Link Moser built a nearly-passive business portfolio by acquiring tiny web design & hosting shops on favorable terms.

Topics in Link’s interview:

• Learning to build websites in the 90’s
• Starting a web design/hosting business
• Sending out letters to target businesses
• Acquiring other digital marketing agencies nearby
• Integrating the businesses he bought
• Customer attrition rates during transition
• Getting bored with passive income
• Considering buying a traditional, non-digital business
• Willingness to sell his own business
• Pros and cons of remote work

References and how to contact Link:

• LinkedIn
• Windhill Design

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Derek Croft bought a $1m SDE business with a national footprint in an unusual niche. Just don't call him The Lice King.

Topics in Derek’s interview:

• Leaving Bain to search for a business
• Acquiring LiceDoctors
• Why it’s good for a profitable business to be imperfect
• Personal satisfaction from helping customers
• Payroll emergency on day 2
• Competition in the lice removal industry
• High staff turnover despite good pay
• Speeding up their response time
• Raising public awareness of their service
• His goal to double in 5 years

References and how to contact Derek:

• LinkedIn
• LiceDoctors
• ETA Circle

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Register for the webinars:

• Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 21 - https://bit.ly/3AMj6Fk

Francisco Del Rio & Diego Silva are 5 acquisitions into a venture to consolidate veterinary practices in Chile & beyond.

Topics in Francisco & Diego’s interview:

• Vetting each other before partnering
• Teaming up to roll up vet clinics in Chile
• Pitching themselves to clinic owners
• Searching during strict Covid lockdowns
• Educating owners about business valuation
• Understanding the seller’s perspective
• Making variable compensation work
• Teaching receptionists to use sales scripts
• Finding investors and growing the business
• Vision to expand to neighboring countries

References and how to contact Francisco & Diego:

• Diego Silva LinkedIn
• diego@latamvet.com
• Francisco del Rio LinkedIn
• francisco@latamvet.com
• Latam Vet

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Register for the webinars:

• Where Searchers Go Wrong - Thu Nov 14 - https://bit.ly/3O0im2a

• Legal Office Hours: Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 21 - https://bit.ly/3O3zqo2

Sam Rosati & partners built the Sunbelt's largest commercial fencing contractor in 3 years. But the origins were modest.

Topics in Sam’s interview:

• His background in accounting and law
• Being inspired by Chenmark and Brent Beshore
• Acquiring Alpha Dumpsters with his brother
• Birth of SMBash
• Origin story of SMB Law
• How an independent sponsor differs from a self-funded searcher
• Investing in a commercial fencing business
• The role of luck in success
• Acquiring and consolidating fence businesses
• Partnering with private equity

References and how to contact Sam:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• SMBootcamp
• Chandler Reed on Acquiring Minds: Boom, Bust, Boom: Buying a Whiplash Business
• John Hubbard on Acquiring Minds: Why Buy a Small Manufacturing Business? and Time to Sell? Growing EBITDA from $750k to $2m

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Register for the webinars:

• Where Searchers Go Wrong - Thu Nov. 14 - https://bit.ly/40HZtZK

• Legal Office Hours: Understanding the Waterfall - Thu Nov 24 - https://bit.ly/4hEzVTh

The story behind "Rick & Royce", who've probably done more to grow entrepreneurship through acquisition than anyone.

Topics in Rick and Royce’s interview:

• How they met in academia
• Growth of their ETA class at Harvard
• Unexpected success of their book
• Satisfaction of changing students’ lives
• Thoughts on their sons searching for businesses
• Partner/family perspectives on search
• Value of learning about failed acquisitions
• How attitudes about small business have transformed
• Using their podcast to educate about small business
• Thoughts on pursuing wealth

References and how to contact Rick and Royce:

• The book: HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business
• The podcast: Think Big, Buy Small
  
  

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

When he realized he was willing to do the work himself, Matthew Railla bought a $500k SDE termite inspection business.

Topics in Matt’s interview:

• His family’s culture of entrepreneurship
• His background running a winery
• Becoming a business broker
• Buying his own listing
• Buying a tough-to-sell business
• Getting an SBA loan using the new partial buyout rules
• Crawling under houses himself to learn the trade
• Seller agreeing to teach him for 2 years
• The 3 branches of pest control
• His plan to expand the business

References and how to contact Matt:

• LinkedIn
• matt@toptermiteco.com
• https://www.toptermiteco.com

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact mark@aspenhr.com or visit Aspen HR

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Iris Levine bought a 30-year-old construction firm just steps from the rough Nashville neighborhood where she grew up.

Topics in Iris’s interview:

• Working 3 jobs to pay for college
• Background in high-growth startups
• Forming her own acquisition mastermind group
• Finding an unlisted business through a broker
• Buying a porch construction company
• Putting 5% down without outside investors
• Choosing to forego a quality of earnings
• Adding technology for project management
• Motivation to find work-life flexibility
• Possibility of expanding their offerings

References and how to contact Iris:

• LinkedIn
• Episode #233 with Alan Lochridge

Work with an SBA broker who focuses exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Matthias Smith of Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or email hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter