Acquiring Minds

Register for the webinars:

 • Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 21 - https://bit.ly/4ftXfl8

Carley Mitus bought a home inspection business doing $380k SDE that runs leans & requires only 10 hours per week.

Topics in Carley’s interview:

• Her goal to retire at 35
• Partnering to do a search (maybe too quickly)
• Building relationships with brokers
• Buying a home inspection business
• Rocky transition to ownership
• Taking existing clients to dinner (25+ times)
• Getting referrals from real estate offices
• How they keep great inspectors
• Tricky relationship with the seller
• Earning the respect of their older colleagues

References and how to contact Carley:

• Instagram
• Insight Home Inspection Services

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinars:

 • Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 21 - https://bit.ly/3AMj6Fk

Francisco Del Rio & Diego Silva are 5 acquisitions into a venture to consolidate veterinary practices in Chile & beyond.

Topics in Francisco & Diego’s interview:

• Vetting each other before partnering
• Teaming up to roll up vet clinics in Chile
• Pitching themselves to clinic owners
• Searching during strict Covid lockdowns
• Educating owners about business valuation
• Understanding the seller’s perspective
• Making variable compensation work
• Teaching receptionists to use sales scripts
• Finding investors and growing the business
• Vision to expand to neighboring countries

References and how to contact Francisco & Diego:

• Diego Silva LinkedIn
• [email protected]
• Francisco del Rio LinkedIn 
• [email protected] 
• Latam Vet

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at [email protected], and tell him you’re a searcher

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

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email [email protected] and mention Acquiring Minds

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinars: 

• Where Searchers Go Wrong - Thu Nov 14 - https://bit.ly/3O0im2a

• Legal Office Hours: Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 21 - https://bit.ly/3O3zqo2

Sam Rosati & partners built the Sunbelt's largest commercial fencing contractor in 3 years. But the origins were modest.

Topics in Sam’s interview:

• His background in accounting and law
• Being inspired by Chenmark and Brent Beshore
• Acquiring Alpha Dumpsters with his brother
• Birth of SMBash
• Origin story of SMB Law
• How an independent sponsor differs from a self-funded searcher
• Investing in a commercial fencing business
• The role of luck in success
• Acquiring and consolidating fence businesses 
• Partnering with private equity

References and how to contact Sam:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• SMBootcamp
• Chandler Reed on Acquiring Minds: Boom, Bust, Boom: Buying a Whiplash Business
• John Hubbard on Acquiring Minds: Why Buy a Small Manufacturing Business? and Time to Sell? Growing EBITDA from $750k to $2m 

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email [email protected] and mention Acquiring Minds

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinars:

• Where Searchers Go Wrong - Thu  Nov. 14 - https://bit.ly/40HZtZK

• Legal Office Hours: Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 24 - https://bit.ly/4hEzVTh

The story behind "Rick & Royce", who've probably done more to grow entrepreneurship through acquisition than anyone.

Topics in Rick and Royce’s interview:

• How they met in academia
• Growth of their ETA class at Harvard
• Unexpected success of their book
• Satisfaction of changing students’ lives
• Thoughts on their sons searching for businesses
• Partner/family perspectives on search
• Value of learning about failed acquisitions
• How attitudes about small business have transformed
• Using their podcast to educate about small business
• Thoughts on pursuing wealth

References and how to contact Rick and Royce:

• The book: HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
• The podcast: Think Big, Buy Small
  
  

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at [email protected], and tell him you’re a searcher

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

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

When he realized he was willing to do the work himself, Matthew Railla bought a $500k SDE termite inspection business.

Topics in Matt’s interview:

• His family’s culture of entrepreneurship
• His background running a winery
• Becoming a business broker
• Buying his own listing
• Buying a tough-to-sell business 
• Getting an SBA loan using the new partial buyout rules
• Crawling under houses himself to learn the trade
• Seller agreeing to teach him for 2 years
• The 3 branches of pest control
• His plan to expand the business

References and how to contact Matt:

• LinkedIn
• [email protected]
• https://www.toptermiteco.com

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

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Iris Levine bought a 30-year-old construction firm just steps from the rough Nashville neighborhood where she grew up.

Topics in Iris’s interview:

• Working 3 jobs to pay for college
• Background in high-growth startups
• Forming her own acquisition mastermind group
• Finding an unlisted business through a broker
• Buying a porch construction company
• Putting 5% down without outside investors
• Choosing to forego a quality of earnings
• Adding technology for project management
• Motivation to find work-life flexibility
• Possibility of expanding their offerings

References and how to contact Iris:

• LinkedIn
• Episode #233 with Alan Lochridge

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email [email protected] and mention Acquiring Minds

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at [email protected], and tell him you’re a searcher

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinar: 

• How to Run a 2-Year Search in 2 Months - Nov 1 - https://bit.ly/48sjkh9

Seattle-based Dan Drake & his wife wanted to raise their kids in Bend, Oregon. Buying a business allowed them to do it.

Topics in Dan’s interview:

• His search in Bend, Oregon
• Understanding negotiation tactics
• Bundling the real estate with the business
• His seller-financed deal
• Renegotiating after sales dipped 20%
• Pros and cons of having experienced staff
• Explaining balloon payments
• Giving back to Central Oregon
• Meeting with top customers to understand their needs
• Improving inventory management and website

References and how to contact Dan:

• LinkedIn
• Industrial Applied Electric
• Negotiate Without Fear by Dr. Victoria Medvec

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

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

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinar:

• How to Run a 2-Year Search in 2 Months - Friday, Nov 1 - https://bit.ly/3YEN9YE

When, at age 29, Gat Caperton bought a furniture maker in his native West Virginia, he was also buying himself a career.

Topics in Gat’s interview:

• Working for the legendary Sam Zell
• Acquiring a furniture manufacturer in 1996
• You’re better off with smart competitors than dumb competitors
• Cutting his lead time in half the first year
• Implementing lean manufacturing
• Owning the business with his dad
• China devastated US furniture manufacturing
• Joining John Bassett to sue China for breaking trade laws
• The evolution of “Made in America”
• How to evaluate a furniture manufacturer

References and how to contact Gat:

• LinkedIn
• Gat Creek
• Factory Man by Beth Macy
• The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at [email protected], and tell him you’re a searcher

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email [email protected] and mention Acquiring Minds

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinars:

• Cap Tables 101: How Capital Structure Works When Buying a Business - Thu Oct 24 - https://bit.ly/3UihUQG

• How to Run a 2-Year Search in 2 Months - Friday Nov 1 - https://bit.ly/3UfYJqz

Nik Hulewsky bought a $3.2m medical billing company during peak Covid, anticipating a surge in demand. He was right.

Topics in Nik’s interview:

• Tragedy that ignited his passion for hospice
• Losing his job while his wife was in labor
• Searching for a business to fit his skillset
• Industry is more important than business
• Margins in home health
• Calculating return on brain damage
• Learning firsthand about the J curve
• Importance of relationship with the seller
• Being in business with his brother-in-law
• Advice for young entrepreneurs

References and how to contact Nik:

• Twitter
• Cofounders.com
• Nikonomics

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email [email protected] and mention Acquiring Minds

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at [email protected] (and tell him you’re a searcher)

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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

Register for the webinars:

• Cap Tables 101: How Capital Structure Works When Buying a Business - Thu Oct 24 - https://bit.ly/4dR5CWq

• How to Run a 2-Year Search in 2 Months - Friday Nov 1 - https://bit.ly/4dQifkn

Kristiana Laugen left tech to buy a 40-year-old pool business with $300k SDE. Fast growth from a small base is the plan.

Topics in Kristiana’s interview:

• Her career working for start-ups
• Her desire to “eat what she kills”
• Finding a business sooner than expected
• Acquiring a commercial pool maintenance/repair business
• How commercial pool maintenance differs from residential
• Quickly firing all but one technician
• Making changes in the first 90 days
• Seller retained 5% equity
• Using an app for routing efficiency
• The numbers game of hiring

References and how to contact Kristiana:

• LinkedIn
• [email protected]
• Twitter
• RD Pools, Spas & Fountains

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

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

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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