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PPP Data is a goldmine for a small business buyer - I shouldn't be telling you this...
In less than 10 minutes, I found 95 'Flooring Contractors' in Texas, estimated their revenue & EBITDA based on their PPP loan data
6 steps:
1. Get PPP Payroll data for the specific NAICS
Working Capital 101 ๐ฅ
Let me save you years of headache. I've put together an example that should explain everything you've ever wanted to know about working capital
Now you know everything
How I turned public PPP loan data into a mind blowing business acquisition pipeline: ๐คฏ
To get PPP money, businesses had to disclose never-before-seen private dataโฆnow it sits on the SBAs website available for anyone to download for free
But remember, data is completely
Raising equity for a self-funded search acquisition deal?
In 2022, Iโve reviewed over 100 self-funded deals and made investments in 4.
Hereโs the 7 slides I want to see in a deck (plus some red flags & other tips at the end), from an investor's perspective...
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Want to buy a small business near you (within 15 miles)?
12 tactics for a geographically constrained acquisition search:
1. get a list of PPP loan data from your geo, filter to best 200 with your criteria (email & cold call). Drop in unannounced live to top 25 and meet the
Using SBA debt to buy a small biz? A simple valuation & structuring strategy:
1. EBITDA minus capex
2. Multiply by 3.5 for a good biz or 4 for a great biz to get the purchase price
3. 80% SBA debt / 10% seller note / 10% equity
4. Req working capital as part of offer
That's it
Want to buy a ski resort? Well now you can: for only $8,500,000!
Powder King is a Canadian ski mountain in BC with 900 acres of skiable terrain, 37 runs, three lifts. It even has a lake resort as a bonus
Too bad thereโs no SBA loans in Canadaโฆ ๐
@SMB_Attorney
Guess Iโm not seeing whatโs wrong with this. Firm wants to build a certain culture. People can choose to join or not. Sounds like a great management move on their part - outline clear expectations
Hack I learned in private equity when buying a small business
Read 10Ks and investor presentations of publicly traded companies in the same space (competitors, customers, vendors)
โก๏ธ Strategy playbooks, industry insight, risks, financials
Thank me by commenting "Ben you rock"
EV charger install biz is a great electrician niche. Start or buy one
Ride the wave of new EV owners for the next 25 yrs
Easy installs 1/2 day of work for $1.5K-$2K
Upsell opportunities (solar, monitoring systems, electrical upgrades, etc)
All about lead gen
You in?
I've been asked this a million times, so let me show you how to calculate the investor equity ownership in a potential self funded (SBA) deal
OR put another away, how much you as the entrepreneur can retain when you put up 0% of your own money (100% of equity from investors)
3
Insider info: One thing you should know about SMB deals is that most are sold between 3.5x and 4x EBITDA
And itโs not driven by buyers unique valuation of a companyโฆitโs mostly driven by how much debt it can support according to SBA underwriting methodologiesโฆthis is NOT
In Austin now: people setting off fireworks, blocking off the street, doing donuts, like 500 people, cops canโt get close (Lamar and Barton Springs Rd)
Is this a promotional event of some kind youโre sponsoring
@girdley
?
Cash flow is king as a business buyer
3 steps to get from SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) to cash flow using a live business for sale on BizBuySell: ๐๐งต
Legal poker rooms are cash flow machines โ ๏ธโฃ๏ธโฅ๏ธโฆ๏ธ
A single mega location has the capacity to do >$10M of revenue at 40%+ EBITDA margins
Let's use my local poker room in Austin TX that I play at as an example:
@LodgePokerClub
The place is MASSIVE. Over 80 tables (10 people per
12 tactics to find an extremely profitable, cash flowing SMB within 10 miles of your house:
1. get a list of PPP loan data from your geo, filter to best 200 with your criteria (email & cold call). Drop in unannounced live to top 25 and meet the owner
2. send a high value
SBA rule change โก๏ธ now allows ROLLOVER EQUITY and continued involvement by the seller!
I'm calling it now...This will change the dynamic between buyers & sellers in SBA 7(a) financed business purchases (if you know how to wield it)
Here's what buyers need to know ๐:
How much do M&A advisors (business brokers, investment bankers) get paid to sell a business?
๐ธ5-10% for $2M to $5M
๐ธ4-6% for $5M to $10M
๐ธ2-4% for $20M to $50M
๐ธ1-2% for $100M to $150M
(imo they're underpaid!)
This hot tea ๐ซ came from a report that was just released ๐
What do you think of this boring business that makes $1.3M a year in profit re-selling rocks and dirt?
My head immediately goes to 1) real estate and 2) inventory
The next billion dollar industry?
Male-focused aesthetics: med spas, injectables clinics, hair loss treatments, hormone replacement therapy
High margins, cash pay, massive growth w aging millennials, low risk medical procedures
The playbook for buying a cash flowing small biz:
1. Find a quality biz for less than 4x EBITDA
2. Use a loan to fund >70-100%
3. Get >10% seller financing
4. Raise any equity from investors
5. Own 60-80% after investors paid back
6. Operate, sustain, and grow for a lifetime
My wife bet me I couldn't get to 1,000 followers on Twitter in a month
She was wrong.
I did it in 2 weeks! (from 55 followers)
I had a winning playbook and it worked:
Coolest thing I've seen in the last month:
A 17 yr old is building a world-class mountain bike park in Austin
he found a land investor to buy a $3.2M property (then lease it to back to him) so the total cost is only $350K to do full buildout + begin operations ๐คฏ๐คฏ๐คฏ
You're missing out on the latest small business buying opportunity in 2023
100% Seller Financing: no money down and no bank loan
And as interest rates rise, I think it will be even more effective
๐งต โฌ๏ธ Here's how to do it and why I think it's a legit strategy
Small business ownership is the highest risk adjusted return as long as you:
1. buy big enough - at least $500K of annual earnings
2. purchase for less than 4x earnings
3. use SBA financing (gov handout)
4. donโt make fatality dumb decisions (buy a company with 2 customers)
Do you look at employee count when buying a service business? Itโs one of the first things I look at.
Favorite metric: โEBITDA per employeeโ
IT services
$1.3M EBITDA / 21 employees
= $61K
Home health care
$1.3M EBITDA / 120 employees
= $10.8K
This tell me a lot:
-what the
โNo manโs landโ: $1M to $2M of EBITDA
Too small for PE fundsโฆduh opportunity for micro PE and hands on entrepreneurs
-big gaps in ops or sales
-owner heavily involved
-not really a platform yet
-lacks mgmt team depth
-upcoming big cost step functions (COO, Dir of Sales)
An investment thesis: Botox & fillers = big ๐ผ & ๐ธ
High margins, cash pay, massive growth from Americans who have an insatiable appetite to look better
$59 billion in 2021 โก๏ธ $150 billion in 2030 (11% annual growth rate)
A ๐งต about vanity & what's to come
@blueprintsmb22
Sounds like maybe the root cause is a culture and people issue, the bathroom time is the result? Time cards might help but it may mask / prevent you from addressing the true issue. Have you dug into the โwhyโ?
$1-2M of EBITDA businesses: โNo manโs landโ
Too small for private equityโฆtoo big for doctors/high net worth folks who canโt acquire
Valuation multiple goes up massively if you get a tiny bit bigger at this size biz
Iโve got a better name for it: โMoney Tree Landโ
A friend owned a successful HVAC business. He had deep trust in his employees, treating them as family...especially his bookkeeper. As he was selling the biz, he discovered she had been embezzling $30k-$60K per year over the prior 10+ years.
How would you feel?
How does self-funded SBA acquisition structuring work?
