Ben Bortner @Slackwatercap Twitter profile

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 days

Pools are gross. You really wanna buy a pool service company? This is 6 months of dirt, algae, dead skin, sweat, and probably even some 💩 (my dog uses the pool, but humans are also dirty) on my lightly used residential pool. Commercial pools are much worse. We had some pools

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

@brianbeers - The $750k EBITDA should already include the searcher's $120k salary - $3m would be on the high end for a $750k EBITDA business (probably more like $2.6-$2.8m - we will call it $2.7m) - 15-20% equity would be more like $400k-$500k of equity (we will call it $500k) - Working

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

All else equal, the "self-funded" searcher makes nearly 3x as much as a traditional searcher. Surprisingly, the investor is also better off! Because of the superior economics, the self-funded model will continue to gain share among the best and brightest acquisition

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

‼️Attention Self-funded Searchers‼️ My fund is currently writing equity gap checks of $250k-$500k for SMB acquisitions. If you are using the "self-funded search" model, have a deal under LOI, and are looking for an equity partner who brings hands-on-experience with SMB

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@F1 Ocon and Magnussen both need to go.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@F1 @Charles_Leclerc @ScuderiaFerrari Monaco track layout needs to be changed or removed from the schedule.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

I don't understand the infatuation with "generational wealth" that seems to be popular on Twitter these days. There are very few examples in history of children being gifted extreme wealth working out well for them. Everyone should have to work for their success and their place

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

7 months

This isn't going to make me any Twitter friends, but... Searchers, you don't need another coach, guru, course, podcast, book, blog, etc. There's no secret sauce. Spending more time learning about search (beyond the basics) is just an excuse to not actually go and do the work. At

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Self-funded searchers are always asking how to structure equity when taking on investors. Investors in self-funded search deals typically expect to receive participating preferred stock. Here's what that means and an example. 🧵

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

Searchers, if you want to win more LOIs, and have those LOIs actually CLOSE (which is the real goal), here's a tip: Rather than attempting to educate a seller on the ins and outs of working capital, just plan to bring your own and factor it into your purchase price! For

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

A lot of new followers over the last 24 hours, welcome! For those of you not familiar with my story, I am a former investment manager turned acquisition entrepreneur. I performed a self-funded search and acquired a pool company in 2019, grew profits 4x over 3 years, and sold

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Eric posted a few weeks ago about the necessity of a 5yr non-compete. I'm an investor in a company that was acquired by a self-funded searcher in 2018. Sure enough, on the 5yr anniversary, the former owners started a new business to compete directly again.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@redbullracing Magnuson should be banned

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

Slack Water Capital is currently under LOI to acquire a route-based home services and commercial services business located in Key West, FL. We are seeking an operating partner to run the day-to-day operations as CEO with some helpful guidance from me. We are uniquely positioned

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Put me in the grumpy grandpa category, but I see a couple worrying trends here: 1) Everyone wants to buy an SMB, but no one wants to actually run one. 2) Some "service providers" seem to care more about getting your deal done (and a commission) than whether it SHOULD get done.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 days

@bethanyjbabcock Pools are like boats, money pits. One you're trying to keep the water out, the other you're trying to keep the water in.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

SBA Partial Ownership Buyouts I'm starting to see more searchers using these deal structures. I don't think they are necessarily the best deal structure, but if we're going to use them we need to cover a few key points. Most importantly, these need to be structured so that

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

23 days

It's been a magical past few days with my bride, family, and friends

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

Congrats to Cole Carrera and Jack Eldridge on their acquisition of Strobes N' More! Upon closing, Cole and Jack have relocated to Rhode Island to lead the company full-time as Co-CEOs. Slack Water Capital was pleased to serve as the lead investor and I am excited to join Strobes'

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

I caught up with a self-funded searcher earlier this year who had bought a niche manufacturing business and then it's local competitor 1-2 years later. Both small acquisitions that he financed with SBA loans. I asked him how it was going and he said that he had permanently

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@F1 So many talented young drivers without a seat (Lawson, Bearman, Antonelli), not sure why K Mag and Ocon still have seats.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

