Happy Friday!

On Monday, I told you about Michael, a British expat and new father who closed on a remote podiatry billing company for $2.6M…

While working 50+ hours a week at his day job, putting in $266K of his own money, and projecting a 150%+ return in year one.

Today, I’m sharing his biggest lessons from the acquisition, and our full conversation about how he pulled it off. 👇

Before getting to Michael’s top 3 lessons, here’s today’s success spotlight from one of our community members.

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.

“If I really wanted to, it could take zero of my time. But I’m trying to build it to a level where it can replace my W2 as quickly as possible.”

Michael told me that a few months into owning a fully remote business he found through off-market outreach, in a niche he’d never heard of before.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Use the skills you already have to find deals

Michael spent his career identifying companies that were hiring.

He simply changed the criteria to look for revenue size, employee count, and SIC codes instead of open roles.

Your professional tools and background might already be your best deal sourcing advantage.

2. A tiered seller note can solve a valuation standoff

The seller believed the business was worth more than its current performance suggested.

Michael wouldn’t pay for future growth that hadn’t happened yet.

The solution was a seller note that pays out in tiers based on two-year average revenue post-close.

If it grows, she gets more. If it doesn’t, Michael’s effective purchase price drops significantly.

Win-win.

(Michael used his professional recruiting tools to find off-market acquisition targets - the same databases, just different search criteria. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn creative ways to source deals beyond the standard listing sites. If you want to see how our community could help with your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

3. Niche businesses built on referrals are goldmines

This company spent 30 years growing entirely through word of mouth.

This left huge untapped upside waiting for a buyer with the right skills to capture it, and Michael’s sales background is exactly what this business needed.

This week’s action item

Think about the professional tools you already use in your current job:

• Databases

• CRMs

• Research platforms

• Industry directories

Write down three ways you could repurpose those tools to identify potential acquisition targets in your area of expertise.

You may already have a deal sourcing advantage you haven’t thought to use!

To hear the full story of how Michael found, structured, and closed this deal while juggling a demanding W2 and a newborn at home…

Watch our full interview here.

P.S. Michael credits the one-on-one coaching calls as the thing that made the most difference, especially when the deal structure needed to shift and he needed someone to think through it with him in real time.

If you want that level of help and support behind your search to acquire a business…

👉 Book a call with our team to see how the Acquisition Ace community can help.

Hey, Ben here!

Something I’ve learned from building a portfolio of eight businesses that most people figure out too late:

What you choose not to do is just as important as what you choose to do.

There are a few specific categories of work I’ve deliberately removed myself from across all of my businesses, because doing them would make me the bottleneck in every single one.

Let’s get into them. 👇

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.

I don’t take customer calls

The customers in my businesses don’t know my name.

As far as they’re concerned, the general manager runs the operation…

Because the general manager does run the operation.

The moment customers can reach the owner directly, every complaint, every question, and every issue starts routing to you.

This boundary has to be established from day one.

If customers get used to calling you directly during the transition period, breaking that habit later is genuinely difficult.

The cleaner approach is to never establish it in the first place.

I (largely) don’t handle employee issues

When someone calls out sick, when a performance problem needs to be addressed, when a scheduling conflict comes up, that goes to the GM.

I may be looped in on significant personnel decisions depending on the business, but the day-to-day management of people isn’t mine to carry.

A business where the owner is handling shift coverage and performance coaching can’t scale, and more importantly, it can’t run without you.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to structure deals from the start so this separation is built in. To see how our community could help you land your first acquisition deal, book a call with our team here.)

Why these decisions matter so much

Customer calls and employee issues are two of the highest-volume, most time-consuming categories of work in any service business.

They’re also two of the easiest to delegate if you set up the right structure going in.

The goal here is to make sure the right people are handling the right things, so that when something truly requires owner-level judgment, you have the capacity to actually think clearly about it.

Next week, I’ll get into a few other things I refuse to do, and why removing yourself from them is so important.

If you’d like to speed up your learning curve and acquire your first business, the Acquisition Ace community can help.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see if it’s right for you.

Happy Wednesday!

In the last few newsletters, I’ve covered financial systems and operational systems - foundations that keep my portfolio running accurately and consistently.

Today I’m sharing the third piece: communication systems.

This is what makes the whole framework sustainable long-term.

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.

Weekly check-ins with general managers

I have a standing weekly call with each of my general managers.

These are structured conversations covering what’s happening on the ground, how the team is performing, and anything coming up that needs owner awareness.

These calls keep me genuinely informed without requiring me to be present in daily operations.

The GM handles everything beneath the owner level.

My job on these calls is to listen, ask the right questions, and make decisions when decisions are needed.

Monthly deep dives

Once a month I do a longer session with each business.

These include thorough reviews of performance, what’s working and what isn’t, and where the business should be directing energy over the next 30 days.

This is where trends get examined more carefully, where strategic decisions get made, and where I can look at the bigger picture rather than the day-to-day.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to set up these rhythms from the moment they close, so they're building toward a hands-off ownership model from day one. To learn more about our community and how it can help you successfully acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)

Emergency protocols

The third piece is something most new owners overlook:

A clear agreement with your management team about what kinds of decisions require owner approval and how to reach you when something genuinely urgent comes up.

Having this defined upfront means that the things that do need you get to you quickly, with the right context, so you can make a decision and move on.

Most business owners believe they need to be involved in everything to maintain quality, which traps them.

Good systems exist to remove you as the bottleneck.

Build them right, and your business can perform whether you’re there or not.

If you’d like help thinking through how to build this kind of structure into your first acquisition, that’s exactly what the Acquisition Ace community helps people do.

To see if it’s a good fit for you…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Tuesday!

Last week I covered the importance of financial systems and how I maintain visibility across my portfolio without being pulled into the details every day.

Today I’m covering operational systems, which ensure the work gets done correctly whether or not you’re in the building.

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.

The problem with knowledge that lives in people’s heads

When a key employee leaves (and eventually, they will) the knowledge they carry walks out the door with them.

The only way to prevent that from becoming a crisis is to document how critical work actually gets done before you need to replace anyone.

Every important process in my businesses has a written standard operating procedure (and not because I love paperwork!).

I do this because documented processes allow a new hire to step in and maintain quality without a six-month learning curve.

This is especially important in the first year of ownership.

You’re still learning the business yourself.

The last thing you need is for a key person to leave and take institutional knowledge with them that nobody else has.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate whether a business already has documented processes in place before making an offer, because it significantly affects how smooth the transition will be. To see how our community can help you on your path to business ownership, book a call with our team here.)

Measuring what matters

Documented processes only work if you’re also tracking whether they’re being followed and whether they’re producing the right results.

If your business needs a certain volume of activity to hit its targets:

• Jobs completed

• Clients served

• Calls made

Then you need to know what that number is and whether you’re hitting it, because you can’t act on a problem you can’t measure.

Investing in your people

The third piece of operational systems is ongoing training.

People who feel like they’re developing stay longer and perform better.

Retention directly affects operational stability, and operational stability is what allows you to step back without things falling apart.

When you invest in developing your team, they become more invested in the business.

That shift - from employees who show up to employees who care - is one of the most valuable things you can create as an owner.

Tomorrow, I’ll cover communication systems, and how to stay connected with your team without getting pulled back into daily operations.

In the meantime, to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you successfully acquire your first business…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Monday, friends!

Today I’ve got a story about Michael, a Chief Sales Officer at a fast-growing US recruitment firm, a new father, and a British expat who had never owned a business in his life.

Six months after joining Acquisition Ace, he closed on a remote podiatry billing company (a niche he’d never heard of) for $2.6M, while still working 50+ hours a week at his day job.

Before sharing Michael’s story, here’s another success story from our 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.

Before the deal

Michael had spent 15 years building a career as an employee, watching a company grow from 15 people to 300 through two capital events.

He was good at it. But he was getting paid on the growth of someone else’s business rather than the profit of his own.

When his son was born in March 2024, something clicked. He joined Acquisition Ace the same month, started learning the framework, and began his search immediately.

Finding the deal

The podiatry billing company came through searching for off-market deals. The seller was 64, had built the business over 30 years entirely through referrals (her husband is a podiatrist), and was starting to think about a transition… but wasn’t in a rush and didn’t want to be pushed out.

That was perfect for Michael, as he needed someone to keep running the business.

All employees are 1099 contractors, margins are consistent regardless of revenue level, and the business is entirely remote.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get one-on-one coaching support to work through complex deal structures like this one. To see how Acquisition Ace could help you acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)

The deal breakdown

Purchase price: $2.6M (structured as a tiered earnout-style seller note)

SDE: ~$550K

Financing: 10% buyer down payment, 60% SBA loan, 30% seller note

Seller note: Tiered based on two-year average revenue post-close

Projected year-one cash flow after debt service: ~$400K pre-tax

First full month profit: ~$35-40K

Projected cash-on-cash return: 150%+

The tiered seller note structure protected Michael’s downside while giving the seller a genuine incentive to stay engaged and grow the business.

What he’s doing now

Michael’s still working his W2, and the seller runs all daily operations.

He’s investing 5-10 hours a week building out growth infrastructure:

• Setting up HubSpot

• Launching LinkedIn outreach

• Automating payment processing

• And engaging a marketing agency for a three-month campaign

The business has never done any proactive outreach.

Every client came through referrals, and Michael sees that as pure upside waiting to be captured.

The key lesson

“If I really wanted to, it could take zero of my time. But I’m trying to build it to a level where it can replace my W2 as quickly as possible.”

Michael closed his first deal in six months while working 50+ hours a week and becoming a first-time father in the same year.

He did it by finding a business that could run without him, structuring a seller note that protected his downside, and leaning heavily on one-on-one coaching support to get the deal structured correctly.

And that combination of the right deal, the right structure, and the right guidance made it possible.

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 Michael.

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

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week I told you about Rodrigo, a Turo entrepreneur who put both of his houses on the line with a newborn at home, almost walked away from the deal when the bank’s collateral requirements arrived, and closed anyway.

One year later he’s generating $200K+ in profit on top of a $96K salary.

Today, you’ll get his top 3 lessons from the deal, and access to our conversation where he shared the crazy story of how he closed. 👇

Before we get to Rodrigo’s biggest lessons, here’s a success spotlight on one of our community members.

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.

“You can’t let fear paralyze you. Our heads are our biggest enemy. If you’re able to push through those bad mental moments, you’re going to get it.”

That’s what Rodrigo told me a year after closing on a 32-year-old mechanic shop he had no prior experience running, and saying he’d do it all over again without hesitation.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Let your lender help shape your search

Rodrigo originally wanted an electrical or plumbing company. His lender suggested he look at automotive businesses given his Turo background.

That pivot led directly to the deal he closed.

Your lender’s perspective on where you’ll be most financeable is worth taking seriously.

(Rodrigo’s lender pointed him toward the automotive space based on his Turo background, a direction that led directly to this deal. Inside Acquisition Ace, members get connected with experienced lenders who help shape their search criteria. If you’d like to learn more about how our community of deal makers could help with your first deal, book a call with our team here and let’s talk.)

2. Clean books are huge

Rodrigo wrapped due diligence in under a month - almost unheard of for a sub-$5M deal.

The reason: the seller had genuinely clean books with no personal expenses mixed in, no inflated add-backs, and financials that matched exactly what was represented.

When you find a deal like that, move fast.

3. Identify your key person on day one

Rodrigo’s foreman had been a mechanic for 30 years.

From the moment he took over, Rodrigo leaned on him heavily - for operational knowledge, for credibility with the rest of the team, and for keeping things running while he got up to speed.

Finding and protecting that person early is one of the most important things a new owner can do.

This week’s action item

Pull up your pre-qualification status with an SBA lender, or take the first step toward getting one if you haven’t yet.

Bring your last three years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, and a personal financial statement.

Knowing your real buying power before you fall in love with a deal changes how you search and how seriously brokers take you.

To hear the full story of how Rodrigo found, negotiated, and closed this deal despite nearly walking away at the finish line…

Watch our full interview here.

Onward,

— Ben Kelly

P.S. Rodrigo said Acquisition Ace gave him everything he needed, but was clear that the tools only work if you do.

He was on calls constantly, submitting deals for review, and putting in the hours.

If you’re ready to put in that same effort with the right support behind you…

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

Hi, it’s Ben!

After people close their first deal, one of the first questions I get is:

“How do I actually step back from day-to-day operations without everything falling apart?”

It happens because you build the right systems - deliberately, before you think you need them.

There are a handful of systems I rely on across my entire portfolio that set me up for success.

Today, I’m starting with the one that underpins everything else: financial systems.

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.

Knowing what’s actually happening

You can’t manage what you can’t see.

And many business owners have a much fuzzier picture of their finances than they realize.

My foundation is real-time visibility.

I use dashboards that pull together the prior day’s revenue and key performance indicators across my businesses.

That 15-minute morning check I’ve mentioned before is only possible because the data is organized and accessible, not buried in spreadsheets or locked inside someone else’s head.

Beyond daily visibility, I review monthly P&L statements that show exactly where revenue is coming from and where money is going out.

This is where trends become visible early enough to actually do something about them.

Cash flow gets the most attention of all.

Revenue numbers can look healthy while a cash flow problem is quietly building underneath.

When cash flow starts trending downward, that becomes the immediate priority until it’s fixed.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to set up financial visibility from day one so they’re never operating blind. To see how our community could help you on your path to business acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

The role of professional bookkeeping

Professional bookkeepers handle weekly reconciliations and keep the numbers clean across my portfolio.

This is what makes everything else in this framework possible.

When your numbers are accurate and current, you can make decisions quickly and confidently.

When they’re not, you’re always operating with a delay, reacting to problems that already happened instead of catching them early.

Clean books also matter enormously when it’s time to sell.

A business with three years of clean, well-documented financials commands a significantly higher multiple than one with messy books, even if the underlying performance is identical.

Next week I’ll cover operational systems, and how to ensure work gets done consistently whether or not you’re in the building.

If you’d like to start building toward this kind of ownership structure, the Acquisition Ace community is a great place to start.

To see if it’s right for you…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday I walked through how I stay on top of eight businesses in under an hour every morning, and what I’ve deliberately chosen not to be involved in.

Today I want to cover the rest of the day: the focused work that actually moves things forward, and what happens once that work is done.

“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.

The focused work: strategic, not operational

Whatever concentrated work I do each day happens in the afternoon, and it’s almost entirely strategic.

That might look like analyzing performance trends across the portfolio and identifying where attention is needed.

Or exploring industries that could be worth moving into next.

Or looking at whether two of my businesses could work together in a way that generates more revenue for both.

On a weekly cadence, I review financial reports across all my businesses.

This is to catch issues early, before they become expensive.

Problems exist in every business, even healthy and profitable ones, and most get resolved at the team level without me ever knowing about them.

The ones that require a capital decision or a significant operational change are the ones that come to me.

That’s my filter: if it can be handled without me, it should be. If it genuinely requires an owner-level decision, I step in.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to build this kind of decision filter into their businesses from day one, so they’re spending time on what matters. If you want to learn more about how our community can help you acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)

What happens after the work is done

Once the focused work is finished, my time is genuinely mine.

Mornings are for personal priorities like working out, reading, having time to think.

Afternoons, once my kids are home from school, I’m fully present for sports practice, homework, and dinner.

I didn’t stumble my way into this.

This is the direct result of how I’ve structured every deal I’ve done, specifically to make sure the business doesn’t require me to be available every hour of every day.

What this means for you

The version of ownership all starts with how you approach your first deal.

The most important decisions happen before you close, in what kind of business you buy, whether management is already in place, and how the deal is structured so you’re not the person the whole operation depends on from day one.

Get that right on deal one, and you’re already building toward the kind of schedule I just described.

The Acquisition Ace community exists help speed up your learning curve on acquiring your first business, and if you’d like to learn more to see if it’s right for you…

👉 Book a call with my team here.

Happy Tuesday!

One of the questions I get almost every day is:

“If you only work a few hours a day, what are you actually doing during that time?”

Today I’m going to answer it, starting with my morning, and the habits that keep me informed without pulling me into the weeds.

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.

Checking in without getting pulled in

The first thing I do each morning is check performance across my businesses.

I have dashboards set up that show me the prior day’s numbers - revenue, key metrics, anything that tells me at a glance whether things are trending in the right direction.

This takes maybe 15-20 minutes total across all of them.

Then I go through email.

Most of it I’m CC’d on for visibility because I want to stay aware of what’s happening without being in every conversation.

When something requires my direct input, I handle it.

Everything else gets managed by the people I’ve put in place to manage it.

I’m not answering customer inquiries or handling operational problems.

My general managers own those things, so I can focus on knowing what’s happening without having to fix every problem that shows up.

