🧐 What I Learned Last Week
Week ending Friday March 4, 2022
What I Learned Last Week curates the most interesting content relating to business acquisitions, operations, entrepreneurship, finance, and more. WILLW is a publication of The Business Inquirer.
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Hello Friends!
This issue of The Business Inquirer is brought to you by DueDilio.
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Our deep network of 150+ independent professionals, boutique and mid-size firms, and subject-matter-experts enable us to address finance, technology, legal, operations, marketing, and other diligence projects.
Submit your project. Review qualified proposals. Hire diligence provider.
📰 Articles
SF&P Advisors offers some tips on how to streamline your business so that it is able to run without you. This leads to a higher valuation and faster sale when the time comes.
Key Takeaways
Creating a business that can run without you is an excellent exit strategy that ensures the continuity of your organization
A self-sufficient business sells fast on the market and often has a better valuation than its counterparts
This makes it essential to have a self-running business as part of your exit strategy
Figure out your business goals and why you want a self-running business before setting up the exit strategy
Delegating most of your tasks can help you build a business that runs without you
Be sure to communicate to your team any new changes and address their concerns
You may also want to adopt technology that can help you automate your business tasks
5 Exit Strategy Tips: How to Make Sure Your Business Runs Without You
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Jordan Novgrod recently started his search for a business to acquire. He’s documenting everything in Small Business Acquisition newsletter. In the latest issue, he talks about learning financial modeling and how he analyzes a deal. If you’re just starting out, I highly recommend subscribing to his newsletter.
🧵 Twitter
Searching for your next business idea? Here are 25…
Check out this thread next time you’re thinking about product/service pricing. A great explanation of the Decoy Effect in pricing strategy…
This is a great thread on thinking through customer acquisition…
Typically wouldn’t recommend doing two transactions at the same time but if you do find yourself in such a situation, here’s a good discussion on it…
Insights on a part of the market that I have not had much exposure to - RV Parks…
Can’t understate how important this is today. Understanding how to account for government payments when evaluating a business is very topical…
Don’t overcomplicate things. It really is that simple…
Some reasons for why you may be outbid on an acquisition. Good discussion here…
🤔 Thoughts, Events, Other
Acquisition Lab
Walker Deibel is the well-known author of Buy Then Build. He also runs Acquisition Lab which is a structured program and community to help you buy your first business. For a limited time, they’re offering a lifetime membership to Acquisition Lab for $5,000. Normally, this only gets you 12-months of access. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the program. At DueDilio, we get a decent amount of clients from them. I’ve read the book but otherwise, I have no affiliation with them and have not personally participated in the program.
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They Got Acquired
I had a great conversation with Alexis Grant yesterday afternoon. We discussed our backgrounds, the newsletter business, and more. I’ve been following her media project They Got Acquired since it was just an idea to the recent launch. She is an experienced entrepreneur having founded and sold a media business previously.
I recommend following Alexis on Twitter as she shares some great insights into her journey of launching, operating, and growing They Got Acquired.
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Boston SMB & ETA Happy Hour
If you’re in Boston or surrounding areas, please join the Boston SMB & ETA Happy Hour next week on Thursday, March 10th. Unfortunately, I am traveling and won’t be able to attend but it’ll be a great event.
Details: Eventbrite
🛠 Tools & Resources
These are tools & resources that I personally use or have used. They may contain affiliate links so I’ll get a few pesos if you sign-up.
Cerebro Capital - Cerebro has a network of 1,500+ lenders who can provide debt financing for your acquisition, refi, etc. $500k minimum.
X5 Deals - Proprietary deal sourcing. They do the outreach and send you relevant, actionable deals directly into your inbox.
Curators - Proprietary deal sourcing. You need targets that fit your investment criteria, and Curators delivers week after week - we even update your personalized database on a daily basis with new information on best-fit targets.
BizNexus - Proprietary deal flow, deal aggregator, and exit prep.
PrivSource - Deal aggregator for lower and middle-market listings.
Calendly - Leading scheduling platform to easily schedule meetings without the back and forth. I’ve been using it for several years now. Free 14-day trial.
ProjectionHub - Access to 50+ CPA-developed financial projection templates. 25% discount using code “duedilio” at checkout.
Logology - Best automated logo & brand identity tool I’ve come across.
DeepBench - Access a cutting-edge expert network. $200 discount.
OpenPhone - The best business phone solution that I have found. $20 credit.
Eloquens - Knowledge marketplace. I’ve bought a few guides and templates here.
Deal Flow Scout - Peer-to-peer deal flow exchange. Free, open, transparent.
Deal Sourcing Guide - A directory I put together of online marketplaces, brokers, DFY deal flow, and more.
That’s all for this issue of What I Learned Last Week!
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Important Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided for informational & educational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. This newsletter may link to other websites and certain information contained herein has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified. The Business Inquirer makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. References to any companies, securities, listings, investments, or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any business, tax, or investment decisions. Content in this newsletter speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.