I am once again reminding searchers to get a forgivable seller note... Have a faster growing business and basing your offer off of LTM EBITDA, which is significantly higher than the last 3 year average EBITDA? Forgivable seller note tied to revenue in your first 12 months vs

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

11 months

Guys/Gals in SMB land, I am shocked by the number of deals that I continue to see that have a seller note, but it is not forgivable. This is a mistake. You want a forgivable seller note tied to some historical performance metric of the business, and you should specify this in

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

11 months

Guys/Gals in SMB land, I am shocked by the number of deals that I continue to see that have a seller note, but it is not forgivable. This is a mistake. You want a forgivable seller note tied to some historical performance metric of the business, and you should specify this in

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

This is a great overview by Eli of seller notes, the nuances of which I think are often underutilized by searchers.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

Slack Water Capital is pleased to announce that it served as a co-lead investor in the acquisition of Jones Skip Hire (Wolverhampton) Ltd. The acquisition closed on March 1st, 2024, and was led by Tarun Abraham and Tim Hayward. As part of the investment, Ben Bortner, Founder and

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

The economics for a self-funded searcher are INSANELY good and far above the "market" for independent sponsors and/or private equity. The self-funded searcher effectively charges a 7.5%-25%+ management fee ($100-$150k salary on $500k-$2m of equity raised) and a 55-80% carry

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 days

For those reading this post that don't know, I used to own a pool maintenance company that performed over 800 pool cleanings per week. I am a licensed Pool Servicing Contractor in the state of Florida and a "Certified Pool and Spa Operator". While I enjoy pools, there's no

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

Brad Jacobs latest platform $QXO (formerly $SSNT) will be an interesting case study. Jacobs Private Equity just closed their transaction to inject $1B into what was a micro cap company with a $20m mkt cap to give themselves a new publicly traded platform/currency to go out and

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

7 months

@LeadershipAcad1 I think your best option is to give the guys from the new company the week off as they were expecting and planning for (the seller should pay for this, or should have paid for this, through a PTO accrual at closing). I would also pay your current team time and half for the week

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

The most dangerous person in search/SMBX...the former real estate bro who now wants to be an SMB bro because the real estate market is dead. Every single one of them wants to (a) max out their leverage with an SBA loan (think 1.3x DSCR), and (b) own the business passively (like

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

The searcher's starting salary, bonus plan (if any), and annual salary increases should be specified in the term sheet and LLCA. Increases in salary or bonuses beyond this need to be approved by a majority of the minority. Otherwise, the searcher could easily increase their

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

I don't really want to introduce more competition into the SMB world, but... Sometimes I feel bad for my former public equity investor colleagues. Beating their heads against a wall trying to outperform a largely irrational market. Sure, you can occasionally find attractive

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

Slack Water Capital is pleased to announce that it served as the lead investor in @adammetauro 's acquisition of a majority interest in iMold LLC. iMold was founded in 2015 by Brian Bland and is headquartered in Fort Myers, FL. Over the past decade Brian and the iMold team have

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

The state of self-funded search. Lots of opportunities (Silver Tsunami TM), but also risks and challenges (rates, valuations, PE coming down market, etc.) @SFSAssociation @search_invest @sarah_m_andrews @Robert_E_Graham @tex34hook @JordanPCarter @whentheresawill

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Searchers: You do NOT need to build a 10-20 sheet financial model to analyze a deal. I'm sure your modeling skills are unmatched, but I MUCH prefer to see a 1-page spreadsheet that summarizes all the key assumptions and the resulting financial projections. Make it easier for your

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

Still see a lot of posts about negotiating working capital. My advice, don't bother! Bring your own and include it in your total project cost for the deal. If you think the business is worth $4m WITH working capital, and you think you need $400k of working capital, offer

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

Searchers, if you want to win more LOIs, and have those LOIs actually CLOSE (which is the real goal), here's a tip: Rather than attempting to educate a seller on the ins and outs of working capital, just plan to bring your own and factor it into your purchase price! For

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Any self-funded searchers here in South Dakota or willing to move to rural South Dakota? Roughly $500k EBITDA. Durable. Non-economically sensitive. Growing. Dominant position in duopoly-like market. Books look clean. Looks like a nice business if you don't mind South Dakota! 🙃

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

One mistake I see a lot of searchers making in their search is thinking that just because a certain industry has a lot of M&A activity, or attention focused on it, that there are no more opportunities in that space (e.g. HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, etc.). A lot of searchers

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

👀😂

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

Searchers, don't worry so much about your "upside" financial projections. Worry more about your downside scenario analysis. When you're underwriting a deal, I would suggest stress testing your model with a scenario where revenue declines 20% or more, EBITDA margin contacts as

Bill Ackman

@BillAckman

10 months

I believe that long-term rates, e.g, 30-year rates, will rise further from here. As such, we remain short bonds through the ownership of swaptions. The world is a structurally different place than it was. The peace dividend is no more. The long-term deflationary effects of

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

Guys, I think I'm out on the SMB stuff. I'm going to go be a treasure hunter now. ✌️

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

Guys, 2 things here: 1) If I had a nickel for every time I heard that the sellers don't do anything I wouldn't have needed to buy an SMB in the first place. Every broker worth his/her salt tells the seller to say they're not actively involved. Really probe on this. 2) Make

Bruce Marks, MBA, CM&AA

@sbabmarks

2 years

Both Sales and EBITDA drastically reduced for the first six months of 2022. By about 35% This showed that the Sellers were actually involved in the operation of the business and were somewhat responsible on a day to day basis.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

Searchers, are you ready to run an SMB? The following is an actual story I heard from an self-funded SMB CEO today. The office received 2 phone calls about one of their vehicles swerving all over the road. They called around and figured out it was one of the division managers.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

A great way for self-funded searchers to stay top of mind with potential investors/advisors is to send a monthly or quarterly update to them via email. The update can cover key KPIs on your search (brokers contacted, CIMs reviewed, seller calls/meetings held, IOIs made, LOIs

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

@LeadershipAcad1 Make sure the seller and you have prepared a speech together and the seller isn't going to just say "here's your new boss" (this has happened to me). Make sure the seller has some skin in the game tied to customer and employee retention during the first 90 days.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

Searchers/SMB owners: If you want to create a lot of value (and wealth), the metric you should be most focused on is intrinsic value per share (or unit/membership interest if structured as an LLC), which is largely derived from cash flow per share. Total revenue, EBITDA, FCF,

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

Why do I like investing in self-funded searchers? You have a different level of motivation when you're PG-ing a large amount of debt AND you don't make very much money until your investors have been paid back. I can confirm from experience.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

Me: It looks like net income is about $600k, what are the proposed adjustments to get to EBITDA? By the way, it looks like there are 4 sellers actively involved in running the business and they're paying themselves a below market wage ($12/hr). We will need to replace them and we

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

Some guy standing next to me at the gate in Atlanta is explaining the difference between an IOI and an LOI to someone on the phone. No doubt a fresh faced MBA grad looking to buy a $500k SDE HVAC company located in Topeka, Kansas. 🇺🇲

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

When looking for investors for your SMB acquisition, I recommend asking for referrals from past searchers/CEOs they've invested in. Not all search investors are the same. Some investors have a track record of adding value and supporting their CEO partners. Some do not. 👀

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

SMB owner/operators: Your SBA debt is likely the cheapest capital you will find. Yes, it is currently costing you 10-11%, but that could go down in the future AND you can likely earn >25-50% annually on that capital via an add-on acquisition. Why rush to pay off the loan? 👀

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

One trend I see on SMBX is too much generalization about various service industries. Service-based SMBs can be very nuanced by geography (region, state, and county) and should not be generalized. The seasonality, economic sensitivity, services typically provided, equipment

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

RIP Charlie Munger. What a great human.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

I love driving through small towns and cities and seeing all the thriving SMBs. I always Google them, look at their website, read their reviews, look at the level of competition, figure out how old the owner is, etc. Anybody sourcing deals this way? 👀🤔

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

22 days

Update: What I thought was $600k of SDE, the broker turned into $900k of SDE vía add backs (keep in mind, this is ignoring the salaries for multiple owners who will need to be replaced). I heard it is under LOI for more than $8m now. This is around 3x revenue. 👀

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

Me: It looks like net income is about $600k, what are the proposed adjustments to get to EBITDA? By the way, it looks like there are 4 sellers actively involved in running the business and they're paying themselves a below market wage ($12/hr). We will need to replace them and we

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 days

@patrickdichter Hot tubs are the worst and riskiest. Look up Legionnaires Disease. If the water in the pool is clear and you can see the main drains on the bottom, you're probably good! 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Easy block on LinkedIn (or Twitter/X, email, etc.): (1) You send me a connection request, (2) immediately hit me up with some type of solicitation (often totally unrelated to what I do), (3) I don't respond because I'm not interested, and (4) you then follow up with me

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

Congrats to Martin Lopez on his recent acquisition of Dryeco Green Cleaners! Slack Water Capital was pleased to serve as the lead investor and I am excited to join Dryeco's Board of Directors. Dryeco was founded in 2008 and is one of the largest providers of premium dry

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

👀 The amount of interest in the space continues to increase exponentially... MBAs Are Spurning McKinsey to Buy Small Companies

MBAs Are Spurning McKinsey to Buy Small Companies

Entrepreneurship through acquisition, or ETA, is seeing a surge of interest among B-school grads.

www.bloomberg.com

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

We are still looking for deals! I've been a searcher, an SMB operator, and have exited to a larger PE-backed platform (delivering an 8x MOIC for my investors). I've personally acquired 6 companies and have invested in 9 other SMB/LMM companies. I know what it is like to buy and

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

‼️Attention Self-funded Searchers‼️ My fund is currently writing equity gap checks of $250k-$500k for SMB acquisitions. If you are using the "self-funded search" model, have a deal under LOI, and are looking for an equity partner who brings hands-on-experience with SMB

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Thankfully, the buyer has scaled and improved the business dramatically and I think they will have a hard time trying to build a competing company today, especially in the current environment, but it just speaks to the importance of getting the full 5-year non-compete!

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

11 months

Sure, running an SMB is hard, but have you ever tried to catch a permit on a fly rod? 😂 #permitonfly #flyfishing

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

Underwrite your deals with a margin of safety, folks. Estimate your EBITDA conservatively. Understand your variable costs from your fixed costs and how your EBITDA deleverages with a decline in sales. How much would your sales have to decline before your DSCR falls below 1x?

Lisa Forrest

@LisaGForrest

9 months

J CURVE.. not discussed enough in self-funded search. Good chance EBITDA goes DOWN 1 - 2 years. Spending money to grow and that growth is often delayed or muted by unforeseen factors. And/or Transition goes wonky. Have enough DSC margin to get through transition.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Don't listen to Twitter finance bros telling you not to buy and run a small business. Make up your own mind about it. No one ever said it was easy. Interview people who have done it and succeeded as well as some that have failed. But definitely don't listen to the opinion of

Spencer Moslow

@SpencerMoslow

5 months

Don’t listen to Twitter business bros telling you to buy and run a small business. There’s a lot of bad business advice on Twitter — and this is the most painfully obvious one. Here’s why it’s not a good idea 👇

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Barracuda are one of my favorite fish to target with a fly rod. You have to spot them a long ways off. Make long accurate casts. Technical retrieves. Super aggressive eats. Long fast runs and acrobatics. Plus those teeth.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

@STLChrisH This is 100% one of the biggest risks to a business with a large fleet. Especially in some of the more litigious states. Highly recommend implementing a telematics, GPS, and camera system like Netradyne or Azuga. They report unsafe driving, which the manager can then watch on

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

It should be illegal to post something like "I'm building a HUGE NUmBEr XYZ company" in your bio when your actual company is 1/1000th, 1/100th, or even 1/10th of that size. BS indicator 🆙 🚩

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Some are worried about the number of new searchers, but all I see is opportunity. Everyday I get 5-10 solid new business listings in my inbox. When I browse @BizBuySell , I see opportunities left and right. There are more business opportunities than buyers. But there's a catch...

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@KrissBergTweets 3 nice months in exchange for 9 months of darkness and depression. Lived there for 22 years.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

Another common question from self-funded searchers is, "What do I do when a broker asks me for proof of funds?" This is the first test of your sales skills, which will be necessary for not only closing your deal, but also your life as a small business owner. Here are some tips:🧵

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

14 days

Remember...

Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

Searchers, if you want to win more LOIs, and have those LOIs actually CLOSE (which is the real goal), here's a tip: Rather than attempting to educate a seller on the ins and outs of working capital, just plan to bring your own and factor it into your purchase price! For

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 months

@LeadershipAcad1 The way I ran my team was that whenever someone called out, it created more work for everyone else. Everyone pitches in to help out when someone is sick, but there is also heavy peer pressure from the team to self regulate bullshit call-outs. Ultimately, if someone is calling out

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

6 days

@Jeffrey20706426 Depends what type of filter you have, size of the pool, use, environmental factors, etc. But cleaning a quad cartridge on my size pool once every six months is more than adequate.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

It should be illegal to publish an annual letter, shareholder letter, investor letter, etc. without disclosing any actual financial performance metrics (i.e. consolidated revenue, EBITDA, FCF, NAV, FMV, etc.).

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

The search feature on Twitter/X is amazingly bad. Hard to find people. Even ones you follow.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

11 days

I called the IRS today. They said I could either fax the document they need to them, or send it via snail mail. They don't accept PDF scans via email. What century are we living in? The IRS is apparently the ultimate enterprise that still runs via fax machine.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

I've struggled with what to say about the horrible atrocities in Israel, or whether it was even my place to say anything at all. However, the tweet below resonated with me. Hamas clearly targeted innocent civilians in cold blood and committed unspeakable atrocities against

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis

@chiefrabbi

9 months

Words matter. A number of media organisations have editorial guidelines directing them not to use the term 'terrorist' in their reporting of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. These guidelines may be borne out of well-intentioned aspirations to appear accurate and

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

9 months

People love to talk trash about BizBuySell, but I think almost every business I've found on Axial has also been listed on BBS...🤔 There are a lot of quality businesses on BBS, and there are also lots of low-quality ones. The key is to set up your filters properly and use keyword

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Looking forward to seeing everyone at @SMB_ash !

SMBash

@SMB_ash

5 months

At SMBash, we pride ourselves in ensuring you receive the complete conference experience, packed with value and memorable moments. Included in your ticket are:

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

I say this often and agree 100%. The ability of a self-funded searcher to get a deal to the closing line is a good indicator of their ability to operate. I would add "sales skills" as well. You'll have to "sell" the broker, seller, investors, lender, etc.

Eli Albrecht

@Eli_Albrecht

1 year

The acquisition of an SMB is a great indicator of how a searcher will handle the challenges of post-closing operations. Closing an SMB deal takes people skills, tenacity, creative thinking, problem-solving, analysis, and direct (often uncomfortable) communication. It requires

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

I've noticed a trend of exited traditional searchers coming back around and doing a self-funded search the 2nd time around. I don't think I've heard of an exited traditional searcher doing a 2nd funded search.👀🤔

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

7 months

Searchers, I recommend that you reach out to potential investors no less than 45 days before your target closing date. It takes time to round up investors, negotiate terms, review legal docs, provide documentation to SBA lenders, wire funds, etc. This is especially true if you

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@F1 @ScuderiaFerrari @Charles_Leclerc They should just end the #monacogp on Saturdays after qualifying. No reason to make them drive around for 78 laps with no overtaking.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

3 months

When entering an entirely new business or industry, I suggest one approach it with a healthy dose of humility, curiosity, and willingness to learn. Over confidence, dare I say hubris, is likely to lead to some unnecessarily expensive learning lessons...

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Searchers: Make sure your settlement statement at closing is complete. The closing settlement statement should spell out where all the funds are going. The seller's broker's fee should be one of the items included on the settlement statement and the seller's broker should be paid

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

11 months

I agree. The $500k or sub $500k EBITDA or size range can be a great place to start. It was for me and many others in this space. Lower purchase multiples for your initial acquisition, and future add-on acquisitions, can allow you to build a nice sized business relatively cheaply

Sean Smith

@SeanSmithBC

11 months

There is an irrational hate for sub $500k EBITDA businesses in the SMB space. Sure, for many, this size of business isn't going to be worth the hassle, but here are my thoughts on why I think these business can be awesome for first time buyers: 1. It's a great Training Ground.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

Recently completed my first "stock purchase" (vs an "asset purchase") via an F-reorganization. The hurdle for me ever doing one of these transactions again is extremely high. What a PIA it has proven to be with little to no benefit. We probably could have modified the few

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

2 months

@JoeCMoran I drove a white Ford Ranger. I remember very vividly right after I bought it, the plumber down the way rolled up in his jacked-up Silverado with rims and said to me, "one day you'll have a truck like this one." I explained to him why the new owner of the company didn't need to be

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

10 months

On 1): Ask the sellers who answers the phone or emails or text messages that come in? Who pays payroll? Who sends invoices? Who receives payments? Who does quality control checks? Who supervises the employees and makes sure they're showing up on time and doing their jobs?

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Losing a deal sucks. I've been there. I don't want to beat up on Alex, but I think there's a valuable learning lesson in his tweet. Sometimes there is a risk of trying to get too cute with your offer. If the asking price on a deal is fair (or even low in this case, IMO), don't

Alex Nelson | Wedding Venue Guy | Coffee Guy?

@WeddingVenueGuy

5 months

Damn I feel like I f***ed up. Came across this coffee company last week for sale near us that had 4 shops. Was half joking when we first looked at it but deeper we got we realized this could make a lot of sense for what we are doing. Got more serious, tweeted about it, which

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

Running the average small business is hard work, but it's not rocket science. Just constant blocking and tackling while solving problems with limited resources. The faster you can replace the ancient systems and processes the company probably runs on, the easier it gets.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

The Silver Tsunami in action.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

4 months

Always defer some portion of the purchase price via a holdback, seller note, earnout, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a seller do something shady post Closing where if you didn't hold some portion of the purchase price back, there would be almost no easy recourse.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

7 months

Couldn't agree more. The bigger the idea sounds behind your grand HoldCo or Roll-Up strategy, the less interested I am in it. If you're a first time searcher, let's just start with the first acquisition and go from there, k?

Paul Graham

@paulg

7 months

People often email me with big-sounding ideas (reinvent commerce, change the way people meet, transform scientific research), and the bigger the idea sounds, the less interested I am. Truly big ideas don't sound big initially.

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

5 months

Searchers/aspiring SMB owners: You can learn a lot from SMB Twit/X if you're observant. What to do, and what not to do. How to treat your employees, and how not to. People publicizing their good (or questionable) decisions and then seeing how those decisions positively (or

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 year

This is a great overview by Eli of seller notes, the nuances of which I think are often underutilized by searchers.

Eli Albrecht

@Eli_Albrecht

1 year

M&A Monday: How to Structure a Seller Note in an Acquisition. The Seller Promissory Note is one of the best tools when structuring an acquisition. Seller notes are common on SMB deals and used strategically by independent sponsors and small PE. Each Monday I post one lesson

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

1 month

Searchers, here's your opportunity. This is a quote from one of the CEO's on this list: “We’re not buying the fixer-upper businesses,” says CEO Trey Brock. “We’re looking for those with good momentum to help get them to the next level and partner with them.” The "fixer-uppers"

Mike Botkin

@MikeBotkin_

1 month

The annual Top 100 landscaping companies list came out. Here is the Top 25 Every single company in the top 25 is either publicly traded, or backed by PE. Some have been acquired / sold multiple times (Yellowstone, Juniper, Heartland, etc.) *I spy a few twitter guys 🧐

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Ben Bortner

@Slackwatercap

8 months

@SMB_Attorney

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