What I deliberately don’t do

• Take customer calls

• Get involved in employee disputes unless they escalate past the GM

• Handle day-to-day vendor relationships

• Do operational work of any kind

That boundary is about protecting the time and mental bandwidth required to actually think clearly about the businesses I own and where they’re going.

When you let operational tasks bleed into your day, they expand to fill all of it.

The only way to prevent that is to be intentional upfront about deal structure, management, and what you’re personally responsible for versus what your team handles.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to structure deals from the start so they’re building this kind of ownership model, not accidentally buying themselves a full-time job. To see how our community could help you close your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

Why this is possible

Every business I’ve acquired was evaluated specifically for whether it had the management infrastructure to run without me being present every day.

If it didn’t, that was either a dealbreaker or something I factored into the price and transition plan.

The morning routine I just described only works because the operational decisions don’t need to come to me.

They get handled at the team level, and the rare ones that require owner input come to me clearly flagged, with context, so I can make a decision quickly and move on.

Tomorrow, I’ll share how I spend the rest of the day, including the strategic work that actually moves the portfolio forward.

If you’d like to start building toward this kind of ownership structure, that’s exactly what the Acquisition Ace community helps people do.

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 Rodrigo.

He was a serial entrepreneur who had built a six-car Turo rental business from scratch, never worked in automotive repair, and had a newborn baby at home when the bank told him he’d need to put both of his houses up as collateral to close the deal.

One year later, he’s generating $200K+ in profit on top of a $96K salary, and he’s already planning his next acquisition.

Before getting to Rodrigo’s case study, I’ve got another success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

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.

Before the deal

Rodrigo had always had an entrepreneurial mindset. He started a handyman business with his brother at 23, built a Turo rental fleet, and was always looking for the next opportunity.

When he found my content and joined Acquisition Ace two days before his 2024 birthday, he went all in, spending two months glued to his computer looking at deals 24/7.

The lender pointed him toward the automotive space based on his Turo background, and Rodrigo pivoted his search accordingly.

Finding the deal

Two months into his search, Rodrigo found a 32-year-old mechanic shop generating $1.8M in revenue and $420K in SDE.

The seller was retiring, and his three kids were all doctors with no interest in taking it over.

The business would have closed if nobody stepped in.

What stood out immediately: the books were spotless.

For a sub-$5M service business, that’s genuinely rare.

Due diligence wrapped in under a month, Rodrigo submitted his first offer at $1M, and they landed at $1.25M.

(In Acquisition Ace, members get their deals reviewed by coaches and learn how to negotiate with confidence. To hear how Acquisition Ace could help on your path to business acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

The deal breakdown

Listed price: $1.5M

Final purchase price: $1.25M

Revenue: $1.8M+

SDE: $420K

Seller note: 5% of purchase price, 3-year full standby, 5% interest

Total out of pocket: ~$80-90K (including closing costs)

Year-one salary: $96K (~$1,800/week)

Year-one net profit after debt service and salary: ~$200K

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

When the bank’s terms arrived requiring his homes as collateral, Rodrigo nearly backed out.

But his family rallied behind him, the deal closed, and the rest is history.

What he’s doing now

A year in, Rodrigo is more involved in daily operations than he originally anticipated, partly because the previous owner had understated his own involvement, and partly because Rodrigo genuinely wants to learn the business from the inside before stepping back.

His foreman - a 30-year mechanic veteran - has been invaluable.

Rodrigo identified him as the key person from day one and leaned on him heavily through the transition.

He only disclosed the ownership change to his receptionist and foreman initially, letting the rest of the team get comfortable with him before making any announcements.

The first major operational change: replacing pen-and-paper estimates with proper shop management software.

His Turo business is still running, managed largely by his mom and wife.

The key lesson

“You can’t let fear paralyze you. Our heads are our biggest enemy. If you’re able to push through those bad mental moments, you’re going to get it.”

Rodrigo put his houses on the line with a newborn at home. He second-guessed himself and asked me on a recorded call whether the bank could actually take his house if the business failed.

He closed anyway, and a year later, he says he’d do it all over again without hesitation.

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 Mark.

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

Happy Friday!

On Monday, I told you about Mario, who bought a $1.8M niche Texas craft store for $25K out of pocket, is tracking 40% above the previous owner’s revenue in his first homecoming season, and is already eyeing his second acquisition.

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

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.

“Taking the risk was worth it. It’s paying off in multiples every single day.”

That’s what Mario told me after closing on a business he’d never heard of in a niche he had to look up on TikTok…

While still working his full-time W2 job.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Use the community even when you can’t show up live

Mario listened to recordings at the gym, on drives, and during a 19-hour road trip with his family.

He couldn’t make a single live call, yet still closed a $1.8M deal in six months from everything he learned in our community.

2. When the deal dies at the last minute, take the high road

The seller pulled out with closing in sight.

Mario thanked the broker, asked to personally thank the seller, and let it go.

The next morning the broker called back, and the seller wanted to talk again thanks to Mario staying composed and gracious, even when a deal fell apart.

(Mario couldn’t attend a single live call during his search. He built his entire knowledge base through call recordings - hundreds of hours of them. Inside Acquisition Ace, every call is recorded and searchable. If you’re curious to learn more about joining our community of deal makers, book a call with our team here and let’s talk.)

3. A seller note on standby changes everything

Mario negotiated a $675K seller note on 3-year full standby - about 35% of the purchase price.

Combined with a 25-year SBA loan term on the real estate, his personal cash requirement dropped to $25K on a $1.8M deal.

Understanding how to use seller financing creatively is what made this structure possible.

This week’s action item

Find one industry you’ve never considered as an acquisition target and spend 30 minutes researching it.

Search “[industry] business for sale” on SMBMarket or BizBuySell, look at the margins, and ask yourself: do people need this regardless of the economy?

Sometimes the best opportunities are the ones nobody else is looking at.

To hear the full story of how Mario structured and secured this deal…

Watch our full interview here.

P.S. Mario said the coaches and the community were what got him across the finish line, especially the responsiveness when he had questions between calls.

If you want that same level of support behind your business search…

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

Hey, it’s Ben!

Yesterday I wrote about the two models most people operate from:

1. Trading time directly for money, versus;

2. Building systems that generate income independent of your daily involvement.

Today I want to share what the second model actually looks like when it’s working.

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.

What my portfolio looks like

The businesses I own span several industries: financial services, accounting, an ATM route, a drilling company, a SaaS company, an engineering firm.

None of them are flashy, and most people wouldn’t find them interesting to talk about.

But they share a common characteristic: they provide services people need consistently, they run through capable management teams, and they don’t require me to be personally present to function.

I also didn’t build any of them! I acquired them from owners who were ready to move on, after verifying that the fundamentals - customers, systems, management, cash flow - were already in place.

I have no interest in building systems from scratch.

Instead, I like to buy systems that already exist, already work, and already generate revenue.

The acquisition process does the heavy lifting that a startup founder would spend years trying to figure out.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate whether a business already has the systems and management in place to run without them, before they ever make an offer. If that sounds like it would be helpful for your path to business acquisition, book a call with our team here to see how our community can help.)

What a typical day actually looks like

I generate over $850K a year across my portfolio and work a few focused hours most days…

And it’s all because the work I do now is fundamentally different:

• Strategic decisions

• Reviewing performance

• Making calls with leadership teams

The rest of my time goes to the things that actually matter to me like being present when my kids get home from school and showing up to the events that parents miss when they’re buried in someone else’s priorities.

What this means for you

You don’t have to build a portfolio of seven businesses to start experiencing this shift.

One well-chosen acquisition with capable management already in place can change your relationship with time and income in a way that a salary (no matter how good) simply can’t.

If you’d like to start building toward that, the Acquisition Ace community is where thousands of people are doing exactly that, at every stage of the process.

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

Happy Wednesday!

There’s a belief that runs deep in most people’s careers - that income is something you earn through personal effort, and that more income requires more effort.

I used to operate that way too, and for a long time, it felt like the only option.

It isn’t.

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.

Two very different relationships with work

The traditional model most people follow looks like this: you show up, you do the work, you get paid.

Stop showing up, stop getting paid.

It’s a direct, linear exchange, and it has a hard ceiling.

There are only so many hours in a day, and your income can only grow as fast as your capacity to personally produce.

The alternative model looks different. Instead of you doing the work directly, you build or acquire systems that manage people who do the work - and those systems generate income whether or not you’re personally involved on any given day.

What I watched at JP Morgan

When I was working in financial services, I was surrounded by people who had built serious, lasting wealth.

And almost without exception, they weren’t trading their time for money anymore…

They owned things.

Businesses, systems, assets that generated cash flow independent of their daily involvement.

I wasn’t one of them yet, but I was watching closely.

That observation is a big part of what eventually pushed me toward acquisitions, where you’re stepping into businesses that already have customers, existing cash flow, and management structures capable of running without the previous owner.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to identify businesses that already have these systems in place, so they’re not starting from zero. If you want to speed up acquiring your first business with help from the Acquisition Ace community, book a call with our team here.)

Why the traditional model feels safer than it is

The reason most people stay in the linear model is that it feels predictable.

You know what you’re going to make this week because you know how many hours you’re going to work.

But that predictability comes with a hidden fragility.

Your income is entirely contingent on your continued ability to show up and perform.

If your health changes, if your employer changes, if your industry changes - everything changes with it.

The systems model requires more upfront work to build.

But once it’s functioning correctly, the income doesn’t depend on your daily presence, and that’s a much more durable position.

On Thursday, I’ll share what this actually looks like in practice:

What my portfolio looks like today, and what a typical day actually looks like when the model is working the way it’s supposed to.

Most people who want this outcome spend years trying to figure it out alone.

The Acquisition Ace community exists to shorten that timeline, with coaches who’ve already done it, a network of people actively doing it, and a structured process that removes most of the guesswork.

👉 Book a call with my team here to hear how we can help you acquire your first business.

Happy Tuesday!

Last Thursday I started walking through what separates the 5% of acquisitions that don’t work out from the 95% that do.

We covered the mistakes that happen before closing:

• Skipping due diligence

• Buying the wrong type of business

• And buying a job instead of a business

Today I want to pick up where we left off, with two reasons related to what happens after a deal is done.

Andrew bought a $700K nail salon in LA with his wife after joining Acquisition Ace, and found his investor through the AA investor database.

After finding an investor in the Acquisition Ace database and putting just $40K out of pocket, he’s on track for a 300%+ return in year one.

👉 Want a community where you can find investors, build relationships, and close deals? Book a call with our team here.

Disrupting what's already working

There’s a version of new ownership that looks like confidence but functions like sabotage:

Walking in and immediately overhauling systems, restructuring the team, changing how things are done.

Doing that before you actually understand how the business works is one of the most reliable ways to lose good people and damage what took the previous owner years to build.

Employees who’ve been with a business for a decade don’t automatically trust a new owner…

And customers who’ve been loyal for years have no reason to stay if the experience suddenly changes.

The first 90 days should be about learning, asking questions, and building trust with the team before making decisions that affect them.

Changes can absolutely come (and often should), but they land very differently when the people around you believe you understand the business first.