Let me give you the short version in 3-4 minutes
You're buying a $1.4M EBITDA company for $6M with 80% SBA senior debt, 10% seller note, and 10% equity You have to raise approximately $600K of equity to get the deal done
When I sold my business in early 2022, I had convos with a bunch of exited entrepreneurs. Their advice: 'take serious time off' and 'don't make any big decisions for the next 6 months'
My wife and I decided to take the next 8 months off. We traveled to 13 countries. This is is
A winning small business buying strategy:
1. Consistent revenue over last 3 yearsโฆGrowth is not always good!
2. Size must be >$1M of SDE/EBITDA
3. Price less than 4x
4. Owner has already stepped back from the day to day
5. YOU can drive more revenue in the first 30 days
Simple
2 life insurance hacks:
1. get term life insurance when you're young and healthy. 10 year term $4,000,000 policy for $1,100 a year ๐คฏ
2. free blood panel - they send a nurse to you & do a complete panel (more detailed than your physician), get results even if you don't go w it
What happens once youโve signed an LOI to buy a cash flowing SMB?
This is a visual summary that I provide to the broker, seller and myself to make sure I have my ducks in order
You can tell Iโve done this beforeโฆ
Any questions?
MBAs graduating spent $425,000 now face a declining tech market and layoffs on Wall StreetโฆI wonder how many will regret it knowing that they could have used the money for a down payment on a cash flowing small business doing >$1M of profit a year?
So you've signed an LOI to buy a business, how do you actually get to Close?
The "BIG 3":
1๏ธโฃ Core Diligence
2๏ธโฃ Debt Raise
3๏ธโฃ Equity Raise
Start out general, then get more granular. Adjust the timeline to your unique deal & preferences
Example of my 90-day close timeline:
Mezzanine / sub debt is going crazy right now as senior lenders tighten up
Mez debt make money by sitting between the:
๐จ fear of senior debt holders and the
๐ค greed of equity holders
A quick intro to Mez debt ๐งต๐
PPP loan data is the best true look into small business operations Iโve ever seen
Businesses had to publicly declare their headcount and monthly payroll
๐คฏ 968,532 companies received a loan $150K and $10M
Now thatโs a qualified lead list Iโd Iโve ever seen one
What's a 'Pick-and-Shovel' business? A live example from BizBuySell:
Med spa marketing agency for sale doing $925K of earnings for $2.65M
๐ธbet on overall market trends - massive growth in med spas & aesthetics across the board
๐ธsolves a core problem: getting customers in the
>$100M opportunity โก๏ธ Emergency ONLY home services (Plumbing, HVAC, locksmiths, etc)
Hire techs who want to work nights, pay 20% over market
Price at 2x
Setup rev share w daytime providers
Existing owner could create brand on top
Dominate SEO, answer the โ๏ธ, 30 min response
The best businesses make it crystal clear what their values are & who the right employees are for them
This law firm is an extreme example: insanely high expectations, obscenely high pay, 80+ hours a week
Whatever your personal philosophy is around 'work', this is a GREAT
A very experienced broker said:
out of the 250 transactions he's done over last 10 years
he knew of only 4 known catastrophic failures (bankruptcies) post close
1.6% failure rate
Is the 'fear of failure' overblown?
"How do I reduce my taxes when I sell?"
is the
#1
question from entrepreneurs & SMB owners when they find out
I sold my business ๐ and had a big tax bill ๐ญ
15 ways to lower taxes at exit ๐งต ๐
Poop ๐ช and trash ๐ is big business...This small business for sale makes $600,000 per year transporting and disposing all things human waste
Talk about a recurring revenue stream...(over 70% of revenue)
Good or bad buy?
Listing link:
Why arenโt there more sales-heavy folks doing small business searches?
Finding a business is sales
Operating a business is sales
Growing a business is sales
Many compelling reasons to go after bigger deals (>$1M earnings) and avoid smaller ones ($250K earnings)
1. More cash flow. Opportunity cost.
2. Lower risk. The SBA default data suggests bigger is undeniably lower risk of complete loss. This is huge.
3. Under $250K of
I recently started the Cash Flow SMB Investor List
275+ accredited small business investors want to invest in cash flowing small businesses
โก๏ธ 5 deals sent out in last few weeks (1 of them was a debt deal!)
Here's how it works: ๐๐
I want to write a childrenโs book called โBen Buys a Businessโ about entrepreneurship through acquisition
Rich Dad Poor Dad had a huge impact on me when I read it in 4th grade.
Would you buy an ETA childrenโs book for your kids? Crazy idea?
Explaining business buying jargon to a 7 year old:
โFull standby seller noteโ -> free money
โRetradeโ -> changed my mind
โRecurring revenueโ -> Willy Wonkaโs golden ticket
โKPIsโ -> report card
โPIPโ -> timeout
โLOIโ -> I want that
โCEOโ -> mommy
โreps and warrantiesโ -> I
Iโm BUILDING in public โก๏ธ my short term blue print for the SMB Capital Connector:
โ distribute 25 sponsors/deals of various types (independent sponsor, self funded, franchisee developers, private equity funds): get a ton metrics on deals sent, convos requested, convos had,
I'm building out an SMB investor list
100+ have already registered wanting to invest >$100K each in SMB deals
The most interesting insight....64% want to invest in SMB debt ๐คฏ๐คฏ๐คฏ
Investor sign-up form here:
Thereโs a huge need for SMB ops coaching, and a lack of solutions
Systems like EOS donโt go deep enough in ops and process
Itโs laughable how light it is on opsโฆbut itโs the biggest struggle and opportunity for really any business
Why is this? Difficult to โteachโ?
16 Questions you need to ask yourself when buying a business:
1. What fundamental problem is the business solving?
2. Whatโs real cash flow (EBITDA less maintenance capex)?
3. How durable are the earnings?
4. Would I enjoy and be proud of owning it for 5-10 years?
5. Does it
Overreliance on EBITDA has cost people a lot of money
Depreciation is a real expense
Very few businesses can cut off its capital expenditures and maintain its strength
EBITDA is great for sales or high level communication, but cash flow is reality to me
how 90%+ of financial models are created:
1. use summary historical P&Ls as baseline
2. apply a magical rev growth rate (4-10%)
3. apply higher gross & operating margins
4. apply a higher exit multiple vs what you bought at
5. name this the โBase Caseโ
I'm convinced SDE (sellers discretionary earnings) is mostly a disingenuous marketing tactic by main street brokers to sell 'jobs' marketed as businesses
It's intended to mask the real cost structure
No reason to use SDE over EBITDA...ever
Do you like to eat shit? If so, you may be an excellent CEO or small business owner
โGritโ is the ability to eat shit day in and day out for an long periods of time.
I thought I had grit because I was a hard worker. No. Wrong.
Grit is responsibility, burden, sacrifice,
Range of fees for a $5M self-funded search acquisition using 80% SBA debt:
-Legal: $15K to $40K
-QoE: $6K to $20K
-Travel and lodging: $4K
-Lender fees: $15K
-SBA guaranty fee: $110K ($4M loan)
Legal, QoE, travel, lender deposit spent before you close
What are you seeing?
When acquiring a company, you either buy the STOCK or buy the ASSETS (stock deal or asset deal).
Why does it matter?
๐ฒ๐ฒCash flow ๐ฒ๐ฒ
This ๐งตis summary of what I've learned doing
#smallbusienss
stock/asset deals. Ignoring this topic can be...painful (beware).
Want to buy a business within 25 miles of your house? (called a geographically constrained search)...17 things:
1. be open to a lots of diff business types
2. setup auto deal notifications on biz listing sites for geo
3. meet live every single local biz broker and banker
โฌ๏ธ
Austin, TX is the best city
Pros: no income taxes, amazing weather, population/economic growth, nice people, SXSW, F1, liberal city in a conservative state, TX bbq, TX wine, music scene, a 'destination', lake & hill country nearby, no suit culture
Cons: property taxes, traffic
I wanted to share a big life update: I acquired DataTel in June 2023. DataTel is a managed service provider for IT and voice. The company is based in Idaho (and broader Pacific NW) and has been serving clients for over 62 years.
What's most crazy about this acquiring story is
16 questions to ask when buying a business:
1. What problem is the business solving?
2. Whatโs real cash flow (EBITDA less maintenance capex)?
3. How durable is the cash flow?
4. Would I enjoy and be proud of owning it for ten years?
5. Does it check all my deal criteria
A friend purchased a business using 100% seller finance (no money down, no bank, no PG)
โ Seller agreed to a 1x SDE price and financed it 100%, paid over 5 years
โ 3 weeks from initial meeting to closing. Owner was going to shut down. Win-win!
