Roll Up Strategies
Acquiring multiple businesses within the same industry is a dream for many searchers, but it’s far from reality in actual practice. While the acquisition process is very similar to Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (EtA), the additional…
Managing a Blue-Collar Workforce
Hiring and retaining a “blue-collar” workforce rapidly rises in importance once the challenges of taking over the business after closing are dealt with. Searcher/CEOs report that managing a direct, nonexempt, hourly labor group is much…
Buying a Franchise
An old proverb reminds us that if you are searching for a jewel, it too often may be hiding in plain sight! Most searchers discount the opportunity to become the CEO/owner of a franchise for…
Searching as a Couple
Husband-and-wife teams searching for, purchasing and then running a business, is a special variation on selecting a partner for a search. Searching with a partner (See Blog Post: Searching with a Partner, or not!) is…
Early Years as Searcher/CEO
How do searcher/CEO's feel 2 years after closing their acquisition? You may be surprised to learn from over 2 dozen searchers surveyed that 2/3 of them reported feeling significantly worried about their business years from acquisition.…
Selecting your search name
Many searchers inadvertently turn-off potential sellers by choosing a name for their search firm that fails the test of being “seller friendly”. The code words that make your firm impressive to investors are often the…
Searching Mid-Career
When to start an EtA (Entrepreneurship through Acquisition) search in your career can be a vexing and very personal question. Should you do it now, or wait? And if you wait, will "life" get in…
Learning About Search
Learning about EtA (Entrepreneurship through Acquisition) is challenging, just like searching for a business to buy! It takes persistence, perseverance, hard work and chasing down a lot of dead ends. For entrepreneurial start-ups there is…
Bank Financing
The most substantial source of financing for an EtA (Entrepreneurship through Acquisition) business will be bank financing. A quick survey of two dozen searchers finds they have raised between 35% to 75% of their transaction…
Taking Over the Business
Stepping into the role of CEO of the business you acquire is the ultimate objective of your search. The skills that you will have developed and honed over the preceding 6-24 months as a searcher…