Going through the process alone

Business acquisition involves a level of complexity that’s genuinely hard to navigate without guidance:

• Deal evaluation

• Financing structure

• Due diligence

• Negotiation

• Legal documentation

• Post-close management

…and every stage has decisions that are easy to get wrong if you haven’t been through it before.

The buyers who close successfully almost universally have some form of support structure behind them, of people who’ve already made the mistakes they’re trying to avoid.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to structure the first 90 days of ownership to build trust and stability before making operational changes. To see how our community could help you close your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

What all of this adds up to

The 95% success rate for acquired businesses is the natural result of choosing the right business, doing thorough due diligence, keeping good management in place, respecting what’s already working, and having the right support through the process.

Every one of those factors is within your control.

And that’s what makes business acquisition different from most other investments - the outcome is something you shape through the decisions you make at every stage.

If you’d like to make those decisions alongside people who’ve already been through it and can guide the way, the Acquisition Ace community is built for exactly that.

👉 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 Mario.

He was a 12-year veteran of the CPG industry, still working his W2 in Dallas, who had never heard of a "homecoming mom" before finding one for sale. Six months after getting serious about his search, he closed on a niche Texas craft and party supply store for $1.8M — putting just $25K of his own money on the table.

Before sharing Mario’s case study, here’s a success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Kristie was a full-time photographer who didn't want to spend another 13 years building a second business from scratch.

So she bought a drop-in daycare with two locations for $485K using a HELOC, putting just $35K out of pocket.

The business was doing $225K in verifiable cash flow with a team already in place, and she kept her photography business running while the daycare operates with minimal involvement from her.

She’s now making over $100K annually from the daycare while working just a few hours per week, and didn’t have to start from zero.

👉 Ready to get the roadmap to buying your first cash-flowing business? Book a call with our team here.

Before the deal

Mario had been following my content for about two years before joining Acquisition Ace in July 2024 as a birthday present to himself.

His schedule made attending live calls nearly impossible, so he did things differently - listening to call recordings at the gym, on drives, and during a 19-hour road trip from Dallas to Southern California with his family half-asleep in the car.

By October, he was sending LOIs.

Finding the deal

The listing was for a homecoming mom store - a Texas-specific niche Mario had never encountered.

A homecoming mom is an elaborate corsage-like accessory worn by high school students at homecoming, and it’s a multi-million dollar industry unique to Texas.

The seller was 82 years old, deeply passionate about her team, and ready to retire.

The business was seasonal - roughly 90% of revenue came in during a four-month homecoming window from August through October.

Mario saw the antiquated systems, the loyal customer base, and his own retail background, and knew he could make it better.

The coaches reviewed it and gave him the green light.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get their deals reviewed by experienced coaches before submitting an LOI, so they never go into a deal blind. To see how Acquisition Ace could help you land your first business deal, book a call with our team here.)

The deal breakdown

Original asking price: ~$2M (included real estate)

Final purchase price: $1.8M

SDE: ~$300K annually

Seller note: $675K, 3-year full standby, balloon payment

SBA loan: Remainder on a 25-year term

Mario’s personal cash out of pocket: ~$25K

Projected year-one cash flow after debt service: $150-200K in distributions, plus $16K combined salary for Mario and his wife

Cash-on-cash return: Approximately 10x in year one

The deal nearly fell apart at the last minute when the seller got cold feet and pulled out.

Mario thanked the broker, asked if he could personally thank the seller, and took the high road.

The next morning, the broker called back - the seller wanted to talk again, and after they talked, they made a deal.

What he’s doing now

Mario is still working his W2 while spending about 15-20 hours a week on the business, including Saturdays on the floor.

In his first homecoming season, Mario is tracking approximately 40% above what the previous owner generated.

He’s built a social media presence from scratch: 4,300 Instagram followers and 2,400 on TikTok, starting from zero, and the store has been mentioned in the local newspaper twice.

With Party City out of business, he’s also expanding the balloon and party supply section to diversify revenue beyond the homecoming season, and he’s already in conversations about a second acquisition.

The key lesson

“Taking the risk was worth it. It’s paying off in multiples every single day.”

Mario had no acquisition experience and couldn’t make a single live call…

But he made it work through recordings, responsive coaches, and the willingness to stay patient when the deal almost died on the one-yard line.

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 Mark.

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

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week, I told you about Jessica, a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner who found a 21-year-old home healthcare agency at a networking event, won the deal over four competing offers…

And is now projecting $400-500K in cash flow after debt service in year one.

Today, you’ll get her three biggest lessons from that deal and how she closed it. 👇

Alex and Dana bought a $1.7M physical therapy business for less than $50K out of pocket just 6 months after joining Acquisition Ace.

They’re now on track to 2x their investment in year one while Alex keeps his W2 job.

👉 Want to join a community where everyone cheers you on and wants you to succeed? Book a call with our team here.

“She told us this business is like a member of my family that I’m giving to you. And so it was really important to her that she had that connection with us.”

That’s what Jessica told me about the seller - a woman who had built the business from the ground up over 21 years and chose Jessica and Chad over four other offers, not because of price, but because of trust.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Networking beats browsing

Jessica and Chad found this deal by showing up to a local business brokers association meeting and making real connections.

The broker brought the deal to them directly because he thought Jessica’s healthcare background made her a natural fit.

2. When the seller gets cold feet, pick up the phone

During due diligence, the seller started to hesitate.

Rather than going back through the broker, Jessica called her directly.

The seller said she was relieved Jessica had reached out, and that one phone call - followed by coffee with the seller - made the deal happen.

(Jessica and Chad found this deal through in-person broker networking. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to build broker relationships that surface deals before they hit the open market. If you’d like to join our community of deal makers and learn how to secure your first business acquisition, book a call with our team here and let’s talk.)

