Heyo,

I have a favor to ask.

I'm writing a book about how to quit your W2, not run out of money, and become your own boss. That's what I did and that's why most people follow the Podcast, Newsletter, and YouTube. I did it by starting, buying, and selling businesses.

Just reply back to this email if you've got any experiences or stories in doing this.

Tip of the week: How to not be a bad buyer.

I’ve been an online business broker for nearly 3 years. I’ve been on a LOT of buyer/seller calls.

The quickest way to turn off a seller is to tell them which premier MBA program you went to right off the bat during your intro. It’s a huge turnoff. No one cares but you.

In fact, the seller doesn’t usually have an MBA. You think it comes across as showing a buyer that you know what you’re doing and all it does is rub the seller the wrong way.

They expect you now to get fancy, too creative on deal structures, not get entrepreneurs or entrepreneurship, be too corporate-y, and worry about nickels in a multi-million dollar business.

And guess what, they aren’t wrong.

Non-MBAs sell businesses to MBAs. Straight facts.

MBAs can be great. Just keep it to yourself.

I specifically remember a call from 2 years ago where the buyer led off with how amazing their pedigree and training was. It was bizarre actually.

What happened?

They won the LOI and then tried to shave off 5% of the purchase price for no reason 3 days before the APA was supposed to be signed. They lost the deal and that employee went on to never close a deal with that firm.

They demoted him/her to some analyst position where they couldn’t talk to sellers. True story.

Put yourself in the sellers’ shoes. That’s it.

That’s step one in how you can be an awesome buyer.

Dave Lowell is a different breed of Financial Planner. He’s not your parents’ financial planner where there is no fun till you hit 65. Dave is a financial planner that wants you to have fun too.