Heyo,

Recently, I was working with a couple of different individuals. The project was taking a really long time, and everybody kept pointing the finger at everybody else. This was the case for lenders, brokers, and everybody in between.

Ultimately it wasn't until I stepped back and realized that there were different incentives to every single party. I needed to ask why they were involved, what was their upside and what was their downside.

It reminded me of this quote from a Biblical scholar named Hugh Nibley.

The Generalstab tried desperately for a hundred years to train up a generation of leaders for the German army, but it never worked, because the men who delighted their superiors, i.e., the managers, got the high commands, while the men who delighted the lower ranks, i.e., the leaders, got reprimands.

Leaders are movers and shakers, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, full of surprises that discomfit the enemy in war and the main office in peace.

For managers are safe, conservative, predictable, conforming organization men and team players, dedicated to the establishment.

Leaders are going to be unpredictable but also they're going to move a mountain.

Managers are going to be very predictable and typically don't have an upside if there's change.

**THEY are literally incentivized to not rock the boat. Rarely do they have upside.

At times I'm a leader at times I'm a manager but where I failed was understanding who was who in this transaction. (OR with any interaction in life.)

Ask yourself what the incentives are for every party here. Usually, several people are involved who don't have any upside and want to maintain the status quo.

Two quotes:

No one got fired by hiring IBM. - Someone Smarter

No one grows up dreaming of being an underwriter at a regional bank. - Me, not that smart

(I guess kids nowadays have bypassed dreaming of becoming rock stars and astronauts to become TikTok stars.)

Steve has invested in over 25 different search fund deals. That’s a lot. He’s also got an incredibly successful entrepreneurial background with multiple exits.

1. Established, Owner Absentee O&G Water Distribution Company

Asking: $3.3 M

Revenue: $5.4 M

Cashflow: $1.07M

The multiple is nice at 3x, probably is SBA financeable. It says owner absentee but I doubt you can run it this way. 2018 is fine but I'd rather have a little more history for a business like this.

I had a friend do really well for years with one of these businesses but then it dried up rather quickly. I'm not entirely sure but I think oil prices can have an impact on these businesses.

You need to dive deep into the assets and the depreciation here. These businesses have a bunch of trucks and they don't last forever so your working capital needs to be dial in.

These also rely heavily on relationships though. You really need to dive deep into this area about customer concentration, relationships, family members, etc. Also, I think this is in the middle of nowhere.

**If you are interested, I have several friends in the space you'd want to tap into.

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2. 100+ Year Multi-channel Brand- Event & Floral Supply Leader- 19% CAGR

Asking: $30 M

Revenue: $23 M

Cashflow: $5.8M

00 years old? Really? It was started in 1924 so technically it's 99 years...It's not a big deal but if I can find a mistake on math in the title then you need to triple-check every equation...

Multiple is probably about right in the 5x range. I'd say it could even be higher. If I was them, I'd hit 1800 Flowers, etc. first (which they probably already did).

Sell on Amazon, tons of wholesale accounts and reinvented itself several times. 23 employees,

It's based in FL but has operations in NY. Maybe growing flowers down south and selling to Manhattan. Fascinating business.

I really like this one if you had a solid team and some capital to work with.

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3. Profitable Local Nurse Staffing Agency with $15M Revenue!

Asking Price: $7M

Revenue: $15M

Cashflow: $2.9M

This is an extremely profitable business with less than 5 years of operating history. So this business is very intersting ot me because of the size, probably SBA financeable, big enough for a solid CEO but I truly know nothing about this deal.

**If you are interested, I have several friends in the space you'd want to tap into.

Click Here To View The Listing