Business Buying Strategies from The Dealmaker's Academy

21 acquisitions in less than a year

Sep 6, 2023

Darren Jacobs, a serial entrepreneur focusing on the salon industry, shares his incredible journey of acquiring 25 businesses in just eight months. He reveals the strategic shift from IT to salons and the disciplined approach to selecting targets. Darren discusses the challenges of restructuring post-pandemic, how he financed transactions, and the importance of understanding seller motivations. He also highlights key lessons learned about negotiation practices and navigating employee emotions during acquisitions, as he aims for his audacious goal of completing 100 deals.

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ANECDOTE

First Salon Acquisition

Darren bought his first salon for his stepdaughter in May 2020 during the pandemic.
Sending out enquiry letters quickly yielded a substantial pipeline of potential acquisitions.

INSIGHT

Ease of Salon Acquisition

Compared to IT businesses, acquiring hair salons proved surprisingly easy.
This ease stems from dealing with hairstylists, not seasoned business professionals.

ANECDOTE

High Response Rate

1500 letters sent in June 2020 resulted in over 300 responses from interested sellers.
The pandemic and lockdown closures contributed to this high response rate.

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This week we meet Darren Jacobs, who since joining my business buying courses has bought a total of 25 businesses in just eight months. He’s already sold four of them and has an ambitious target to do 100 deals.

Darren bought his first salon for his daughter, a qualified hair stylist, in May 2020. But when he started sending enquiry letters out, he quickly built a pipeline of potential acquisitions.

Business Buying Strategies is the leading podcast for people who want to buy a business. Each week I interview deal makers who've been on my business acquisition Mastermind program and find out about their deals and behind the scenes of their acquisitions. If you want to know how to get started in mergers and acquisitions, then take my free online course.

You can find it at www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

Key Highlights

[01:47] Why the switch from IT group to salons?

[05:50] The criteria for selecting salons to buy

[07:40] Opening twenty salons at once after lockdown

[10:50] Financing the acquisitions

[16:45] Motivations for salon owners to sell their business

[18:35] Overview and structure of the salon group

[21:05] What has Darren learned?

[25:40] The acquisition strategy moving forward

Notable Quotes

In comparison to buying an IT business, buying a hair salon was ridiculously easy. In June 2020 we sent out a bunch of letters, about 1500. We had just over 300 people contact us from them. We've had to do a lot of work on consolidation and integration. I tell people that we've got a lot of salons, we're not that interested in buying many more at the moment, but if it works for us, we'll take a look at it.

Resources

Buying a business is only the start, which is why we are now teaching what happens next on the Mastermind program. Now, if you've already bought a business, you should be part of my Inner Circle group where we discuss raising capital, integration management, and exiting. Email Maria on hello@thedealmakersacademy.com for more information.

If you are looking for a lawyer in the UK to help you get the deal over the line, then use my own lawyer, John Andrews. You can phone his office at (0345) 2412494 or email him at johnandrews.deallawyer@jmw.co.uk.

If you would like to take the next step to learn the best ways of buying a business, without risking your own cash, you can access my free training at: www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

Watch my Webinar Training Video: https://www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

You can also request a free copy of my book at: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/free-book-giveaway/

If you want to jump straight to my live Zoom FastTrack course, please go to: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/fast

Connect with Jonathan Jay at: Website: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDealmakersAcademy