Key Points From the Interview
ack of industry experience is one of the biggest challenges for most acquisition entrepreneurs trying to buy a business.
You have to convince sellers & brokers that you have the stuff to parachute into their industry and learn it fast enough to keep the business going.
And then, you have to actually deliver on that.
It means that during the transition into the business you buy, you're not only learning the idiosyncrasies of the business itself, you're also learning the industry.
This is challenging to say the least, and we accept it as simply the nature of the game.
But, there is a happy flip side:
If you do have industry experience, you have a big advantage.
Take today's guest, Michael Young, who was searching for a business to buy.
Months into his search, he decided to spin up, from scratch, an accounting practice for SMBs.
The knock-on effects of doing so were hugely beneficial, including meeting the owner of the $4m accounting practice Michael would then go on to buy.
Now admittedly this isn't a playbook that can be copy-pasted; Michael's situation was unique in a number of ways.
But there are lessons here.
Among them:
If you can find any way to get experience & credibility in an industry where you might want to buy a business, it is a significant unlock.
See what lessons you draw from this conversation with Michael Young, owner of Bay Business Group.