Iโm really proud of him ๐๐๐พ
@sweatystartup
My HoldCo strategy: Buy 1 business per year from retiring boomers making $1-2M EBITDA for 3.5x-4x doing B2B services, must be boring and consistently profitable. Get option to buy real estate that the biz operates from. Do better at sales and implement simple ops tech. Repeat.
"I'm trying to find a quick way to determine if a deal will attract equity investors"
Here it is (ignoring the quality of the business):
-IRR >35% AND MoM > 3.0x in flat/low growth base case without changing historical assumptions
-Price: <4.5X EBITDA (otherwise it prob won't
Many buyers don't understand there are real costs in choosing debt or equity
๐ธUse all equity? Give up ownership, possibly constrain growth
๐ธUse all debt? Constrain the business with mandatory payments
It's easiest to start with the COST, so let's dive in ๐งต ๐
Why does real estate get a 1031 tax free exchange at exit while small business is stuck with QSBS?? (benefits mostly VC founders, not SMBs)
I demand a 'small business 1031 exchange' to be enacted in 2023!
Typical costs/fees in a $5M self-funded search acquisition using 80% SBA debt: $154K to $189K
-Legal: $15K to $40K
-QoE: $10K to $20K
-Travel and lodging: $4K
-Lender fees: $15K
-SBA guaranty fee: $110K ($4M loan)
3.1% to 3.8% of $5M purchase price
What are you seeing?
Unpopular opinion: You gain control and lose freedom when you become an entrepreneur or SMB owner
I didnโt really understand the concept of responsibility until I left my W2 and was โin itโ: to yourself, your family, your employees, your customers
Dana White is one of the most successful acquisition entrepreneurs in America
He acquired the UFC for $2M and ultimately sold itt for $4 billion.
His secret ingredient?
OPM = Other People's Money
โWhen and how do I find equity investors for a small business acquisition?โ
Answer:
-you do it later than you think
-and itโs easier than you think
๐งต *bookmark this*
In 2015-16, home services companies were very undesirable PE investments. Saw $5-10M EBITDA home services platforms trade for less than 5x
Now that same company would trade for 10-14x
So what changed?:
1. Boatloads of money began flowing into home services through PE
Validating EBITDA addbacks is more art than science ๐งต
Simple methodology - put them into one of three buckets:
1. legit
2. maybe
3. not legit / total bullshit
Iโm considering syndicating independent sponsor equity raises of $2M to $20M thru my SMB network
Sponsors with awesome deals keep approaching me to fund big checks
Invest deal by deal. I vet the deal and only bring ones Iโm personally investing in $4-$15M EBITDA
Thoughts?
Americans should be required to do a week long international trip every 3 years
Especially kids during their formative years
See the world, understand new cultures and people. More global, less insular
If you want to learn about buying a business, practice makes perfect!
Fiberglass pool company located in beautiful Denver doing $3.2M of cash flow per year
What says you??
Iโve seen some interesting working schedules for SMB owners:
-1 month working then 1 month of international travel
-2 days a week during ski season, full time rest of yr
-3 days: Mon, Wed, Fri
-8am to 11am, 5 days a week
Whatโs your ideal work amount and schedule?
Independent sponsor acquisition model is a good one:
-15% to 25% carry
-management fees (at close + monitoring during)
-Using OPM...little to no personal capital at risk (and no PG)
-buying bigger โก๏ธ more professionalized and team in place
-your involvement in biz is flexible
BUYERS: do not under any circumstances sign an LOI WITHOUT including >90-day exclusivity, a no-shop, and a requirement to forward any new offers to you.
How would you feel if your new girlfriend (who you're wanting to marry) was seeing 3 other dudes on the side after you said
Sellers: do not under any circumstances sign an LOI with 90-day exclusivity, a no-shop, and a requirement to forward any new offers to the buyer.
Negotiating power strongly shifts in favor of the buyer after LOI.
My ramblings on exclusivity for sellers: