The Business Inquirer #049
In this week's issue, I highlight 7 listings including a Plan B passport consultancy, a niche job board, and a no-code learning platform.
The Business Inquirer covers the most interesting tech-enabled business acquisition opportunities. Written for entrepreneurs, search funds, investors, and business owners. It’s completely free and you’re guaranteed to learn something new.
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In this week’s issue:
🛒 eCommerce - 0 listings
☁ SaaS - 1 listing
🕸 Content/Marketplace/Service - 6 listings
🛠 Tools & Resources
The Business Inquirer is brought to you by DueDilio. DueDilio connects business buyers and investors with quality, pre-vetted due diligence service providers. Post your project. Review proposals. Hire diligence provider.
🛒 eCommerce
☁ SaaS
Voice Assistant for Leasing - Open to Offers
For sale is a 3-year-old PropTech startup that’s developed a web-based voice assistant that provides a conversational experience for renters via mobile phone.
3 employees;
Partnerships and LOIs with marquee brands like Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Greystar, and more;
$19k ARR; 30-Day Revenue: $1,500;
Asking: Open to Offers
✔ What I Like
My understanding is that the tech provides a way for prospective renters to tour an apartment without a leasing agent. Using this solution, they can ask questions using a virtual assistant as they tour the property. Interesting concept. Relationships with some big players in the real estate field. The listing mentions that they have a first-mover advantage.
❓ Questions & Concerns
This is an early-stage startup so a lot of questions. Is this a solution to an existing and known problem? Partnerships and LOIs don’t mean much unless they result in something tangible (revenue, PR). Why are they not further along in 3-years? COVID would have been the perfect opportunity for this tech. How do you value this?
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
🕸 Content/Marketplace/Service
E-Commerce Reviews & Strategies Content - $616k
For sale is an 18-year-old content website that focuses on e-commerce marketplaces, tools, and best practices. The business offers informative articles, including a wide range of e-commerce store reviews and strategies on how to grow an e-commerce store. Revenue generated from affiliate and display advertising.
89% organic traffic; 1.7M LTM visitors, 2.5M page views LTM;
35% CAGR (2018-2020) in unique visitors;
TTM Revenue: $218k; Profit: $197k; Margin: 90%;
Asking: $616k; Multiple: 3.13x
✔ What I Like
Very well aged content website. Appears to have a strong SEO profile with the majority of visitors coming from organic search. Great margins. Evergreen niche. Valuation doesn’t look crazy.
❓ Questions & Concerns
How often do the articles have to be updated? What’s been happening to traffic in 2021? Any room to renegotiate affiliate and display advertising rates? Why is the owner selling the business? Is there a large e-mail list?
You can view the listing on FE International.
— — — —
Digital Marketing & Web Design - $26k (auction)
For sale is 2-year-old EcommerceChamp which is a content/affiliate website as well as web development and digital marketing company.
28 Authority Score; 3.8k backlinks; 5.7k keywords; 6k page views/month;
30-Day Avg Revenue: $5,804; Profit: $3,929; Margin: 68%;
2 Free Tools; Ebooks, Videos;
TTM Revenue: $70k; Profit: $47k; Margin: 67%;
Asking: $26k (auction; reserve not met)
✔ What I Like
I like the business model here. Focus is on educating the consumer as this brings in prospects and generates revenue from affiliate offers. Smart strategy. Then they convert a certain number of free users into paying clients for the web dev and digital marketing agency. Everything here is outsourced so it’s a relatively low workload business. Great margins. Evergreen niche of e-commerce. Simple tech stack. Website looks great.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Young business that requires a lot of due diligence. I’d like to understand the breakdown of affiliate vs. agency revenue. Since everything is outsourced, how reliable are the suppliers? Listing shows that Google traffic went down a lot after a recent update, have to explore this. Tricky to figure out the right valuation as it’s a combintion of an affiliate website and a service business.
You can view the listing on Flippa.
————
No-Code Learning Platform & Community - Open to Offers
For sale is 10-month-old Superbuild which is a community, newsletter, and learning platform for no-code. Revenue is generated from access to the platform.
Competitors: Makerpad
340+ community members; 1,300 newsletter subs
30-Day Revenue: $3,000k; Profit: $2,200; Margin: 73%
Asking: Open to Offers
✔ What I Like
I really like the no-code space. I think we’re in the early innings here and there are a lot of opportunities to make money. This community could be an interesting acquisition for someone in this space already or an Agency. There’s some nice traction and early revenue. A lot of ways to grow the business.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Very young business. Founder is all over the website so he and his story are a big driver of business. Community building isn’t easy and requires specific know-how. Competition in this space is also heating up.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
— — — —
Foreign Banking & Immigration Consulting - $3M
For sale is a 10-year old specialized consulting business. The service helps clients structure their business, finances, and immigration in foreign jurisdictions. I believe they’re called Plan B passports. Interesting listing.
24k unique visitors/m; 44k page views/m; 32k e-mail subs;
30-Day Avg Revenue: $199k; Profit: $60k; Margin: 30%
TTM Revenue: $2.4M; Profit: $722k; Margin: 30%
Asking: $3M; Multiple: 4.14x
✔ What I Like
Well aged business. Strong SEO position and large e-mail list. A lot of tailwinds for this business. 2020 saw a 260% rise in American’s renouncing their citizenship and 2021 will be another record year. This is basically a productized service. Seller is experienced and has all SOPs in place for a smooth transition. Just Google “Plan B passport” if you want to learn about this industry.
❓ Questions & Concerns
I think the biggest concern is around laws and regulations. I have to assume that some experience with this area would be required to really scale. I’d want to better understand why the current owner is selling. My understanding is that there’s no recurring revenue here. How defensible is this business and who’s the competition?
You can view the listing on Flippa.
— — — —
Church Job Board - Open to Offers
For sale is a 2-year-old job board that connects churches looking to hire candidates. Revenue is generated by selling access to the job board.
Competitors: ChurchStaffing, Ministry Jobs, Church Job Finder
Business is completely automated
30-Day Revenue: $9,400; Profit: $8,500; Margin: 90%
TTM Revenue: $79k; Profit: $70k; Margin: 89%
Asking: Open to Offers
✔ What I Like
Simple business model. Big TAM. Evergreen niche. Great margins. A lot of places to advertise. Listing mentions that everything is automated. Competitors to learn from.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Young business started during COVID. I see a lot of competition. How are job listings sourced? How are paying clients brought in and what’s the CAC? Online search volume is strong but has been steadily declining.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
— — — —
Goddard School - $150k
For sale is a Goddard School in the mid-Atlantic region. SDE of $230k and $100k in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Director in place. Real estate is leased. Very motivated seller.
🛠 Tools & Resources
These are tools & resources that I personally use. They may contain affiliate links so I’ll get a few shekels if you sign-up.
ProjectionHub - Access to 50+ CPA-developed financial projection templates. 25% discount.
PrivSource - Deal aggregator for lower and middle-market listings.
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.
That’s all for this issue of The Business Inquirer!
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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, 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.