Heyo,

Alright, this list below is from Chad Willardson. It blew my mind. Chad is a financial planner for 1st generation entrepreneurs that have $10M+ in assets to manage. Quite a niche huh?

He's also a very clear thinker and a wonderful follow on the web.

Here is the LI Post about it.

A few areas we can upgrade by "increasing quality while decreasing quantity":

🔺 what we eat

🔺what we drink

🔺how much we scroll

🔺what we watch

🔺what we read

🔺what we listen to

🔺who we hang out with

🔺what we invest in

🔺what we buy

🔺what we wear

🔺where we go

🔺how we exercise

🔺who we talk to

🔺what we say

Less is more.

5 months left in 2023!!

Why I love this.

Who isn't overworked and overstimulated with information and video and entertainment? Who has enough time in the day for endless consumption and output and emails?

I believe that we run into quantity issues over time because, at certain points in our life, quantity is more important than quality. Like when I was broke in college...eating $.30 ramen noodles was perfectly fine and you just need some calories. :)

When my wife and I got married, I had $1200 in my account after buying a ring and 1.5 months downpayment for our basement apartment with no outside light. (Rent was $700/month which is starting to sound amazing right now.) We didn't have anything lavish but quantity mattered, even if it was cheap. We were incredibly blessed to not have any debt.

(We also drove her car for the next 8 years of our marriage till it died on me on the freeway. Someone I missed hitting anyone while swerving across 4 lanes to the shoulder as my speed dropped...)

Those are just two money examples cause their top of mind.

Lately, I've started to focus more on the quality of things in my life vs the quantity. I'd rather have a few nice shirts that fit great vs a ton of free ones. I'd rather have an amazing trail run than a mediocre workout at the gym.

We live in a world of so much excess, that more people die from too much fat/sugar/food (heart disease), than really anything else.

When it comes to your search...

Where is the quality?

What drives the most value?

What tasks are driving value?

How do you reduce the noise?

What is going to get you in front of the best deals, the best sellers, and the best brokers while not competing at the mediocre level?

Darren Neilson is an acquisition attorney who focuses on bankruptcy sales. He helps transition businesses during bankruptcy and is a wealth of knowledge around legal, acquisitions, and interacting with attorneys.

1. Established Tire and Towing Businesses - Cayuga County, NY

Asking: $1.8 M

Revenue: $1.9 M

Cashflow: $565K

What I like about this business...

It's 40 years old, smaller town and loyal following (well, at least they claim that). The two businesses together are cool and probably work together. It has fleet accounts, 10% seller note, is a ~3x multiple, 20 employees.

It also seems to be the biggest in town. I have a friend who has a dealership and he bought the lube shop next door. He crushes it.

Concerns...

You might have to live in a small town. Your manager will quit one day. Ask questions about what type of contracts and relationships (AAA, insurance, etc.) might exist. Always ask if there are family members involved as employees, partners, service providers, etc. AND figure out who owns the land and if it's for sale. The GM will want a raise or equity within 30 days.

Dive deep into what the owner did well and what were their day-to-day roles.

Click Here To View The Listing »

2. Design, Fabrication, and Installation Business w Strong Profit - Seminole County, FL

Asking: $4 M

Revenue: $5.1 M

EBITDA: $950K

What I like about this business...

30+ Years. Works with 75 different general contractors, low customer contraction, 27 employees, decent multiple, and including $200k of working cap. Claims very clean financials. You be the judge of that. :)

Concerns...

Need a big deep dive into how they are calculating EBITDA and Cash Flow. These are not the same so make sure these are correct. Family, Family, Family. Are they related to any employees or contractors here?

Who are the 75 contractors is huge and you need to do a deep dive into customer concentration. It says less than 10% BUT, verify. 2 Weeks for a transition is not enough. You need 2 months at a minimum.

Click Here To View The Listing »

3. Great Existing Franchised Home Care Company - Lehigh County, PA

Asking Price: $1.4 M

Revenue: $3.3 M

Cashflow: $416K

What I like about this business...

I like this niche. Aging population.

There has to be good systems and a good office manager / GM involved to have $3.3M in revenue and 95 employees.

"The Company has also invested heavily in digital marketing assets which will position a prospective buyer for continued success." - This is interesting if true.

Concerns...

Multiple is a little rich at 3.4x. Have it come down slightly or seller note/earn-outs.

95 employees? Seems like a lot of employees. Understand the leases and terms. Get early from the landlord approval to buy the business. Only 8 years old. Relatively new in a very old industry.

I think this industry has a high turnover of clients as you can imagine...

It says the business has been stable and upward trending. Well, which one is it? Growing or stable and not growing?

Click Here To View The Listing

Here is an interesting video From David Burnett. He's a friend, was on the podcast a while back and we'll be doing some collaborations shortly. He's got some wonderful books and a fantastic YouTube channel. Definitely subscribe below.

My life as a business broker & why I left the industry- David C Barnett