Heyo,

Failures. We all got them.

I heard an incredible entrepreneur speak the other day and he had a line that I'm gonna tattoo on my arm.

I wrote the check. - Trevor Farnes - CEO of MTNOPS

He was talking about opening up 7 franchise locations at the same time in 2008/2009. Of course, we know what happened in 2008 but after signing 7 personal guarantees on 7 different lease contracts.

All accountability stops with you. Same with your search. If you are failing in your search, you're the common denominator. You're also the common denominator for your successes too.

Let's dive into mine.

Stayed in Corporate America way too long. I'm not against W2s at all. In fact, without my W2 I would not have the network, partners and opportunities here. My W2 allowed me to build a company on the side without having to take a penny out for 3 years.

But I stayed too long. Way too long. I needed to bet on myself way earlier in my career. The more I bet on myself...the better the results.

Once I left my corporate America, my business skyrocketed. Then I sold it.

Started a Candy Factory...this isn't a traditional failure since the business was successful and awesome BUT it was the worst business for me, my desired lifestyle, and my skill sets. So much of what I do now is learned from mistakes I made here. Many of my mistakes were not understanding my own skill sets AND THEN what problems I wanted to solve with my day-to-day operations.

I was miserable trying to run this thing. I was there for 18-24 months and it was not a fit. I knew from month 2 it wasn't a fit.

Bought a website with custom coding...ugh, big mistake. I'm not a dev. I did bring a partner on who was but without the team and resources to rebuild the platform, everything took 10x longer than we planned.

Bought an app...this was a failure for me since I made a big mistake not being a developer here. Stick to what you know and don't dip your toe in stuff you don't know. I should've learned this the first time but I didn't.

Starting a podcast. This has been crazy successful but no one listened to the first 6 months. I beat my head against the wall and have no idea what I continued with it.

There are at least a dozen more....failed pickleball businesses, several bad angel investments,

Without all these failures, I wouldn't have many of my wins.

Cam and Sean sold their eCom business in May 2021 after 5 years. We dive into…

- Why sell their perfectly good business
- The selling process
- What they learned about their business from selling

1. Ski Resort Transportation Services Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Asking: $2,000,000

Cashflow: $1,348,938

What I like...it is sold by the owner. The multiple is super low. There has to be a ton of vehicles. There is almost no write-up so the books are going to be a disaster. I'd love to live in Steamboat Springs. :) 

Site: http://stormmountainexpress.com/ 

Click Here To View The Listing »

2. Established Metal Fabrication Business With Real Estate - Orlando, FL

Asking: $2.6 M

Revenue: $3 M

EBITDA: $467,627

What I like...27 years of history, 12 employees, and potential RE play too (which has a longer loan duration), I'm bullish on this type of manufacturing in the US, the books claim to be clean. I sure hope so. It also has $3M in inventory. Cool biz.

Click Here To View The Listing »

3. Art glasses and metal structures specialist - Miami, FL

Asking Price: $3.45 M

Revenue: $1.9 M

Cashflow: $1.9 M

What I like...1.8x. Is that real? 1.8x. I love that. Cash flow is close to $2m which is plenty of room to hire a great GM, expand, and self-fund growth,... There isn't a lot of info here which makes me wonder if it's another owner seller it. Good and bad news there.

I'd say expectations are going to be off but at a 1.8x...I'm packing my bags.

Click Here To View The Listing