The information contained here may not be typical and does not guarantee returns. Background, education, effort, and application will affect your experience. Your results will likely vary.
Hey Biz-Buyers,
Welcome to this week’s Boring Business Brief, where we share some of the best insights, tips, and stories from our biz-buying community.
Today, in 5 minutes or less:
Buyer tip: A biz-buying hiring dilemma…
Unless you’re flying solo, successfully running a business means managing talent effectively.
For some biz-buyers, one of the most meaningful parts of ownership is having the chance to hire, develop, and retain great talent.
But it can also be a headache-and-a-half.
That’s why we loved seeing this question in our Slack👇
The logic is there…
Hiring or retaining employees is already tough.
Toss in an industry where hiring or retaining employees is a known challenge? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Why buy a business if you know the industry comes with hiring headaches or talent shortages?
The community dove right into the nitty-gritty, and we think you’ll find this advice helpful:
One member said the key is understanding the difference between a “hard to hire” problem and a “hard to keep” problem.
“If it is hard to keep employees, is this a leadership issue or incentive problem that can be solved? If it’s hard to find employees, what is the reason for this? Specializations? Geography of business to talent? Industry competition? Marketing? Training?”
Identify which one you’re facing, and address the issue accordingly.
A facilitator mentioned you should also consider whether these issues actually present an opportunity for building a “sustainable advantage” over competitors.
If it’s a “hard to keep” problem, for instance, maybe that means offering better incentives, leadership, or company culture.
Buyer tip: “Should I be focused on 1 industry?”
“… And does it sound silly or unprofessional if you reach out to a broker looking for opportunities in multiple verticals?” asked a member.
The short answer: Absolutely not.
The member added that they’re finding it hard to narrow down their focus across home services, logistics, and technology businesses.
Here’s some of the advice they got:
- Recommendations: One member recommended the frameworks outlined in the Buy Then Build book, and shared this podcast episode on formulating a buy box and shortening your search. She looks for businesses with certain levels of profit and adequate systems in place to use her skills.
- Tip: Another member explained that brokers expect you to be looking across multiple industries and that things like location and availability will impact the search regardless.
- From experience: Our facilitator tossed some wisdom into the mix, too, estimating that 90% of reviewing a business or deal is industry agnostic. “If you’re asking for advice ONLY from people with direct experience, you might be missing out on great advice from others.”
1 biz-buying musing from Codie…
“There are lots of people today wanting to buy businesses with totally unrealistic expectations.
That they should be able to…
- Learn everything in 30 days
- Get their first deal in a month
- Close the deal the next month
I want us to think about how unreasonable that is.
If it’s your first time on the biz-buying search, you may not have done 50 outreach calls, analyzed 50 LOIs, or reviewed 50 P&Ls, let alone one.
Having never done it before, does it seem reasonable that you’d be able to buy a multimillion-dollar business in the next 90 days (let alone one that’s not gonna have anything on the downside)?
OF COURSE NOT.
People need to understand that their volume game has to increase at the period in which their skill is the least.
Too often I see folks fall in love with the first deal they find.
Imagine that you married the first person you kissed or dated.
It could work out.
It could be great.
But you’re potentially putting all your eggs in a basket without fully understanding what you want, who you are, and what’s good for you in a partnership.
If this is your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th business that you’ve looked at… It’s likely not the one you should marry.
… But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a few coffees with it.”
3 GREAT links from the week:
📰 News: The SBA launched an enhanced lender match tool for SMBs
👪 Read: A good thread about what it’s like having kids and running a business…
😮 Idea: A catered, red-carpet laundromat VIP launch party…? Yup, it worked for this biz
Who’s looking to buy a biz?
A partial list of real people who began their Contrarian Community journey recently…
📊 A Hawaiian couple who own a bookkeeping biz (and want to acquire more)
👨⚕️ A chiropractor and scientific leader at a supplement company
🤑 A sales team leader at a large tech company
🏦 A loan officer, who said this as their why: “Freedom! Having been self-employed for 23 years, I am ready to become a business owner. I want to provide great-paying, great-environment jobs for others, while helping my family grow financially free and have freedom of time!”
