Software engineer Ahmed Raza is the Director of Due Diligence at Rapid Diligence, a group of experienced acquisition and merger entrepreneurs providing due diligence consulting for small business buyers. Additionally, Ahmed is the former Founder, CEO, and exitpreneur of Sitevestment, a small private equity fund that purchased e-commerce businesses. Before joining the acquisitions and mergers industry, Ahmed worked as a java software engineer and earned his BS in computer science from the University of Texas.

As internet access rapidly improves and grows worldwide, more and more people have been acquiring online businesses. Purchasing small businesses such as e-commerce platforms is a quick way to add to a financial portfolio. But how safe is the buying process?

According to Ahmed Raza, an expert in due diligence, the smartest act you can perform when purchasing an online business is to hire a due diligence firm. Why is that? Because blindly purchasing a business can lead to headaches, and in the end, could potentially lead to profit loss. So, how does one prevent this from happening?

Join Joe Valley, host of the Quiet Light Podcast, along with co-host Deanna Berardi, as they chat with Ahmed Raza, the Director of Due Diligence at Rapid Diligence, to discuss the importance of hiring a due diligence firm when purchasing an online business. Ahmed explains what a due diligence firm does and how sellers try to cheat on their profit and loss statements. Plus, he shares the lessons he learned from his first small business purchase.

Deanna Berardi is the Head of Partnerships at Quiet Light. In this role, she helps develop relationships with buyers, sellers, and partners to ensure the best experience for clients. She is also the Manager of Customer Success at Intuit. 

Deanna has over 20 years of experience in strategic business development and was the Marketing Manager for Smart Wires Inc. and the Marketing Program Manager for Ernst & Young LLP. She graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a bachelor’s in business administration and marketing.

If you’re selling your brand, how can you authentically connect with aggregators? Whether you’re buying or selling, you want to work with a credible source. What is the easiest way to connect with other brands?

Referral partners can create a trustworthy environment for you to buy and sell brands with confidence. Deanna Berardi begins with a few simple questions to find the right fit and match with an advisor. But you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to connect with other brands — you simply need to send an email. Deanna knows that to provide content catered to a certain group, email is the best way to deliver. Are you ready for a fantastic exit experience?

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Deanna Berardi, Head of Partnerships at Quiet Light, to discuss establishing valuable partnerships through referrals. Deanna talks about how providing quality care creates lasting impressions, why passive content can generate more interest, and the value of building trust with clients.

Reggie Young is an Amazon consultant, exit advisor, and entrepreneur specializing in e-commerce and digital marketing. While serving full-time in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Missile Operations Officer, Reggie discovered his passion for e-commerce and made over $1 million after launching his brand. He sold his business for $638,000 and has helped other seven and eight-figure sellers grow and launch their brands. He continues to launch and operate his own e-commerce brands.   

Have you thought about hiring a virtual assistant but are unsure how to find the right person? Outsourcing is a viable option, but the process can feel daunting. How can you be confident outsourcing will help grow and scale your business?

When choosing a virtual assistant, Reggie Young recommends looking for candidates who possess critical thinking skills, a strong English vocabulary, and a reliable internet connection. Building a cohesive team and incorporating standard operating procedures can boost work performance and create a seamless transition for new hires. Listen to this episode as Reggie talks about the benefits of hiring a virtual assistant. 

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Reggie Young, Amazon consultant, exit advisor, and entrepreneur, to discuss creating a cohesive team of virtual assistants. Reggie talks about the benefits of outsourcing to the Philippines for a virtual assistant, why you should understand the culture to cultivate a stronger connection, and the importance of reinforcing your standard operating procedures. Stay tuned! 

Mina Elias is a multiple seven-figure Amazon business owner and the Founder of Trivium Group, a partial in-house group for Amazon to increase profitability and create winning strategies. While an engineer by trade, he ran PPC campaigns for his own companies and founded MMA Nutrition LLC. Mina has appeared on numerous Amazon PPC podcasts and created the PPC University course to help others grow their business. 

He is a graduate of the University of New Haven, with a bachelor’s in chemical engineering and a master’s in industrial engineering.

Many agencies crumble when roles are not clearly defined. How can you manage unrealistic expectations to avoid failure? What steps can you take to delineate your goals for success and accelerate your Amazon conversion through PPC?

Mina Elias recommends you ask the right questions — like how the agency measures success — when choosing an agency to take the reins on your Amazon PPC marketing campaign. Communicating clear expectations on deliverables and products is crucial. By examining four key areas that improve conversion rates, Mina’s proven strategies can take your brand from mediocre to extraordinary. Are you ready to learn how to implement marketing strategies? 

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Mina Elias, Founder of Trivium Group, to discuss educating yourself before hiring an agency to take over your Amazon PPC campaign. Mina talks about managing expectations with any budget, why research and education are necessary before selecting an agency, and measuring success and calculations for a successful marketing campaign. Stay tuned!

Dan Cooperstock was the Founder of Cooperstock Software (Software4NonProfits.com), which writes and sells Windows programs for tracking donors, contributions, and bookkeeping. He previously held senior roles in software and programming companies, including Senior Software Developer for Quest Software, Senior Technical Consultant for HEPCOE Credit Union, and Senior Systems Developer for CIBC Wood Gundy Securities. Dan is an active member, having held various leadership positions for both local and national bodies of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

Dan received his bachelor’s in mathematics and philosophy from the University of Toronto, his master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford, and his master’s in computer science from the University of Toronto. 

You’ve spent years building your business, so when it comes time to sell it, how can you ensure it will be in the right hands? What steps can you take to build a transferable company geared toward growth?

Dan Cooperstock recommends you focus on what you care about, and your passion will be your guide to building an enduring enterprise. Many buyers are searching to purchase a business that is easily transferable with secure transactions. Dan programmed software that was transferable upon his exit, but he wanted to be sure his work would be in the right hands. For a smooth transition, building a questionnaire and engaging in conference calls is one way to guarantee stability in the exiting process. So, what other steps can you take for a seamless exit?

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Dan Cooperstock, Founder and former Owner of Software4NonProfits.com, to discuss designing software and streamlining the exit process. Dan details why buyer conference calls are an important part of selling your business, discusses overseeing due diligence, and how partnering with your buyer cultivates a better experience for your clients. 

Katie Ng-Mak is the Former Vice President of the Global Solutions Partner Program for Hubspot, an inbound marketing software company, before she ventured on her own to purchase a purification business. She has experience in business and earned her BA in economics from Columbia University and her MBA from Harvard Business School. Katie worked for Cummins Inc, where she conducted due diligence, risk analysis, financial analysis, and market research. She was a Credit Risk Analyst for Bear Stearns and an Analyst for BlackRock. 

The process of buying a business may feel like a formidable task if you’re unfamiliar and uncertain with the process. How can you ensure you’re buying the right business? When Katie Ng-Mak purchased her first business, not only did she leverage her skills, knowledge, successful tools, and network of professionals, but she also followed her intuition. 

As an entrepreneur, you accept a particular degree of uncertainty when running a business. It is crucial to hire the right people to help you plan — especially when purchasing a business. But what steps can you take to generate growth? For Katie, seeking support, seeing the possibility, and engaging with a business plan is the best way to recognize and respond to uncertainty. 

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Katie Ng-Mak, Former Vice President of the Global Solutions Partner Program for Hubspot, to discuss the ins and outs of a business purchase. Katie talks about leveraging tools of expertise, why your conscience should be your guide, and focusing on growth and opportunities in your business. Stay tuned! 

Kurt Elster is the Host of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast and Senior eCommerce Consultant and Shopify Plus Expert at Ethercycle, Chicago's premiere Shopify partner agency. He helps Shopify merchants, like Jay Leno’s Garage, uncover hidden profits in their websites by developing apps and providing strategy and advisory services. Prior to his work with Ethercycle, Kurt worked as the eCommerce Manager for THMotorsports, an Adjunct Professor at Oakton Community College, and Chief Technology Officer for the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education in Beloit. 

Kurt graduated from Beloit College with a degree in business economics and earned his MBA in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial studies from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He attended The University of Chicago Booth School of Business for a certificate in integrated marketing, where he gained an integrated marketing perspective to help maximize the impact of marketing efforts.

“Best practice” can have numerous meanings and set up false expectations for entrepreneurs. How can you get the same results with less effort? When your website is the face of your brand, how can you optimize and increase conversion?

Kurt Elster follows his rule of thumb: simplify. Don’t complicate, confuse, or slow down your website when you can optimize and increase conversion rates. By having a traditional landing page with simple, easy-to-read links to your products, consumers can easily navigate on any device and platform — the proof is in the split testing.

Join Joe Valley in this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast as he sits down with Kurt Elster, Host of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast and Senior eCommerce Consultant and Shopify Plus Expert at Ethercycle. Together, they break down why “best practice” is unique for everyone, achieving statistically significant results by increasing readability, and upgrading your website to increase conversion rates. 

Jodie Cook is a writer, entrepreneur, and athlete. At age 22 she started a digital marketing agency and sold it ten years later. She is the author of Ten Year Career: reimagine business, design your life, fast track your freedom, and Stop Acting Like You're Going To Live Forever, where she empowers entrepreneurs to run a business that6 can thrive in any crisis. She co-wrote How To Raise Entrepreneurial Kids, where she introduces the four pillars to set children up for success, and the children’s series Clever Tykes storybooks and resources for entrepreneurial education.

Jodie is a regular contributor for Forbes on entrepreneurship and competes for Great Britain in powerlifting.

Building a business can be confusing for entrepreneurs. How can you know exactly the right moves to make at your stage? If you could reimagine your business to achieve greater success in less time, would you?

According to Jodie Cook, you can have the financial freedom and time you desire. She crafted the Ten Year Career framework's four pillars to scale and exit your business: execute, systemize, scrutinize and exit. Being able to see your business as a product — to take a step back and see it from a different perspective — can help you move forward during the exit process.

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley sits down with Jodie Cook, author and entrepreneur, to discuss implementing a plan of action to scale your business and exit for success. Jodie talks about how to delegate for expansion, minimize the challenges entrepreneurs face, and be intentional when creating an exit strategy. Stay tuned!

Cole South is the Co-founder of SDDC Goods, an e-commerce business that focuses on building profitable and marketable brands from the ground up. As part of two brands — BirdRock Baby and Gold BJJ — Cole has gained valuable experience, from maintaining multiple inventories to the market of cryptocurrencies. His passion for innovation allowed him to create Synchronize, a software tool designed for e-commerce businesses that helps streamline catalog management and sales predictions.

Successfully managing a product inventory is all about having a stable process in place and a reliable framework that could maintain the momentum of a business. But what happens when the inventory runs out?

According to Cole South, mismanaging inventory could be costly for a business, however, completely running out could be catastrophic. Fixing such an issue would not only cost substantially more, but it often takes time, which, for an online business, is of the utmost importance. Cole, however, has developed a system for success that integrates e-commerce and inventory data across multiple platforms to help you keep track of your available catalog. That way, your e-commerce business is free to focus more on profitability and growth.

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley welcomes Cole South, a professional poker player turned successful entrepreneur. They talk about overcoming the different challenges of keeping a stable product inventory, maintaining shipment timeframes, understanding in-house and third-party warehouse costs, and how to tie all that up into e-commerce profitability.

Walker Deibel is a longtime acquisition entrepreneur with a passion for educating aspiring brokers and helping them navigate the intricacies of the business. He is an M&A Broker for online businesses with Quiet Light, where he works virtually with a group of nine other entrepreneurs to assist online companies in a transaction.

Walker is the Founder of Acquisition Lab, a membership program that facilitates resources and tools valuable to any successful entrepreneur. He also authored Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game, which garnered praise with its release and became a crucial part of many universities.

Acquisition entrepreneurship is an advanced business practice that requires a certain understanding of business frameworks and models. As an upcoming or tenured broker, how can you elevate your professional experience and bridge the skill gap required to get into this business?

Decades ago, the educational resources on business acquisition techniques were limited in scope. To Walker Deibel, that only meant he had to carve his own way as a broker. His immense success as an acquisition entrepreneur sparked a mission to help educate others and led him to write Buy Then Build, a book that is now being used in many universities. 

In this episode of the Quiet Light Podcast, Joe Valley welcomes guest Walker Deibel, Founder of Acquisition Lab and Author of Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game. Joe and Walker talk about business acquisition techniques, where to find valuable resources for entrepreneurs, current investment trends of 2022, and what changes to anticipate in the upcoming years.