when we spoke the first time.

This was a great interview with Chris.

My favorite part is when he reflects on what he would have done differently in his very first months as new owner, during his transition — so listen for that.

I'm going to start having more conversations like this one, where I bring on previous guests to see how they have fared in their acquisitions.

I love these check-ins; there is so much growth that happens in an entrepreneur when they graduate from searcher to CEO, and so much for us to learn from them.

Chris is a perfect example.

Here he is, one-time searcher, now-CEO of System Six, Chris Williams 👇👇👇

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January 12, 2023

1 Year Later as Buyer of a $1m EBITDA Business

Chris Williams was a guest in 2021, just after his acquisition. He returns to share how it's going now, 14 months later.

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Key takeaways
Introduction
About the guest
Show notes
Transcript
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Key Takeaways

Introduction

Listen to the introduction from the host

T

oday's interview is a return guest, Chris Williams, who acquired a bookkeeping business in 2021.

Chris was an early Acquiring Minds interview, and I wanted to have him back on to see how things have gone for him as owner of the business he'd just acquired when we spoke the first time.

This was a great interview with Chris.

My favorite part is when he reflects on what he would have done differently in his very first months as new owner, during his transition — so listen for that.

I'm going to start having more conversations like this one, where I bring on previous guests to see how they have fared in their acquisitions.

I love these check-ins; there is so much growth that happens in an entrepreneur when they graduate from searcher to CEO, and so much for us to learn from them.

Chris is a perfect example.

Here he is, one-time searcher, now-CEO of System Six, Chris Williams 👇👇👇

About

Chris Williams

Chris Williams

Show Notes

Chris Williams was a guest in 2021, just after his acquisition. He returns to share how it's going now, 14 months later.

Topics from Chris's interview:

System Six's growth in the first 14 months
What Chris wishes he had done differently during transition
Hiring challenges and how to hire from within
How he has learned sales
Why he likes to serve searcher-acquired businesses
The first step in being a great workplace
Traditional vs. self-funded search
Why revenue growth does not always equal EBITDA growth
Pricing challenges in the bookkeeping industry
Does more investors mean more help & guidance?

References & how to reach Chris:

His first episode on Acquiring Minds: ‍Stay Open to the Many Flavors of Search
System Six
LinkedIn, Twitter, chris@systemsix.com

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

The Acquisition Lab

Register for a live gathering of SMB, Micro-PE, and ETA owners, operators and investors:

SMBash

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
Follow Will on Twitter

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Episode Transcript

Show Transcript