Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) & Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA), are joined by Steve Ressler (@steveressler) to talk about best practices when running a search, his search fund The Brydon Group, buying opportunities in the SMB space, what do the best search funders do, top CEO’s skills,  and more.-----Thanks to our sponsors:* https://Cloudbookkeeping.com - Cloudbookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping solutions for everyone from start-ups to mature businesses. Check them out & mention our podcast.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:(01:09) - Cloudbookkeeping.com(2:20) - What do the more intelligent search funders do to pitch you?(4:14) - What are good reasons to do a search fund?(6:24) - How would you segment the search fund prototype?(8:29) - How can you tell if a senior executive will be an operative one?(11:22) - What do you look for in a searcher?(14:14) - Tell us about the Brydon Group and what you’re doing (19:40) - What’s the profile you look for? What type of deals do you look for?(21:40) - How do you structure deals? What about the financing?(25:08) - How do you think about debt for this kind of search? How does the equity side work?(28:34) - What do you look for in a searcher?(33:52) - Why do you go for $2 to $5 MM EBITDA range deals?(36:47) - Where are the winds blowing in the private markets?(38:45) - Do you think that Covid put pressure on the sellers, burnout syndrome, that kind of stuff?(42:04) - What are the craziest things you’ve seen from searchers?-----Links:* https://www.linkedin.com/in/ressler/ * https://www.brydon.com/for-searchers * steve@brydon.com -----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) is joined by Brock Briggs (@BrockHBriggs), first-time searcher, to talk about 2 deals: A Florist company and a FedEx P&D Routes one. We talk about: operational aspects, financial modeling considerations, the trade-off of bringing a Limited Partner in, separating real estate from a business: when should you do it and how to limit your exposure as a buyer, and much more. -----Thanks to our sponsors!MicroAcquire is the #1 startup acquisition marketplace. It is simply the most efficient way to buy and sell startups when you’re ready to make your next move.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:1:27 Microacquire3:20 Brock’s background5:08 What are you searching for Brock? Where are you in your search process?6:48 Deal 1: A massive Florist for sale in CT10:00 What do we think about this one?12:14 What’s the potential upside from this deal? Where’s the ceiling? How does size relate to growth opportunities?15:40 How should we think about the Customer Acquisition funnel? What should we consider from an operational side? 18:01 Don’t assume growth opportunities to be low-hanging fruits20:07 How do we think about weddings as a revenue segment? What should we consider on the operational side?24:40 Thoughts on seasonality and part-time labor hiring28:28 Let’s talk about financing: How do we think about bringing a Limited Partner to your first deal? What collateral could you consider lending against? 34:27 Real estate and business. Should you keep them together or separate them? What other options are there for the buyer?42:02 Deal 2: FedEx P&D Routes46:45 What did you like about this one?49:34 Operational considerations, what should we ask the seller? What debt are we assuming in this deal? What is the impact on the listing price?54:17 Is it an owner-operator kind of business? What should we dig into from an operational perspective? What are growth opportunities?56:56 Macro perspective thoughts? Why would I take on a business that FedEx refuses to operate?1:00:25 How do first-time buyers can get comfortable with the risk of things going south?-----Links:* Scuttlebuck Podcast* http://Twitter.com/BrockHBriggs-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, MorgSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) hosts this incredible episode with special guest Peter Erickson (@smbpete). Pete walks us through his incredible journey, starting as an apprentice in the physical therapy business, going through his transition into a business owner, leadership challenges, layoffs, getting things thrown at him, overcoming disease to returning to a lost business, buying mistakes & what he’d do differently.This is a packed episode, buckle up!-----Thanks to our sponsors:* https://Cloudbookkeeping.com - Cloudbookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping solutions for everyone from start-ups to mature businesses. Check them out & mention our podcast.-----* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:0:48 Cloudbookkeeping.com1:59 Pete Erickson - The Summit Physical Therapy, CEO3:34 Transitioning from employee to owner. How did you finance your acquisition?4:24 You bought a Clinic. What happened next? 5:45 Let's dig into those pushbacks, why were they so pissed off? How did you handle the situation?7:03 You mentioned maintaining people that weren't culturally fit for too long, what happened?10:42 Wait what? You laid off 90% of the staff?!?13:02 How does a captain handle a mutiny on the ship?15:48 Buying too small & buying a job: What did you learn about the business size that you're going to buy?17:56 One of the huge traps of buying a business 19:31 How to avoid a confusing marketing message?22:24 Growing and developing team members: When should you do it in-house and when should you invest in training? - Peter Principle24:48 How do you build processes and systems that help people to be autonomous?-----Links:* https://www.thesummitpt.com/physicaltherapy* Connect with Pete-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#90 Move over Elon - Here's what we'd do if we acquired Twitter#87 Yelp is not evil! Building a business using digital CAC - Featuring Johnny Robinson from Orange Window Cleaning#Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley), and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Mike Harrington (@MHarringtonNC) to talk about vacation rental management businesses, the industry, 2 Deals, the best criteria to choose a market, operation specifics, and more.-----Thanks to our sponsor!Fleetio's suite of cloud-and mobile-based fleet management solutions enables fleets of all sizes to automate fleet operations and manage asset lifecycles. Users can instantly access and update data regarding planned and unplanned maintenance, fuel, inspections, parts, and much more. It also improves communication and streamlines issue resolution with its mobile app, email notifications, and reminders. Fleetio integrates with telematics solutions for automated odometer updates and DTC handling, and pairs with fuel cards to automatically log transaction data. Fully optimize your fleet by giving fleet managers, drivers, technicians, and other personnel access to the tools and information they need anytime, anywhere.Questions? Call us at 1-800-975-5304 or email hello@fleetio.com-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.* Great Lakes Region VR Company* Colorado Ski-Market VR Company -----Show Notes:(00:00) - Intro(00:37) - Fleetio(01:55) - Mike’s background, business & vacation rental management(06:59) - Deal 1: 14 y/o Colorado Ski-country vacation rental management (11:17) - Does the reported revenue makes sense? They report 49 employees: what can you tell us about employees in the VR industry? Labor availability, regulations, geographic limitations(17:21) - What’s the correlation between business size and participative ownership?(19:41) - What’s been your experience when acquiring a new business and transitioning from the previous owner in the industry?(21:35) - What’s the implication of short-term rentals on revenue?(25:02) - Do you place your company listings on booking platforms?(28:08) - Deal 2: VR Management Firm(36:18) - Could you add a complementary business?(38:35) - What are the threats that you evaluate in this business?(41:20) - Why are fees in vacation rental companies higherSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) discuss the Twitter deal at this special Episode. We talk about the financials, the value, cashflow expenses considerations, vested vs unvested stock treatment, both businesses’ performances within Twitter (Ads & B2B), pricing power potential, how we would turnover cost centers to profit sources, new product ideas, breaking out of the culture bubble, and much more!We had a ton of fun recording this one, let us know what you think!-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:0:00 Intro1:17 Deal numbers3:19 What is Elon actually doing?6:13 It isn’t closed yet: Timing & steps in this kind of deals9:00 What is being bought? Take us through the financials Michael13:04 Stock-based compensation considerations14:59 Why aren’t they vomiting cash?16:00 Twitter is actually 2 businesses: How do they perform?18:15 Revenue Build: How do we make it grow faster? What’s changing on the operational side? What is the potential?20:34 Let’s put the Private Equity hat on:  What would we do?22:31 Exploiting the monopoly pricing power24:29 What’s happening with the advertisement rates? How does the ad engine work?29:04 Monetize these new business lines: We got 4 to start with. 36:40 Billion dollar idea: Get into recruiting39:57 Operational improvements: How do you reduce headcount organically? Why does moving the HQ make sense? 43:44 Let’s treat this as a growth asset-----Links:* Twitter M&A-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!#82 How GreatSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) is joined by Mehtab Bhogal (LinkedIn link) DTC eCommerce specialist to talk about distressed acquisitions & turnarounds, operations, capital structures, downsizing for quality, finding a business partner on Reddit, why makeup brands suck, and much more.We discuss a Bankruptcy deal, BH Cosmetics, linked below.-----Thanks to our sponsors! CloudBookkeeping offers adaptable solutions to businesses that want to focus on growth with a “client service first” approach. They offer a full suite of accounting services, including sophisticated reporting, QuickBooks software solutions, and full-service payroll options.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Acquisitions Anonymous Episode 89Show Notes:(0:00) Intro(1:00) Cloudbookkeeping.com(2:09) Mehtab's introduction(4:23) Why do you buy a business to downsize it? [Episode clip for wednesday](6:14) What is your general path after acquiring a business?(7:21) What does the cap structure look like pre vs. post-close?(10:23) How do you handle the Equity?(15:39) Let's jump to the Deal: BH Cosmetics.(18:14) Revenue trajectory(21:19) What is a 363 auction?(23:16) What does the process look like?(24:17) What do you think about this deal from a diligence and structure perspective?(26:52) How well do you know the business at the bidding stage?(28:26) Let's say you give it a go, how do you decide what the proposal is going to be for lenders and equity holders?32:00 DIP loan: Debtor in possession financing [Clip](32:43) What is the downside risk here? How does Karta add a layer of coverage?(34:46) Let's take about the operation side: How do you start a turnaround?(40:02) What are specifics about diligence for your company? Why are product teams so important?(44:05) BH got purchased at $4Mio. Was it expensive?(48:35) Tell us about the Return Profile, & how does it relate to equity value?-----Links:* BH Cosmetics Deal Link-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Elliot Holland (@ElliottEHolland) to dig into Quality of Earnings, why you need it, what you pay for, what to expect, Due Diligence processes, how to budget it and more.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:0:00 Intro1:57 What is Quality of Earnings (QoE) and what do you do at Guardian Due Diligence?3:12 I’m a buyer: What does Quality of Earnings do to prove the truthfulness of the seller’s numbers?5:23 Which are the added values and services that can be expected by a buyer?7:50 How much do you need to budget for a QoE? Does deal size matter?12:02 As a buyer, when do you need to expect to pay for the Diligence?17:20 What are other uses of a QoE report? Does it help with Banks, and potential LPs?20:21 How do you handle the seller to avoid deal fatigue?22:20 What do you request from a seller when performing a QoE? How do you cross-check that information?25:14 Have you caught a seller lying/misrepresenting stuff when performing an audit?28:14 How does a firm like yours organize structurally?30:29 What advice should you give a buyer looking for a QoE?33:14 What would you advise buyers, outside of your sphere of expertise?-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks#48 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Botkin of Benchmark GroupSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Johnny Robinson (@SqueegeeGod) in this episode. We talked about getting inspired to launch a business, building an online presence while differentiating from your competitors, W2 employees vs. 1099 workers, entrepreneurship learnings, maintaining successful business relationships, subcontracting as a growth medium, and much more!-----Thanks to our sponsors!MicroAcquire is the #1 startup acquisition marketplace. It is simply the most efficient way to buy and sell startups when you’re ready to make your next move.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:0:00 Intro1:03 Microacquire2:58 Johnny’s LLC and background5:11 How is the operation of your business currently?7:12 What did you study in school, and how did you find your way into entrepreneurship?9:47 How did you manage to go from operating your business to passive ownership?13:53 What have you learned by hiring W-2 employees and subcontracting through 1099s? What did you choose to scale up?18:38 Do your subcontractors represent your Brand?20:41 How is your customer acquisition funnel built? Can you walk us through your operation stack?21:47 How did you build a brand and differentiate yourself online? What’s your take on Yelp?28:00 What is your formula for home services businesses?33:41 How big can window cleaning businesses get? Which additional complementary services can you stack together? 37:29 What’s the story after the Covid bump you suffered back in 2020?42:27 Tell us about your crazy hiring stories-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks#48 Two Landscaping Businesses foSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) is joined by JK Molina (@OneJKMolina) for this Twitter masterclass episode. We talk about how SMB owners & Founders can leverage the platform, Twitter best practices, keys to writing a good thread, how to build a network, visible vs invisible scorecards, and much more.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Thanks to our sponsors!MoreNow.co: We help owners build a high functioning, experienced team by leveraging the top manager/director talent in the Phillippines. Go to morenow.co and fill out the form. Or email hire@morenow.co. Mention this pod for 20% of your first hire.Beyond8Figures.com - A podcast where entrepreneurs and experts speak up on topics related to business and life in general! Make sure you check them out ;).-----Show Notes:0:00 Intro00:35 Morenow.co2:24 Who is JK and why is he addicted to Twitter?4:55 When is Twitter useful? Where’s the potential?7:34 Visible vs invisible scoreboards11:44 How do you make it work?14:30 What is a humbleflex strategy?!?15:53 How do you acquire clients through the platform?19:32 What makes a good thread?24:40 Beyond8figures Podcast25:29 How should we understand the world of Ghostwriters on Twitter? What is their added value?28:57 How to hack Twitter? Where does Tweethunter enter? What do you need to avoid?32:44 What does Twitter have in common with High School?38:08 How do you handle Twitter hate?41:38 Is there advice for Founders & SMB owners to use the platform?-----Links:* https://tweethunter.io/-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) are joined by David Rontal (@davidrontal) to talk about the Oil & Gas Industry, its value chain, industry trends & opportunities, covid effects & labor issues.We discuss an Oil & Gas services Deal, and a Cannabis farm Deal based in Colorado, which surprisingly have many parallels. -----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Thanks to our sponsor!MicroAcquire is the #1 startup acquisition marketplace. It is simply the most efficient way to buy and sell startups when you’re ready to make your next move.-----Show Notes:(0:00) Intro(2:15) What is the value chain of Oil & Gas companies? What does each player do? What are the stages?(8:08) Why is the business so tough from a legal perspective? How is the mineral owner mindset?(11:05) Exit strategy? How does the Oil & Gas interest marketplace work?(16:32) Deal 1: South Texas Well Cementing & Acidizing Company (18:03) What does the company do? How do they operate? Where are the costs?(23:58) Services business in Oil & Gas: Is it lucrative? What should you look out for? Where is the value?(27:28) Why do they have more trucks than employees? What’s happening with labor?(31:37) What would you recommend to investors looking to enter the industry?(37:01) Microacquire(38:58) Deal 2: Cannabis farm based in Colorado(41:27) What does the Marihuana retail market look like? What does the location tell us?(45:32) Is there information missing on the listing? What hidden costs should you ask for? Is there a permitting process to be considered?-----Links:* MicroAcquire-----Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks#Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com