3. Go bigger than you think you need to

Jessica and Chad started out looking at smaller deals, before Jessica made a conscious decision to go after something large enough for both of them to eventually exit their W2 jobs.

It takes the same amount of work to close, but can lead to dramatically different outcomes on the other side.

This week’s action item

Find one local event happening in your area in the next 30 days, register for it, show up with a clear, simple explanation of what you’re looking for, and start talking to people.

This could be a business brokers association meeting, a chamber of commerce event, or an entrepreneur meetup.

You’ll make more headway doing this than you will by online cold outreach alone.

To hear the full story of how Jessica found, navigated, and closed this deal…

Watch our full interview here.

P.S. Jessica said the most valuable part of Acquisition Ace was the community.

Specifically, the energy of watching other people succeed and knowing that success was coming for her too.

If you want access to that same community…

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

Good morning!

Yesterday I shared the SBA’s data on business acquisition success rates:

Above 95% after five years, which is essentially the inverse of startup failure statistics.

But 95% isn’t 100%.

And the businesses that don’t work out after acquisition tend to share a handful of common characteristics.

These are worth understanding, because every one of them is avoidable if you know what to look for.

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.

Skipping serious due diligence

Red flags that get ignored before closing have a way of becoming very expensive problems afterward.

Messy financials, customer concentration issues, equipment that's past its useful life, legal matters that weren’t disclosed.

These things don’t disappear at closing, and they become your problem.

Due diligence is how you verify that what the seller told you is actually true.

If something doesn’t add up during this phase, that’s either a reason to renegotiate or a reason to walk away.

Buying the wrong type of business

Not all profitable businesses make good acquisitions.

• Businesses without recurring revenue require constant new customer acquisition just to maintain their current income.

• Businesses in industries vulnerable to economic downturns carry risks that only become obvious when conditions shift.

• Businesses without any real barrier to entry face competitive pressure that can erode margins quickly.

The fundamentals of what makes a good acquisition - recession resistance, recurring revenue, a genuine competitive moat - separate businesses that hold their value through changing conditions from ones that don’t…

And taking shortcuts here tends to show up later, when it’s much harder to fix.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to screen every deal against these fundamentals before spending time on due diligence. If that would be helpful for you on your business acquisition journey, book a call with our team here to see how our community can help you achieve your goals.)

Buying a job instead of a business

This is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes first-time buyers make.

If the business depends on the new owner being physically present and personally involved in daily operations:

• Answering every question

• Making every decision

• Doing significant amounts of the work

…That’s a self-employment arrangement with debt attached.

The deals worth buying have capable management already in place, with someone who can run daily operations, handle the team, and keep the business functioning whether or not the owner is in the building.

Without that, you’ve just bought a different kind of constraint.

The remaining mistakes

There are a few more mistakes that show up after closing, making them a different kind of risk entirely…

And I’ll cover those next week!

For now, if you’d like help from people who’ve seen the horror stories and have learned how to navigate the process of buying a business successfully, the Acquisition Ace community is perfect for you.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see how it can help you, too.

Happy Wednesday!

Most people who are interested in business acquisition but haven’t pulled the trigger yet tend to describe their hesitation the same way:

“It just feels too risky.”

I understand that instinct.

But I want to challenge it, because the data tells a very different story than most people expect.

Michael bought a $2.6M podiatry billing service while keeping his demanding chief sales officer job after joining Acquisition Ace.

He structured a creative seller note, kept his W2, and is now making $400K+ annually from the business.

👉 Want in-depth training and one-on-one coaching to structure your deal perfectly? Book a call with our team here.

What the numbers actually say

The SBA tracks businesses that have been acquired using their loan programs to see whether they’re still operating and making payments five years later.

The success rate sits above 95%.

More than 19 out of 20 acquired businesses are still operating successfully five years after the deal closed.

Now compare that to startups, where the failure statistics run in the exact opposite direction: roughly 90% don’t make it past five years.

The difference makes sense when you think about it.

When you acquire an existing business, you’re not starting from zero or figuring out product-market fit, hoping the market wants what you’re selling.

The business has already done all of that!

It has customers, employees, systems, and in many cases decades of operating history through multiple economic cycles.

You’re buying proof

The businesses worth targeting have typically been around for 20, 30, sometimes 40+ years.

They’ve survived recessions, held onto customers through economic downturns and market shifts, and provide services people need regardless of what’s happening in the broader economy.

That track record is what you’re paying for, and it’s what makes the risk profile of acquisition so different from building something from scratch.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn exactly what to look for in an established business to make sure those odds stay firmly in their favor. If you want to speed up acquiring your first business with help from the Acquisition Ace community, book a call with our team here.)

There’s also a layer of protection most people overlook

When you use an SBA loan to finance an acquisition, the bank is doing their own financial analysis before they approve the deal…

And they’re not going to fund something they don’t believe in!

That’s an additional set of expert eyes on the business before you commit a dollar, one that most buyers don’t think about, but should.

The question worth sitting with

Most people frame this as: “What if it doesn’t work out?”

But there’s a more honest version of that question:

“What’s the actual cost of not doing anything?”

Continuing to trade hours for a capped salary, with no equity, no ownership, and no meaningful control over your financial future…

That's a huge risk too.

It’s just one that feels familiar, so it doesn’t register as risk.

On Thursday, I’ll walk through the reasons the 5% of acquisitions don’t work out, and more importantly, how to make sure you’re not in that group.

If you’d like to get ahead on any of this, the Acquisition Ace community is a great place to start.

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

Happy Tuesday!

Last week I covered the basics of small business acquisitions, including how to define your buy box and the important questions to ask every seller

Today I want to walk through the mechanics:

• How businesses get valued

• How deals get financed

• And what happens between accepted offer and closing day

Let’s get into it 👇

Adam bought a $1.85M stucco company while keeping his full-time W2 job…

And he’s on track to make over $300K in cash flow this year while working just 5-10 hours per week.

He structured the deal with 80% SBA, 10% seller note on full 10-year standby, and brought just $250K to close.

The previous owner had done zero marketing for 20 years and ran everything on paper.

Adam brought on a business development manager, implemented new systems, and is already lining up enough work to double last year’s revenue, all while keeping his day job.

👉 Want to buy a business without needing to quit your W2? Book a call with our team here.

How businesses are valued

Small businesses typically sell for 2-4x their SDE - Seller’s Discretionary Earnings.

That’s the business’s net income plus the owner’s salary, personal benefits, and any non-recurring expenses that ran through the business.

Where in that range a business lands depends primarily on one thing: how much it depends on the current owner.

If the owner is working full-time in the business and it would struggle without them, expect a multiple closer to 2x.

If there’s a general manager running daily operations and the owner is largely hands-off, the multiple moves toward 4x because the business is genuinely transferable without disruption.

On a business doing $400K in SDE, that’s the difference between a $800K valuation and a $1.6M valuation.

How deals get financed

The most common structure uses an SBA 7(a) loan to cover up to 90% of the purchase price, with the remaining 10% coming from the buyer.

If a seller agrees to finance a portion of the deal with a note that sits on full standby for the life of the SBA loan, that note can count as part of the buyer’s required equity injection.

In practice, this means some buyers close deals with as little as 5% of their own cash at the table, with the seller financing the other 5%.

Investor partnerships are another option, where a silent partner covers the down payment in exchange for an equity stake, leaving you with majority ownership and significantly less personal capital at risk.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to structure deals like this and access an investor network when they need one. To see how our community could help you close your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

Due diligence in plain terms

Once your offer is accepted, you’ll spend 30-60 days verifying that what the seller told you is accurate.

This involves reviewing three years of financials, understanding the customer base, checking for legal issues or pending disputes, and assessing the condition of any major equipment.

The main things to watch for: incomplete or inconsistent financial records, any single customer representing more than 10% of revenue, unresolved legal matters, and contracts that don't automatically transfer to a new owner.

If you find something during diligence that changes the picture, that’s grounds to renegotiate the price before you commit.

The first 90 days after closing

The transition period sets the tone for everything that follows.

Introduce yourself to employees in person early, communicate proactively with key customers before they hear about the change from someone else, and have the seller personally introduce you to major vendors and partners wherever possible.

Get the relationships right in the first 90 days, and the operational side of ownership becomes significantly more manageable.

This whole process is something thousands of people with no prior business ownership experience have navigated successfully.

And if you’d like guidance from people who’ve already done it, the Acquisition Ace community is a great place to find it.

👉 Book a call with my team here to see if it’s right for you.

Hey it’s Ben!

Today you’re going to hear a story about Jessica, a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner with 15 years in the hospital system who wanted out of the corporate grind for herself and her husband Chad.

Seven months after joining Acquisition Ace, they closed on a 21-year-old home healthcare agency generating $820K in SDE, 20 minutes from their house in Ohio.

Before sharing Jessica’s key takeaways, here’s another success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Mario bought an $1.8M homecoming mum and party supply store for just $20K out of pocket, and 10x’d his investment in 6 months.

He went from CPG sales to owning a seasonal retail business making 40% more than the previous owner.

👉 Want all the tools, responsive coaches, and community support you need to succeed in your first acquisition? Book a call with our team here.

Before the deal

Jessica and Chad had tried a couple of other paths before finding business acquisition, but neither worked out.

When Jessica came across my content, something clicked and she was convinced enough to bring Chad along.

They joined Acquisition Ace in late January, got to work learning the frameworks, and immediately started doing something most buyers skip: networking.

Chad began taking coffee meetings with brokers, Jessica started attending local business events.

That decision is what found the deal.

Finding the deal

At a business brokers association meeting in April, they met a broker listing a home healthcare agency 20 minutes from their house, in a size range that fit their criteria.

She met the seller, they immediately connected, and even though the seller already had four other LOIs from out-of-state buyers, Jessica and Chad were local, relatable, and committed to keeping the team the seller had built…

Which ultimately won them the deal.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn that networking with brokers directly is one of the fastest ways to find deals before they go to the open market. To see how Acquisition Ace could help you land your first business deal, book a call with our team here.)

The deal breakdown

Purchase price: $2.4M (full price offer)

SDE: ~$820K

Business age: 21 years

Financing: 80% SBA loan (~$1.9M), 10% buyer injection (HELOC + family investors), 10% seller note

Seller note terms: 3-year full standby, then 5-year repayment

Projected year-one cash flow after debt service: $400-500K

(The 3-year standby on the seller note was negotiated specifically to give Jessica and Chad breathing room during a period of uncertainty around Medicare and Medicaid policy changes.)

What they’re doing now

Jessica is coming into the office four to five days a week by choice, but on the days she can’t be there, the office runs fine without her.

The seller - who was semi-absentee before the sale - still stops by occasionally, answers calls, and has made clear she’s not going far.

Jessica serves as director of nursing, a role that has some real responsibility but doesn’t require constant daily presence.

Chad is still in his W2 job for now, but the goal is for the business to eventually give them both the flexibility to step away from the corporate grind.

The key lesson

“The community aspect is just so cool. Reading other people’s successes knowing that success was coming for us - that we could do hard things - that energy really kept us going.”

Jessica and Chad found this deal by showing up, building relationships with brokers, and being the kind of buyers a seller actually wants to hand a 21-year business to.

That combination of hustle and genuine relationship-building is what got it 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 Mark.

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