Acquiring Minds

Shane Ehrsam went full-time in his search & used systematic broker outreach to buy a great business in his local market. 

Topics in Shane's interview:

• Why he didn't acquire a franchise resale
• Shane's experience in the Acquisition Lab, Walker Deibel's program to buy a business
• Why talking to other searchers is so important before beginning your own search
• Mechanics of his broker outreach
• Importance of cold calling brokers
• Buying a business in stock (vs. the more traditional asset purchase)
• All about the dealership business
• Full standby note — what is it?
• Day 1 experience
• How being an SMB owner feels different than life in corporate

Links & how to reach Shane:

• Acquisition Lab
• Episode with Jordan Carter about full-time vs. part-time searching: A Brutal Search Rewarded with Success After 3 Years
• Episode with Jesse Sunquist on: Reflections After 1 Year of Searching Full Time
• Episode with Doug Johns about building rapport with sellers & brokers: Opening Up to Franchises to Buy a Great Business
• Surface area of luck
• North Texas Trailers
• LinkedIn
• shane AT ntxtrailers DOT com

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

Jordan Novgrod sold his house, tapped his 401k, and went all-in to buy an $800k SDE business he found on BizBuySell. 

Topics in Jordan's interview:

1. Finding a great business on BizBuySell
2. Blogging the search process
3. Key rule of thumb on SDE
4. Importance of buyer-seller chemistry
5. Machine shop businesses - pros & cons
6. Transferring key relationships post-sale
7. Day 1 speech
8. How Jordan built rapport with his new employees

Links & how to reach Jordan:

• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• Sweaty Startup
• Search Investment Group (SIG)
• Jordan's substack: Small Business Acquisition
• @JordanNovgrod
• LinkedIn

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

Burk Adams tapped his 401k to buy a business that reinvented his career, gave him back time, and catapulted his wealth. 

Topics in Burk's interview:

• Using your 401k to buy a business with ROBS
• Buying a business being the most impactful thing he's done in his life
• Realities of a C corp vs. LLC
• Teaching his kids acquisition entrepreneurship
• How it seems easier to have bought a business in 2015 than now
• The feeling of giant SBA loan repayments every month
• His business acquisition being a full send
• How he thought about the failure risk
• Why he liked PC Enclosures
• Acquisition price & numbers
• Buying a $2.6m business while only having $100k in cash
• Revenue numbers
• Handling the brutal first 6 months (and how it was healthy for the future)
• What's worse: depression or panic?
• Strong growth in the last few years
• How to think about one-off purchase vs. recurring revenue businesses
• How to think about buying a manufacturing business
• Small business ownership vs. being a consultant
• 2 new businesses that have come out of his acquisition

Links & how to reach Burk:

• PC Enclosures
• Storm Shell, Burk's outdoor TV enclosure business targeting consumers
• Backyard Snowstorm, the snowmaking business Burk started with his son
• Guidant Financial
• LinkedIn

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

It looked like a dream: $2m EBITDA, recurring, large market. Only after Judd Lorson bought it did he learn the truth. 

Topics in Judd's interview:

• Searchfund accelerator pros & cons
• Understanding investors' role in your acquisition
• Importance of 100% transparency with employees (even pre-acquisition)
• Debt collection business pros & cons
• Discovery that he's acquired a bad business
• Managing hostility with sellers
• What is the proper attitude for buying a business?
• How to resign as CEO the right way

Links & how to reach Judd:

• Original case note from Yale about Judd's story
• The Acquiring Minds debate about Self-Funded Search vs. Traditional Search Funds
• judd DOT lorson AT gmail
• LinkedIn

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

Taylor Wallace was over tech. He acquired a small business and with it a renewed sense of impact (and opportunity). 

Topics in Taylor's interview:

• Tech burnout
• Working in tech vs. running a small business
• Buying indy vs. franchise
• Injecting tech-industry best practices & ambition into small business
• How do friends in tech respond to his foray into doggy daycares?
• Going from digital nomad to brick-and-mortar business owner in Tampa
• Increasing doggy daycare capacity 2x
• Will more than 2x revenue by next year
• What he paid (roughly) for 1st and 2nd acquisitions
• Growth strategy
• Buying small vs. buying big
• Doggy daycare business - should you do it?

Links & how to reach Taylor:

• Paws 'n' Rec
• Baton
• @taywall
• LinkedIn

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

Episode 100! To celebrate, 5 early guests come back to share how things are going at their acquisitions, 1 year later. 

• 2:48 - Chris Edwards acquired a flooring business
• 18:15 - Philippe Vanderhoydonck, a B2B media business in the pets industry
• 35:49 - Cassi Niekamp, a fencing business
• 1:02:12 - Andrew Pierno is buying multiple small SaaS businesses
• 1:25:54 - Mike Botkin bought a small landscaping business and has quickly parlayed that into becoming a player in the landscaping industry

Links to guests' previous episodes:

• Chris Edwards - How to Survive Acquiring a $3.5m Flooring Business.
• Philippe Vanderhoydonck - How to Acquire Your First Business in 3 Months
• Cassi Niekamp - Buying a $1.2m Fencing Business & Earning Trust Quickly
• Andrew Pierno - How to Build a Portfolio of Micro SaaS Businesses
• Mike Botkin, first ep - How to Buy a Landscaping Biz & Boost Profits Quick
• Mike Botkin, second ep - How to Buy Landscaping Businesses

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:

• YouTube channel (easy access to all interviews)
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Andrew Harbin first bought an awning business, then bought a fencing franchise to keep his crew working through summer. 

Topics in Andrew's interview:

• Should you buy a seasonal business?
• Buying a second business to offset seasonality of first business
• Twitter thread that opened his eyes to building wealth by buying  a business
• Buying a business that is for sale by owner
• Revenue + SDE of the awning business he acquired
• Growth he's achieved in first years of ownership
• How the awning business works (revenue sources, staffing, org chart)
• Buying a $300-400k SDE business
• Why hiring temps for seasonal businesses is unappealing
• Fencing business: buying vs. starting from scratch vs. starting a franchise
• Pros/cons of franchises
• Big Jerry's fencing franchise
• Tips for entrepreneurs considering buying a fencing business
• Nature of stress in SMB vs. corporate
• Loneliness of being a small business owner

Links & how to reach Andrew:

• Twitter thread that turned Andrew on to buying a business
• Venango Awning
• Big Jerry's Fencing
• @ADHarbin

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:

• YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

James Temple & his mother acquired a struggling Mathnasium franchise in 2009. Today, they do $7m across 19 locations. 

Topics in James' interview:

• Buying vs. starting a franchise location
• Is rolling up easier in a franchise system?
• Turning around underperforming franchise locations
• How to assess the risk of a franchise system
• 3 criticisms of franchises that MBA student always have
• Numbers behind his first acquisition
• Growing to 19 franchise locations in 13 years
• How a 19-unit franchise business is structured & operated
• Evaluating franchise opportunities from a risk-adjusted perspective
• Revenue range of Mathnasium franchises
• Mathnasium fees
• What exactly do you get from a franchisor for the franchise fee?
• Passion and purpose — is it necessary?
• Franchise consultants (and how they are incentivized)
• How to start investigating opportunities if you're interested in a particular franchise

Links & how to reach James:

• Mathnasium
• FDD Exchange
• LinkedIn

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:

• YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Sumana Sanjeeva got into ecommerce by chance. 3 years later, she's acquired 4 ecom businesses & sold one for over $5m. 

Topics from Sumana's interview:

• Brick & mortar vs ecommerce businesses
• Best type of ecommerce to buy for a first-timer
• Buying an ecommerce business knowing very little about it
• Learning quickly how to sell on Amazon
• Finding an ecommerce business on BizBuySell
• Terms of her deal
• One decision that made the business thrive during COVID
• Selling to aggregators
• Talking to 14 of them
• Terms of her sale
• Cash flow issues with a growing ecommerce business
• Her 3 new ecommerce acquisitions
• Focusing exclusively on FBA
• Running in-person learning center franchises

How to reach Sumana:

• LinkedIn
• sanjeevasumana AT gmail

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:

• YouTube channel (easy access to all past + future interviews)
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Toni Kononova bought a ghostwriting business for $500k to experiment with buy-then-build while limiting her downside. 

Topics in Toni's interview:

• What to love about a ghostwriting & editing business
• The business of self-publishing
• What is "vanity press"?
• Why a terrible website can be OK
• Getting close on a small B2B SaaS business
• Lowering her SDE criteria
• Numbers & terms of her acquisition
• De-risking an acquisition
• Buying a business while having a full-time job
• Why keeping her full-time job helped get the loan
• Running the acquisition as a side hustle
• Employee turnover & sales decline during transition
• The popularity of search among Silicon Valley workers
• Search in Russia

Links & how to get in touch with Toni:

• Write My Wrongs
• toni AT writemywrongs DOT co

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:

• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter