Happy Thursday!

When you close on a business, the direction your life takes as an owner comes down to one thing more than almost anything else:

Whether or not there’s a capable person running the day-to-day operation without you.

Get this right and you’re an owner, focused on growth, strategy, and your next move.

Get it wrong and you’re an operator buried in daily fires, fielding every problem, and wondering why you left your W2 for something that feels harder.

A strong general manager is what separates those two outcomes.

The ideal scenario is buying a business that already has one.

But what do you do when the business you want doesn't?

Here are the three ways to make it work. 👇

Community Spotlight

Alex bought a $6M last mile delivery SaaS platform after using the training videos and weekly calls as his guide.

He used the training as his compass and learned from others’ shared experiences to close a multi-million dollar deal.

👉 Want training and weekly calls that serve as your compass through the process of acquiring a business? Book a call with our team here.

Option 1: Keep the seller in a GM role

If the current owner is running daily operations, they’re already doing the GM job, they just don’t have the title.

In some cases, the right move is to structure a deal where they stay on in that capacity for a defined period, typically two to five years, in exchange for retaining a small equity stake in the business.

This keeps continuity intact, gives you time to find and train a permanent replacement, and incentivizes the seller to make the transition work.

It’s not the cleanest setup, but it can be a very practical bridge, especially in businesses where the owner’s relationships and institutional knowledge are central to how things operate.

Option 2: Promote from within

Before you look outside the business, look inside it.

In a lot of small businesses, there’s already someone who functions like a GM without the formal role - a senior employee who the team looks to, who understands how everything works, and who has earned the trust of the people around them.

If that person exists, promoting them is often the fastest and least disruptive path.

They already know the business, they already have credibility with the team, and they don’t need six months of onboarding before they can be effective.

The key is being honest about whether they can actually handle the expanded responsibility.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate management structure before making an offer, and how to solve for gaps before they become problems post-close. To see how my community could help you secure your first business acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

Option 3: Hire externally

When neither of the first two options is viable, you go to the market.

This isn’t a bad strategy. Plenty of buyers do it successfully.

But it carries the most risk of the three, and it requires the most lead time.

Finding the right person, vetting them properly, getting them integrated into an existing team, and making sure they can actually operate independently takes time you may not have in the middle of an acquisition.

If you go this route, start the search as early in the process as possible (ideally before you close, not after).

And be honest with yourself about the timeline, as a great external hire takes longer to find than most buyers expect.

The Acquisition Ace community is full of people who’ve figured out how to structure management, protect their time, and build businesses that don’t require them to show up every day to function.

If that’s the kind of guidance you’re looking for, it might be worth a conversation.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see if it's a good fit.

Hey, it’s Ben!

In today’s off-market deal, I’m highlighting a precious metals trading business with over 30 years of operating history generating $20M+ in annual revenue and $3.2M in earnings that just came across our radar.

With a tenured COO already in place and a business model built on relationships rather than retail foot traffic, this is one of the more operationally flexible opportunities we’ve seen at this size.

Community Spotlight

Brittany bought an $850K medical weight loss clinic with 100% seller financing after joining Acquisition Ace.

She stuck with a deal for 9 months that others said to abandon, and now owns a business poised to become a seven-figure cash flow machine.

👉 Want to learn the principles that help you see diamonds in the rough others miss? Book a call with our team here.

The Deal Overview

This is a high-velocity buy/sell operation dealing in gold, silver, and rare coins across retail, wholesale, and collector channels.

The business earns through continuous arbitrage (buying and reselling metals and coins at a spread) supplemented by roughly 12 trade shows annually and a diversified distribution network spanning online marketplaces and strategic partnerships.

The current owner remains involved in high-value transactions and strategic relationships, but a long-standing COO and experienced sales and sourcing team handle broader operations.

This deal came through direct outreach in the alternative assets community and is not publicly listed.

The Numbers

Revenue: $20M+ annually

Earnings: ~$3.2M annually

Team: Lean, tenured staff including COO, sales, and sourcing personnel

Distribution: Online marketplaces, trade shows, wholesale and collector networks

Model: Relationship and digital-driven (no retail foot traffic dependency)

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get access to off-market opportunities like this before they hit public listings. Want first access to these deals? Book a call with our team here.)

Why this Deal Stands Out

Thirty-plus years of operating history in a trust-driven industry is extraordinarily difficult to replicate.

The seller relationships, sourcing networks, and reputation built over three decades transfer with the business, and that’s where the real value sits.

The asset-light, relationship-driven model also means a new owner isn’t tied to a physical retail location.

The business can be operated with significant geographic flexibility through its existing digital and partner channels.

For the right buyer, there’s also meaningful upside in scaling trade show activity, expanding online marketplace presence, and deepening wholesale relationships that are already established but underdeveloped.

Want access to more deals like this?

Inside the Acquisition Ace community, we share off-market opportunities and help 2,000+ members find, finance, and close deals on profitable businesses.

If you think you’d be a good fit:

👉 Book a call with our team here and let’s talk through how we can help you acquire your first business.

Happy Tuesday!

Last week I wrote about customer concentration (what it is, why it matters, and why I treat high concentration as a serious red flag when evaluating any deal).

Today, I’m sharing exactly how to identify it during due diligence, and how to structure protection around it before you close.

Community Spotlight

Avi and Jay bought a $1.3M cleaning company from another ACE member, and are now building a portfolio of cleaning businesses.

Their first deal came directly from networking inside the group, and now they're acquiring their second and third companies.

👉 Want to join a community where members share deals and partner together? Book a call with our team here.

Step 1: Request a full client revenue breakdown

Most sellers won’t surface this information on their own, so you have to ask for it directly.

What you need is a list of every active client, the revenue each one generates, and how long they’ve been a customer.

In some cases, particularly with smaller owner-operated businesses, the seller may not even have this broken out clearly.

That’s fine, but they need to get it to you before you go any further.

This is non-negotiable information.

If a seller pushes back on providing it, that’s its own signal worth paying attention to.

Step 2: Look beyond the percentages

Once you have the list, the obvious check is whether any single client represents more than 10% of revenue.

The next question is whether that relationship is transferable.

A long-term client who’s done business with the company for fifteen years is very different from one who came in because of a personal friendship with the seller.

If the relationship is built on the seller’s individual network or personality, there’s a real chance it doesn’t survive the transition, regardless of how loyal that client has been historically.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate customer concentration and structure deals that protect against it. If you’re curious about joining our community and learning how to evaluate deals for yourself, book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.)

Client tenure matters too. A business where most customers have been around for less than a year raises questions about retention, even if no single client dominates revenue.

Step 3: Review the actual contracts

After analyzing the client list, pull the underlying contracts and look at renewal dates, pricing terms, and whether there are any clauses that transfer automatically to a new owner or require renegotiation.

This is where you’ll find out if a major contract is expiring in three months, or if pricing is locked in below market in a way that’s going to compress your margins from day one.

Better to know now than after closing.

Step 4: Build protection into the deal structure

Work with your attorney to include representations and warranties in the purchase agreement confirming that the client list and revenue figures provided are accurate.

You can also structure performance-based payments tied to client retention, meaning the seller gets a portion of their proceeds only if key customers remain through the transition period.

This aligns their incentives with yours and gives them a financial reason to make the handoff as smooth as possible.

Spell out clearly what the seller’s post-close responsibilities look like:

• Which clients they’ll personally introduce you to

• How long they’ll stay involved

• And what that involvement actually requires from them week to week

When all of this is in writing and agreed upon before closing, you’ve substantially reduced the risk that comes from customer concentration.

If you’d like help navigating due diligence like this with people who’ve already been through it, the Acquisition Ace community is perfect for you.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see if it's a good fit.

Happy Monday, friends!

Today you’re going to hear a story about Chase.

He was the head of operations at a remote tech company who wanted to build wealth outside his W2 without leaving it.

After multiple deals fell through, he and his brother closed on an 85-year-old steel fabrication and welding company (including the real estate) for $1.85M, despite never having touched a welding torch.

Community Spotlight

Before getting into Chase’s story, I’ve got another cool win from the Acquisition Ace Community to share.

Troy structured a creative $600K doggy daycare deal with $0 down using seller financing and a hard money loan.

Monthly conversations with Ben helped him realize this was actually achievable, and now he’s making it happen.

👉 Want monthly guidance that turns “sounds impossible” into “I just closed my first deal”? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Chase had been searching for over a year, getting deals under contract and watching them fall apart for various reasons.

By the time the right deal appeared, he knew exactly what he was looking for:

• A business at least 25 years old

• A GM already running day-to-day operations

• And solid fundamentals that didn’t require him to become an industry expert overnight

He also brought his brother on as a partner, for someone with complementary skills, shared vision, and someone to split the workload with.

Finding the Deal

The deal came up on BizBuySell, which Chase almost dismissed (most of what he’d seen there was either overpriced or overrun with competing offers), and this one had multiple offers above asking price.

But Chase went all-in anyway.

He’d learned from previous failed deals what mattered most: building genuine rapport with the broker and the sellers.

That relationship ended up being the difference between winning the deal and losing it to a higher bidder.

It also led to an unexpected financial win:

The broker flagged a Huntington Bank program that allowed a 25-year amortization at 6.99% fixed interest because real estate represented more than 51% of the purchase price.

Compared to what a standard SBA structure would have looked like, that rate saved them an estimated $70-80K per year in debt service.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to build the kind of broker relationships that open doors like this, before and after a deal is under contract. To learn more about the Acquisition Ace community, and see if it's a good fit for you, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Original asking price: $2.75M ($1.2M real estate + $1.55M business)

Final purchase price: $1.85M ($1.2M real estate + $650K business)

Reason for reduction: Inventory true-up at year-end revealed a $200K discrepancy, dropping SDE and the corresponding multiple

Included: ~$1M in inventory, 3 acres, 28,000 sq ft of workshop space, vehicles and equipment

Financing: 5% down, 5% seller note (2-year standby), 90% SBA loan at 6.99% fixed, 25-year amortization

Projected SDE: ~$400K annually

Projected cash-on-cash return: 200%+ in year one

What They’re Doing Now

Chase and his brother hired an accounting and administrative specialist to absorb the outgoing seller’s duties from day one, meaning the business was operationally covered before they even walked in the door.

The GM has been with the company for 27 years, and the office manager for 38.

Chase’s approach from day one was radical transparency:

• No sweeping changes

• Open one-on-ones with every employee

• And a structured feedback process to understand what the team actually needed

By the end of the first week, the GM pulled Chase aside and told him it was probably the best thing that had ever happened to the company.

Chase is currently spending a couple of days a week on-site, not because he has to, but because he wants to.

The Key Lesson

“At worst, you might get 100% return on your investment this year. Most likely, it could be 200 to 300%. When I tell people that, they say my numbers are wrong. They’re not.”

Chase bought this company because the fundamentals were right, the team was in place, and the structure made sense - not because he was a steel fabrication expert.

The industry knowledge came with the GM, which is often what buying the right business actually looks like.

Ready to find and close your first acquisition?

Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Chase.

👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it’s a good fit.

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week, I told you about Leann, and how she, her husband, and their 21-year-old son closed on a $1.3M sign company in Denver seven months after joining Acquisition Ace.

Today, you’ll get their biggest lessons from that deal and how they pulled it off. 👇

Community Spotlight

Before we get into Leann and her family’s key takeaways, I’ve got another success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Kris bought a $2.6M oil field service company while keeping his full-time job at Chevron, and he’s now making $250K/year in passive income.

He went from knowing nothing to closing a multi-million dollar deal in 5 months.

👉 Want to learn exactly how to navigate lenders and close your first deal? Book a call with our team here.

“Buying an existing business where you have cash flow and revenue from day one is an awesome way to create opportunity, for your life, your family, and generational wealth.”

That’s what Leann told me three months into owning her first business, already landing a franchise contract through her son’s sales hustle, and planning the next acquisition.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Your family can be your team

Leann’s son couldn’t land a meaningful finance internship, so he channeled that energy into leading the acquisition search instead.

He did the outreach, screened the deals, and is now running sales and growth for the business.

The family divided roles based on their strengths, and it worked.

2. A 3-year seller note standby changes your cash flow math

Leann negotiated a seller note with zero payments for the first three years.

That structure gives the business time to stabilize and generate cash flow before the additional debt service kicks in, a critical cushion for any first-time buyer.

(Leann’s son was relentless, screening every deal against a structured framework and following up with brokers until he got a meeting. That kind of disciplined, repeatable process is exactly what we teach inside Acquisition Ace. If a community like that sounds like it could help you in your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

3. The first 90 days are rarely what you expect

Revenue in the first few months didn’t match the previous owner’s numbers.

Rather than panic, Leann stepped in, assessed the operations honestly, and started building the systems and processes that were missing.

Three months in, they’ve already landed a major franchise contract and are building toward recurring revenue streams.

This week’s action item

Map out your own team.

Who in your personal or professional network could play a role in your acquisition, whether that’s sourcing deals, reviewing financials, running operations, or supporting growth?

You don’t have to do this alone, and the right people around you can dramatically accelerate the process.

To hear the full story of how Leann’s family found, structured, and closed this deal…

Watch the full interview with her here.

P.S. Leann’s family wouldn't have gone down this road without Acquisition Ace.

The program gave them the foundation, the community gave them the confidence, and the tools gave them a repeatable process for finding the right deal.

If you want that same foundation behind your search…

👉 Book a call with our team here to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you land your first business acquisition.

Happy Thursday!

There’s a version of financial success that most of us were raised to believe in.

Work hard, get credentialed, land a stable job at a good company, stay loyal, and eventually, after decades of showing up, you’d have enough to retire comfortably and call it a life well lived.

That model made sense for a generation that could buy a house on one income, stay at the same employer for thirty years, and count on a pension waiting for them at the end.

That world is gone.

Community Spotlight

Garrett bought a $1.7M accounting firm and is now making $264K/year in profit.

He went from not knowing how to evaluate deals to confidently closing on a million-dollar business.

👉 Want to learn how to read financials and evaluate deals like a pro? Book a call with our team here.

What Changed

The cost of housing, education, and basic living has outpaced wage growth for decades.

Job security at even the most prestigious companies has proven to be an illusion.

Layoffs happen at scale, without warning, to people who did everything right.

And the idea that a salary alone can build real wealth has become increasingly difficult to defend.

None of this is the fault of the people who gave us that advice - they were working with the reality they knew.

But the reality has shifted dramatically, and the playbook hasn’t kept up.

What this Means Practically

A W2 income can absolutely provide a comfortable life! I’m not dismissing that.

But comfort and financial freedom are two different things.

A salary gives you income, but it doesn’t give you equity, ownership, or the ability to scale what you earn beyond what your employer is willing to pay you.

(The people I work with inside Acquisition Ace aren’t necessarily abandoning their careers. Many keep their W2 while building something parallel to it. To see if my community could help you secure your first business acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

The fastest path I’ve found to genuine financial independence (not just a paycheck, but actual freedom) is owning a small, profitable business with existing customers, existing cash flow, and a team already in place.

What it Looks Like on the Other Side

The people I’ve worked with inside Acquisition Ace have stopped building equity for others and are now building it with their own company.

They now get to make decisions that affect their income directly, and are creating something that can grow, compound, and eventually be sold for a multiple of what they paid.

That’s a fundamentally different financial trajectory than what the traditional path offers.

If you’ve been questioning whether the conventional route is going to get you where you actually want to go, that instinct is worth paying attention to.

And if you’d like to see if acquisition could be the way to go for your future…

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members go through the process of finding, negotiating, and closing their first business acquisition.

👉 To see if it’s right for you, book a call with my team here.

Happy Wednesday!

One of the biggest misconceptions I run into constantly is people assuming that buying a business means leaving their job first.

It doesn’t.

And for most first-time buyers, that’s actually backwards.

Today I’m going to share three objections I hear most often, and why none of them are the dealbreakers people think they are.

Community Spotlight

Zack bought a $2.1M accounting firm remotely (living in California, business in Virginia) after joining Acquisition Ace.

He closed in just 5 months… and he’s not even an accountant!

👉 Want transparent guidance that shows you exactly what to do to close your first deal? Book a call with our team here.

“I don’t have time to search for deals while working full-time”

This one has some validity.

If you’re working 60 or 70 hours a week, your bandwidth is genuinely limited.

But if you’re working a standard schedule, you have more capacity than you think.

Inside Acquisition Ace, we ask members to dedicate roughly one hour per day to their search.

That’s five to ten hours per week - less time than most people spend on their phone!

For buyers who are consistent and focused with that time, closing a first deal within six to nine months is very achievable.

You don’t need to quit your job to run a serious search. You need to protect a small block of time and use it well.

“I’ve never run a business before”

Most first-time buyers haven’t!

That’s not unusual, and it’s not a dealbreaker either.

If you’ve spent several years in the workforce managing people, overseeing budgets, making decisions, or leading projects, those skills transfer directly to business ownership.

You don’t need a business degree or an entrepreneurial track record.

What you do need is a basic understanding of how businesses operate and the ability to delegate effectively.

Both of those are learnable, and most people coming out of a solid corporate or professional background already have them.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members develop these skills while actively searching for deals, so by the time they close, they’re already prepared to step in. To see if it's a good fit for you, book a call with our team here.)

“I’ll have to leave my job to run the business after I buy it”

This is the most common assumption, and it’s also the least accurate.

The most time-intensive phase of this process is the search itself.

Once you’ve closed on the right business, structured it correctly, and put capable management in place, the ongoing ownership workload for most of our members is closer to a part-time commitment than a full-time job.

Around 60% of Acquisition Ace members buy their first business while keeping their W2.

Some eventually leave their jobs by choice, because the business income makes it easy and obvious.

But many others keep both going indefinitely, using the business as a parallel income stream while their career continues.

And if active ownership isn’t what you’re looking for at all, there’s another option worth knowing about: passive investing as a silent partner.

You provide capital, someone else runs the operation, and you collect a return without being involved in the day-to-day.

The point is that buying a business doesn’t have to mean blowing up your current life.

For most people, it can just be an addition.

If you’re ready to explore what that could look like for you, the Acquisition Ace community is a great place to start.

We help thousands of members learn the whole process of buying their first business.

To see if it’s a good fit for you…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Tuesday!

There’s one due diligence mistake I see first-time buyers make more than almost any other.

It's not about the financials, the valuation, or the management structure.

It’s failing to ask about customer concentration.

Community Spotlight

Josh bought a $3.8M digital marketing agency after joining Acquisition Ace, and said:

The group brought him the momentum and intention he needed to go from searching to closing his first deal.

👉 Want to become a part of the same community that helped Josh close a multi-million dollar deal? Book a call with our team here.

What Customer Concentration Actually Means

Customer concentration refers to how a business’s revenue is distributed across its client base.

A business with 200 clients where no single one represents more than 2% of revenue is very different from a business with 10 clients where the top three are responsible for half the income.

The general rule of thumb: if any single client accounts for more than 10% of total revenue, that’s worth paying close attention to.

Why this Matters More Than Most Buyers Realize

Small business owners often build deep, long-term relationships with a handful of key clients, and quietly, over time, those relationships become the backbone of the entire operation.

From the outside, this looks like loyalty and stability, and in some ways, it is!

But it also means the business is one phone call away from a very different financial picture.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate customer concentration and other key risk factors before making an offer, so there are no surprises after closing. If you’re curious about joining our community, book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.)

I’ve seen deals where a single client was responsible for 70% of annual revenue.

The seller had worked with that client for over a decade and was completely confident the relationship would survive a transition.

The Math Gets Ugly Fast

For businesses in the $1M-$2M revenue range, the impact of losing a major client can fundamentally change whether the business can cover its debt service and operate normally.

At that size, you don’t have the revenue diversity to absorb a significant loss.

And if there’s no active pipeline replacing outgoing clients, you can find yourself in a very difficult position very quickly.

What to Look For

Before you go deep on any deal, ask for a revenue breakdown by client.

Find out what percentage of total revenue each client represents, how long they’ve been a customer, and whether their contracts renew automatically or require active renegotiation.

If the seller is hesitant to share that information, that’s also a signal worth paying attention to.

This is one of those questions that takes five minutes to ask and can save you from a very expensive mistake.

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members go through the process of finding, negotiating, and closing their first business acquisition.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see if it's a good fit.

Happy Monday!

Today you’re going to hear a story about Leanne, a program manager with a background in talent acquisition.

Her husband was a military veteran turned federal government project manager, and their 21-year-old son was a finance major struggling to land meaningful internships.

Seven months after joining Acquisition Ace, the three of them closed on an established sign company in Denver, together.

Community Spotlight

Avi is an M&A attorney who closed on a $310K SaaS business in just 4 months after joining Acquisition Ace.

Even with 30+ deals under his belt as an attorney, he needed to learn the buyer side - and the community recorded calls taught him everything he needed to be successful.

👉 Want access to a library of deal breakdowns and a community of experienced buyers? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Leanne and her husband had been watching my content for about six months before making the first call.

They wanted to build something for their family’s future, and saw business acquisition as the path to get there.

Their son, frustrated by the brutal competition for finance internships, decided to channel his energy somewhere more productive.

He volunteered to lead the search entirely, doing all the legwork while his parents provided the capital and experience.

Finding the Deal

The son got to work on BizBuySell and SMBMarket, plugging every deal into my screening spreadsheet and reaching out relentlessly to brokers.

If the numbers made sense, he’d follow up until he got a meeting.

The sign company checked every box:

• No certifications required

• Recession-resistant (everyone needs signs)

• Recurring revenue potential

• And financials that worked

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get the tools, frameworks, and community support to run a search like this efficiently, even if they’ve never bought a business before. If you'd like to learn more, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Asking price: $1.4M

Purchase price: $1.3M (negotiated down)

SDE: ~$400K annually

Multiple: ~3.25x

Financing: 80% SBA loan, 10% seller note (3-year full standby), 10% buyer injection

The 3-year full standby on the seller note gives Leanne’s family breathing room to build cash flow before payments kick in.

What They’re Doing Now

Leanne stepped in full-time post-close when the operations manager who came with the business turned out to need significantly more oversight than expected.

Rather than seeing this as a failure, she’s treating it as a three-month investment to get systems, processes, and team structure where they need to be before stepping back.

Meanwhile, her son is functioning as the company’s chief of growth, running sales and project management, and already landing significant wins.

He secured an exclusive contract to wrap all trailers for a growing coffee franchise, which has since expanded into a full franchise relationship covering building signs, lobby signs, and ADA signage for every new location that opens.

The Key Lesson

“Buying an existing business where you have cash flow and revenue from day one is an awesome way to create opportunity for your life, your family, and generational wealth.”

Leanne didn’t come in with sign industry experience.

What she brought was decades of program management discipline, a husband with deep operational instincts, and a 21-year-old son with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

That combination is already paying off, and they’re already planning Magnify Signs 2.0.

Ready to find and close your first acquisition?

Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Avi and Jay.

👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it’s a good fit.

Happy Friday!

On Monday, I shared Avi and Jay’s story of how they bought a vacation rental cleaning company in Myrtle Beach, navigated eleven lender rejections, a late-stage linen crisis, and an identity theft scare two days before closing.

Today, you’ll get their biggest lessons from that deal, and our full conversation about how they made a successful deal. 👇

Community Spotlight

Before we share how Avi and Jay pulled off his acquisition, I’ve got another success story to share from the Acquisition Ace community.

Lindsay closed on a $999k carpet cleaning business in just 6 months and 15 days after joining Acquisition Ace, and said:

She’s still connecting with new members and getting value every single day, and that’s what sets our community apart.

👉 Want to join a community that supports you from day one through closing and beyond? Book a call with our team here.

“Get creative. There’s always a way if both sides want to get it done.”

That’s what Avi told me after closing a deal that nearly fell apart multiple times - and still crossed the finish line on schedule.

3 Key Takeaways from Our Conversation

1. Eleven NOs doesn’t mean the deal is dead

Avi and Jay got rejected by eleven lenders before finding one willing to finance the deal.

The business was only two years old and the DSCR was tight, but they kept shopping until they found the right bank.

Persistence in financing is just as important as persistence in finding deals.

2. When due diligence finds a problem, get creative with the solution

A linen management issue surfaced late, putting costs $15K/month over budget.

Rather than renegotiate the price and restart the entire loan process, they worked with the seller to leave $200K in working capital in the business post-close.

(Avi found this deal inside the Acquisition Ace community itself, posted by a member who was open to selling. If you want access to a community and network that could help you find your first deal, book a call with our team here.)

3. Keep the seller engaged after closing

Sean didn’t just hand over the keys and disappear.

He stayed on as business development lead, incentivized by his seller note to keep growing the client relationships he’d built.

That continuity protected the revenue and eliminated the typical post-acquisition speed bump.

This Week’s Action Item

The next time a deal feels like it's falling apart, write down every possible solution before walking away.

Price reduction, seller note, working capital concession, earnout, equity stake - there are more levers than most buyers realize…

So make a list of all of them before deciding a deal is dead.

To hear the full story of how Avi and Jay closed this deal against all odds…

Watch the full interview with them here.

P.S. This deal came from inside the Acquisition Ace community, with one member selling to another.

That’s what happens when 2,000+ serious buyers are all in the same room together.

If you want access to that network, and the mentorship to actually close your first deal…

👉 Book a call with our team here to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you find and close your first deal.

Happy Thursday!

I’ve noticed a trend recently where there’s more content saying that it’s super easy to succeed in acquisitions.

On one hand, I’m glad more people are being introduced to the idea that regular folks can buy profitable businesses.

That wasn’t a widely understood concept ten years ago, and broader awareness has opened doors for a lot of people.

On the other hand…

A lot of the acquisition content online often looks something like this:

• You find a deal

• Close it quickly

• Collect passive income

• Repeat until financially free

A drastic over-simplification.

Here’s what it actually looks like… 👇

Community Spotlight

Zachary closed on a $4.5M medical practice with 100% financing after joining Acquisition Ace.

Zachary got hands-on guidance through diligence, negotiations, and structuring, and ended up making a great deal.

👉 Want responsive support when you're evaluating and structuring deals? Book a call with our team here. Book a call with our team here.

Most first-time buyers will get deep into a deal that ultimately falls apart.

The due diligence uncovers something uncomfortable, or the bank comes back with terms that don’t work.

Whatever the reason, it happens, and it happens often.

But if you understand what the process actually involves, those “failures” just become data that help you move on to the next deal a little sharper than you were before.

(A lot of people join Acquisition Ace after having a deal fall apart and realizing they needed better guidance and a community that tells them the truth about this process. Our community can help you do just that. To see if it's a good fit for you, book a call with our team here.)

The Part Nobody Talks About

Going from zero to your first closed deal is genuinely hard.

Not because the concept is complicated, but because you’re building a skill set from scratch while simultaneously trying to execute on it.

You’re learning how to evaluate businesses and find good opportunities, figuring out how to navigate SBA financing, and developing the ability to spot red flags early instead of after you’ve spent months on a bad deal.

And none of that comes without putting in the reps

What Actually Works

Stubborn consistency over time.

That’s it!

Not a secret strategy or shortcut.

Not the perfect deal falling into your lap.

Just the willingness to keep going when the process gets frustrating, and the patience to trust that every dead end is making you better at this.

If you’re approaching acquisitions with that mindset, you’re already ahead of most people who come into this space.

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members learn the whole process of buying their first business.

👉 To see if it’s a good fit for you, book a call with my team here.

Happy Tuesday!

There’s something I’ve noticed after years of working with acquisition entrepreneurs:

The people who struggle most usually aren’t the ones who lack capital, experience, or connections.

Instead… it’s the ones who show up looking for a shortcut.

You can spot them pretty quickly:

• They want to know how fast they can flip a business

• They’re chasing the fastest possible return

• They’re drawn to the flashiest deal rather than the most fundamentally sound one

And the moment things get difficult, they’re gone.

Even if the get rich quick approach works in the short term, it tends to unravel over time. Here’s why 👇

Community Spotlight

Evan closed on a $1.6M janitorial company after joining Acquisition Ace.

He went from scattered and uncertain to structured and focused, then closed his first deal.

👉 Want the structure and guidance that took Evan from confused to closing? Book a call with our team here.

Wealth Built Fast is Fragile

There’s a reason so many people who come into money quickly end up losing it just as fast.

Usually, it’s because they never developed the judgment, patience, or discipline that sustainable wealth actually requires.

Buying a business can generate serious returns.

Some of my students have seen cash-on-cash returns that would make most investors’ heads spin.

But what looks like an overnight success from the outside is almost always the result of months of methodical searching, careful due diligence, and the character required to actually run a business well after the deal closes.

The acquisition is just the beginning.

(The Acquisition Ace community attracts a specific type of person - one who’s serious, patient, and in this for the long haul. If that sounds like you, book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.)

Why I Actively Filter for This

I’m not interested in working with people who see acquisitions as a lottery ticket.

Business ownership rewards people who think long-term, make decisions carefully, and treat the process with the seriousness it deserves.

The good news is that most people who find their way to this newsletter are looking for a real path to financial independence, one that’s built on solid ground.

If that’s you, then you’re already thinking about this the right way.

And if you’re ready to take the next step, I’d love to talk to you.

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members find, negotiate, and secure their first business deal.

To see if it's a good fit…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Monday, friends!

Today I’m sharing a story about Avi and Jay

• One is a lawyer who had already closed his first acquisition

• The other is a healthcare executive with an M&A background

Together, they bought a vacation rental cleaning company in Myrtle Beach, and nearly lost the deal two days before closing due to identity theft.

Community Spotlight

Before getting into Avi and Jay’s story, I’ve got a fun success story from the Acquisition Ace community.

“What I was missing the whole time was mentorship and camaraderie.”

Bryan became the first Canadian to close a deal in Acquisition Ace, buying a $125k trailer manufacturing business.

👉 Want mentorship and support from experienced buyers? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Jay and his wife Patty had been evaluating businesses for months, reviewing over 130 deals across nearly every industry.

Avi had already closed on an e-commerce business and was looking for his next opportunity.

When they decided to partner up, they combined Avi’s deal-finding instincts with Patty’s financial background and Jay’s operational experience.

Finding the Deal

The deal came from inside the Acquisition Ace community itself.

A member named Sean had posted that he was open to selling his short-term rental cleaning business in South Carolina.

Avi reached out, built rapport, and discovered a business growing at 40% year-over-year - cleaning Airbnbs and VRBOs across Myrtle Beach.

The catch?

Sean wanted a 5x multiple on a business that was only two years old.

Getting a bank to finance that was nearly impossible.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to bridge gaps between what sellers want and what banks will fund, using creative structures that work for everyone. To see if our community could help you too, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Purchase price: $1.5M (down from Sean’s 5x ask)

Structure: SBA loan (~$1M) + $400K seller note (10-year standby)

Working capital concession: $200K left in the business post-close (effectively dropping net price to ~$1.3M)

Projected free cash flow after debt service: $160K-$180K annually

Properties managed: ~250 and growing

When a linen management issue surfaced late in due diligence - costs running $15K/month over budget - rather than restart the entire loan process with a price reduction, Sean agreed to leave $200K in working capital in the business instead.

Then, two days before closing, a fraud alert surfaced on Jay's SBA application - someone had taken out a COVID-era loan in his name without his knowledge.

What typically takes months to resolve got cleared in less than 24 hours through a direct contact at the SBA, and the deal closed on Friday as planned.

What They’re Doing Now

Patty runs day-to-day operations, supported by a strong on-site GM and virtual assistants in the Philippines.

Sean stayed on as business development lead - incentivized by his seller note to keep growing the client base he built.

Two more acquisitions are already in motion:

1. A residential cleaning company in Charleston (smoother, more recurring revenue)

2. And a larger vacation rental cleaner that could bring combined revenue across all three businesses to $3-3.5M.

The Key Lesson

“Get creative. We got eleven nos from lenders before finding one that worked. When the linen issue hit, we found a solution that didn’t blow up the deal. When the fraud alert hit, we found the one person who could fix it in 24 hours. There’s always a way if both sides want to get it done.”

Every deal has friction.

What separates buyers who close from those who don't is the willingness to solve problems instead of walking away from them.

Ready to find and close your first acquisition?

Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Avi and Jay.

👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it’s a good fit.

Happy Friday!

On Monday, I told you about Taggart and how he closed on Terra Engineering (a niche Porsche racing suspension company with customers in 29 countries)…

For just 5% out of pocket, seven months after joining Acquisition Ace.

Today, you’ll get his biggest lessons from that deal, and access to our full conversation about how he pulled it off. 👇

Community Spotlight

Before we share how Taggart pulled off his acquisition, check out today’s latest success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Aisha left her corporate job at Amazon and bought a $2.4M CPA firm with her husband Mark while he kept his full-time W2 job.

They went from looking at big cities where brokers wouldn’t even return their calls to finding a small-town Indiana firm in an Amish community with sticky clients and clean books.

They closed on New Year’s Eve and are projected to make $500K+ annually by year two after transition costs.

They’re not CPAs, but brought Mark’s dad (who is a CPA) on board to help the seller feel comfortable, and it worked.

👉 Want to buy your first business and learn everything you need to have a successful acquisition? Book a call with our team here.

“Don’t ever think you have to have every single answer to be able to act. If you’re feeling nervous - good. Go take the next step.”

That’s what Taggart told me after closing on his first acquisition while still working his full-time W2 job.

(Taggart structured this deal with 75% SBA financing, 20% seller financing, and just 5% out of pocket. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to put together creative deal structures like this. Want to learn more? Book a call with our team here.)

3 Key Takeaways from Our Conversation

1. Your professional background is a competitive advantage

Taggart’s RevOps experience - building systems and finding operational efficiencies - made him uniquely qualified to modernize a 30-year-old engineering firm that had never had that lens applied to it.

Whatever your background is, there’s a business out there that becomes more valuable the moment you walk in.

2. Build the seller relationship early

Taggart and the sellers developed genuine trust from the start.

When uncomfortable conversations came up during due diligence (and they always do) that relationship is what kept the deal moving forward instead of falling apart.

3. Creative deal structure bridges the gap

When Taggart and the sellers couldn’t fully agree on price, they didn’t walk away.

Instead, they restructured.

The extra $150K became seller financing with a balloon payment, turning a sticking point into a workable solution for both sides.

This Week’s Action Item

Write down three ways your current professional background could add immediate value to a small business in your target industry.

Operational efficiency, sales systems, marketing, financial management.

Whatever your skillset is, that’s your edge.

Lead with it when you talk to sellers.

To hear the full story of how Taggart found, negotiated, and closed this deal…

Watch the full interview with him here.

P.S. Taggart spent seven months learning, evaluating deals, and building the confidence to act.

Having a community of people doing the same thing, and mentorship from someone who’d already done it, made all the difference.

If you want that same support behind your search…

👉 Book a call with our team here to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you land your first business acquisition.

Happy Thursday!

Something worth talking about that doesn’t get enough recognition:

The idea of job security - real, reliable, long-term job security - is largely a fiction at this point.

We’ve watched this play out in real time over the last couple of years.

Tens of thousands of people laid off from companies that were considered stable, prestigious, even enviable places to work.

People who had been loyal for years, performed well, built careers there…

Gone in a restructuring announcement that took thirty minutes to read and probably two weeks to forget.

The uncomfortable truth is that no title, no tenure, and no salary level protects you from that.

A decision gets made in a boardroom you’ll never sit in, and your livelihood is collateral damage.

Community Spotlight

Sam bought a $1.41M outdoor lighting company in Cincinnati that’s completely run by the management team…

And he’s on track for 150%+ ROI in year one!

The sales manager has been there 15 years, and the service manager has been there 9 years.

There are 7,000+ existing clients, 50% of sales come from repeat customers, and the business runs itself.

Sam’s leaving his demanding Amazon ops job to focus on the business full-time and sees $800K+ in additional revenue opportunity from holiday lighting alone.

👉 Want a business with a proven team already in place? Book a call with our team here.

This is About Clarity

The reason I’m telling you this is because a lot of people use the feeling of stability as a reason to delay making moves that would actually improve their situation.

“I’ll look into buying a business once things feel more settled.”

But settled compared to what?

The W2 job that can disappear with two weeks notice?

The income that's capped regardless of how hard you work or how much value you create?

There’s a hidden cost to staying put that rarely gets calculated honestly:

Your earning potential has a ceiling in a salaried role, and raises rarely keep pace with what you’re actually worth.

Every year you spend building someone else’s business is a year you’re not building equity, skills, and cash flow in your own.

And the longer you wait, the more compounding you’re leaving on the table.

(A lot of people come to Acquisition Ace after a layoff, but the ones who come before one have a significant head start. Inside the community, 2,000+ members are actively learning how to build income that doesn’t depend on someone else’s decision. If you’re curious how our community could help you with your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

What I’d Encourage You To Do

If you’re genuinely not in a position to move on a business right now - financially, logistically, whatever the reason - that’s completely valid.

I don’t believe in pushing people to make moves before they’re ready.

But if the honest answer is that you’re just sitting on the fence, waiting for a moment that feels perfectly safe before you act…

That moment isn’t coming. And the cost of waiting is real, even if it’s invisible.

The people who build financial independence through business ownership aren't the ones who waited until everything felt right.

They decided that depending entirely on a salary was the riskier path and acted on that belief.

If that resonates with you, I’d love to help you figure out what the first step actually looks like.

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members go through the process of finding, negotiating, and closing their first business acquisition.

👉 To see if it’s a good fit for you, book a call with my team here.

Ben here!

For today’s off-market deal, there’s a three-location outpatient physical therapy practice in North Carolina generating $3M in revenue and $950K in adjusted profit that we just discovered.

The owners are motivated to sell, one is willing to stay on in a paid clinical role for one to two years post-close, and the books are clean and ready for review.

Community Spotlight

Zach bought a $1.15M steel fabrication company in LA for just $115K out of pocket—and he's on track for a 200% ROI in year one while still working his W2 job.

He beat out over a dozen other offers by reading the room, building rapport with the sellers, and offering a clean all-cash structure they wanted.

👉 Want the resources and community support you need to close your first deal? Book a call with our team here.

The Deal Overview

This is an established physical therapy group that has grown from a single clinic into a three-location operation with a fully staffed clinical team.

The practice handles its own billing, insurance contracting, and claims management in-house, a significant operational advantage that most smaller practices outsource.

North Carolina permits non-PT ownership, which meaningfully expands the buyer pool beyond licensed clinicians to include investors, healthcare groups, and PE-backed platforms.

This opportunity came through direct outreach in the Southeast healthcare community and is not publicly listed anywhere.

The Numbers

Revenue: ~$3.0M

Adjusted EBITDA: ~$950K

EBITDA margin: ~31–32%

Clinical team: 5 DPTs + 4 PTAs

Owner 1 transition: 3–6 months (billing/admin)

Owner 2 transition: 1–2 years in paid clinical/leadership role (~$120–125K)

Books: Clean QuickBooks reporting + historical tax returns available

GM already in place for remote clinic operations

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get access to off-market opportunities like this before they hit public listings. Want first access to these deals? Book a call with our team here.)

Why this Deal Stands Out

A $950K EBITDA with no single-provider dependency risk is rare in healthcare.

Most physical therapy practices are built around one or two key clinicians, and if you lose them, the revenue walks out the door with them.

This group has nine credentialed clinical staff across three locations, making it genuinely transferable.

The in-house billing and insurance operation is another significant differentiator.

Strong reimbursement management is what separates practices that grow from those that plateau, and this one already has it built in.

With one owner staying on clinically for up to two years, a buyer has real runway to get embedded before taking full ownership of operations.

Want access to more deals like this?

Inside the Acquisition Ace community, we share off-market opportunities and help 2,000+ members find, finance, and close deals on profitable businesses.

If you think you’d be a good fit:

👉 Book a call with our team here and let’s talk through how we can help you acquire your first business.

Happy Tuesday!

If someone asked me to recommend one book to anyone exploring business acquisition for the first time, my answer is always the same:

Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel.

Here’s why it hit so hard for me personally, and what it can offer you 👇

Community Spotlight

Prashant and Arvind bought a $2.7M math tutoring business in Seattle with 1,000+ recurring students and 8 employees who run the day-to-day.

They beat 17+ other bidders by reading the room: the seller wanted simplicity, so they offered 100% cash with no seller note.

👉 Want templates, tools, and a network to help you win competitive deals? Book a call with our team here.

When I was working at JP Morgan, everything about my life looked right from the outside.

• Good title

• Good salary

• Prestigious firm

• The kind of job people congratulate you for having

But the reality of that job was grinding me down in ways that didn’t show up on LinkedIn.

The hours were brutal, the work felt disconnected from anything I actually cared about…

And the thing that bothered me most was the slow realization that I was trading the most important years of my family’s life for a paycheck that mostly just funded the lifestyle required to maintain the job.

I kept watching that trade happen and wondering if this was just how it was supposed to go.

Around that time, I started paying closer attention to the clients we worked with, people who had built real, lasting wealth.

What I noticed was that almost none of them got there by climbing a corporate structure.

They got there by owning things. Businesses, specifically.

That observation sent me down a rabbit hole, and eventually I landed on Buy Then Build.

What the Book Actually Taught Me

Instead of spending years trying to build a business from scratch - with all the risk and uncertainty that comes with it - you can buy a business that’s already working.

It sounds obvious in hindsight, but for someone who’d been conditioned to think the only paths forward were “start a company” or “keep climbing,” it genuinely opened up a different way of seeing things.

The book walks through how to find these businesses, how to evaluate them, how to finance them, and how to think about growth after the acquisition.

It’s highly practical, not theoretical, which is exactly what I needed at the time.

(If you want to go deeper than a book and actually learn how to execute on finding deals, financing them, and closing, that’s exactly what we do inside Acquisition Ace. Book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.)

What Changed After I Read It

I left JP Morgan, bought my first business, and now own eight.

More importantly, I’ve been able to show up fully for my family in a way that wasn’t possible when I was locked into a demanding corporate role.

None of that happens without that book putting a different idea in my head at the right moment.

If you haven’t read it yet, go get a copy.

It’s the best starting point I know of for anyone serious about this path.

And if you’re already past the reading phase and ready to start looking at deals, I’d love to help with that too.

Join the Acquisition Ace community, where we help thousands of members go through the process of finding, negotiating, and closing their first business acquisition.

To see if it's a good fit…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Monday!

Today I’m sharing a story about Taggart, a director of revenue operations at a tech company in Utah with a lifelong passion for cars and motorsports.

Just seven months after joining Acquisition Ace, he closed on Terra Engineering - a niche Porsche racing suspension company with customers in 29 countries - for just 5% out of pocket.

Community Spotlight

Before getting into Taggart’s story, I want to share another success story from the Acquisition Ace community.

Adam bought 50% of a $2M residential mortgage brokerage and AI software company with one of the most creative structures I’ve seen:

75% seller-financed on a 10-year full standby note.

He put $200K down, immediately started collecting $5K/month in guaranteed payments (replacing his W2 salary), and now owns half of a business expanding from 8 states to all 50 states with new banking partnerships.

The seller wasn’t motivated by money, he just wanted a strategic partner…

And Adam won him over by offering to handle backend operations so the seller could focus on growth.

👉 Want to learn creative deal structures that protect your downside? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Taggart had spent his career helping tech companies run more efficiently, by finding operational gaps and fixing them.

He’d always admired entrepreneurship but wanted a faster path than building from scratch.

When he came across the concept of acquisition entrepreneurship, it clicked immediately.

He joined Acquisition Ace in March 2025 and got to work.

Finding the Deal

Taggart evaluated three or four businesses seriously before Terra Engineering came across his radar.

Founded in 1995, the company designs and builds racing suspension components for Porsche vehicles.

For most buyers, a highly specialized engineering firm would be a hard pass, but for Taggart, it was a perfect fit.

He’d driven on tracks across the US and Europe, had deep connections in car communities, and immediately saw how his RevOps background could modernize a business that had been running largely the same way for 30 years.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to match their background and interests to the right deal, and spot opportunities others overlook. To see how you could benefit from our community, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Listed price: $2.5M

Final purchase price: $2.35M

SDE: $600K+

Financing: 75% SBA loan, 20% seller financing, 5% personal contribution

Cash out of pocket: ~$117K

Projected cash flow after debt service: ~$140K year one

Cash-on-cash return: Well above 100% in year one

Taggart negotiated the price down from $2.5M, and when the sellers needed to land at $2.35M, he met them there…

But structured the extra $150K as seller financing with favorable balloon payment terms rather than cash up front.

What He’s Doing Now

Three weeks post-close, Taggart is still working his full-time W2 job while running Terra Engineering on the side.

An operations director already in place handles day-to-day management, giving him room to focus on systems upgrades, including:

• New bookkeeping

• AI integrations

• And a scalability playbook he’s building from his RevOps experience

His goal is to fully exit his 9-to-5 within a year, then go all-in on growing Terra, attending track events across the US, expanding into Audi and other related brands, and strengthening the company’s already-global footprint across 29 countries.

The Key Lesson

“Don’t ever think you have to have every single answer to be able to act. If you’re feeling nervous, good. Go take the next step.”

Taggart didn’t know everything when he started.

He figured it out one step at a time, leaned on the community when he needed answers, and kept moving forward even when things felt uncertain.

That willingness to act despite imperfect information is what got the deal done.

Ready to find and close your first acquisition?

Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Troy.

👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week, I told you about Troy and how he bought a doggy daycare in Washington State for less than $30K out of pocket.

No SBA loan, no broker… and a projected 8x return on his investment in year one.

Today, you’ll hear the 3 biggest takeaways from his deal, and our full conversation detailing how he did it. 👇

Troy found his deal through his personal network. But most deals aren’t that close to home, and that’s where SMBMarket.com comes in.

SMBMarket.com gets thousands of business listings in one place, with filters, alerts, and deal tracking so you never miss an opportunity that fits your criteria.

With built-in earnings and financing calculators, you can screen deals fast, and get weekly live coaching calls to keep your search moving forward.

👉 Start your free 7-day trial at SMBMarket.com.

“Just keep shooting your shot. You’re going to limit yourself if you get too picky. Keep trying - eventually you’ll find one that hits all the buttons.”

That’s what Troy told me after closing on a 30-year-old doggy daycare through his personal network, after two other deals had already fallen through.

(Troy structured this deal with zero SBA involvement - just seller financing and a hard money loan secured against a rental property. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn creative financing structures like this. To learn more about our community and if it’s a good fit for you, book a call with our team here.)

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Your network is your best deal source

Troy bought it from a family friend who was approaching retirement and hadn’t even planned to sell.

Just by talking openly about wanting to buy a business, Troy had three more opportunities come to him after he’d already committed to this one.

2. Seller financing can replace the bank entirely

Troy used a 75% seller note, meaning the seller financed $450K of the $600K purchase price.

The first two years were interest-only, giving Troy breathing room to build cash reserves before principal payments kicked in, with no SBA required.

3. Raising prices immediately can offset your debt service

Troy raised prices 15% on day one.

That increase alone covered his monthly debt service, meaning his net cash flow after debt payments was roughly the same as what the business was generating before he bought it.

This week’s action item

Write down five people in your personal network who own a small business and are likely within ten years of retirement.

You don’t have to pitch them anything, yet. Just reach out, reconnect, and let them know what you’re working on.

You never know which conversation leads to your next deal.

To hear the full story of how Troy structured this acquisition from start to finish…

Watch the full interview with him here.

P.S. Troy had two deals fall through before this one closed.

What kept him going was staying plugged into a community of people doing the same thing: learning from every deal, good or bad.

If you want that same support behind your acquisition hunt…

👉 Book a call with our team here.

Happy Thursday!

There’s a trend that’s been building for a few years now, and it’s starting to get mainstream attention.

Graduates from top business schools are turning down high-paying offers from consulting firms and investment banks to buy small, boring, profitable businesses in industries most people overlook.

And it makes complete sense when you think about it…

Community Spotlight

David and Shawn bought a $1.25M landscaping company in Northern Colorado as 50/50 partners and immediately faced drama.

The seller left after one month instead of six, his sons went behind their backs to undercut them with clients, and the family made the transition toxic.

Instead of giving up, they rebuilt.

They hired a phenomenal GM, doubled the staff, landed a major snow removal contract worth $175-225K for just 3 months of work, and are expanding into maintenance with a plan to triple their crews by spring.

They went from firefighting family drama to building a scalable operation positioned for serious growth.

👉 Want to learn how to handle the ups and downs of acquiring your first business in the Acquisition Ace community? Book a call with our team here.

The old playbook doesn’t work anymore

For a long time, the path was clear:

1. Get your degree

2. Land a prestigious job

3. Climb the ladder

4. And eventually, maybe, reach a level of income and status that felt worth the sacrifice

But a lot of people who followed that path are looking around and realizing the finish line keeps moving.

The title gets fancier, the hours get longer, and the things that actually matter - time with family, flexibility, genuine ownership over your days - stay just as out of reach as before.

What people actually want is autonomy, not necessarily a bigger salary.

And increasingly, they’re figuring out that owning a small business is a more direct path to that than any corporate job will ever be.

I say this as someone who has an MBA

As I prepared to leave the Army I went and got my degree.

I learned the language of business - how to read a room, how to build a deck, how to talk about strategy.

What I didn’t learn was how to actually buy a business.

Reading financial statements, doing real valuations, negotiating with sellers, navigating SBA financing…

None of that was covered.

I had to figure it out the hard way after the fact.

So if you’re coming to acquisitions without an MBA or a finance background, you’re not at a disadvantage.

(The Acquisition Ace community was built specifically for people who are serious about learning this the right way, without spending years or hundreds of thousands on a degree that won’t teach you what you actually need. If you're curious whether it's a good fit, book a call with our team here.)

The window right now is significant

Over the next decade, tens of millions of baby boomers will retire.

They own close to half of all small businesses in the United States, amounting to roughly $10 trillion in business assets that need to change hands.

Most people don’t know this is happening, and because they don’t know, many of these businesses will either get absorbed by private equity or quietly close when the owner walks away.

That’s the gap, and it’s wide open.

You don’t need an MBA to step into it, or decades of business experience.

You need to understand how acquisitions work, find the right deal, and be willing to do the work to get it across the finish line.

The Acquisition Ace community can help you do that, and has already helped over 2,000+ members who are figuring out the art and science of acquiring businesses.

If you’d like to talk about joining the community and see if it’s right for you…

👉 Book a call with my team here.