The Business Inquirer #058
In this issue, I highlight nine listings including a website analytics micro-SaaS, a healthcare staffing agency, a wine & spirits competition, and more.
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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Hello Friends!
I’d love to learn a bit more about the type of business you’re looking to acquire. I use this feedback to drive the direction of the newsletter.
What type of business are you looking to acquire?
What's your acquisition price range?
In this week’s issue:
🛒 eCommerce - 1 listing
☁ SaaS - 5 listings
🕸 Content/Service/Other - 3 listings
🛠 Tools & Resources
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🛒 eCommerce
Security Products - $1.2M + Inventory
For sale is a 36-year-old ecommerce business that sells padlocks, safety devices, and other hardware security products. Owner is retiring.
Hybrid model of reselling, private labeling, and drop-shipping
PA warehouse; Team in place for new owner to run business remotely;
86% of sales are B2B; 35% repeat order rate; $271 AOV;
TTM Revenue: $3.8M; Profit: $382k; Margin: 10%
Asking: $1.2M + Inv; Multiple: 3.14x
✅ What I Like
A lot of operating history. I like that majority of sales are B2B as those clients should be stickier and easier to manage than B2C. High AOV. Existing team transfers with the business so new owner doesn’t have to be in PA. I’m wondering if there are some easy wins with this business since it’s been around for 30-years. Opportunity to grow the B2C side of the business.
❓ Questions & Concerns
One of the main concerns is the minuscule margin. What’s depressing the margin? Is it the physical warehouse? I wouldn’t touch this business unless there’s a clear path to get that margin up. Since majority of clients are B2B, I would think the repeat order rate would be higher. Valuation is high unless there’s some strong growth and clear path to increase profitability.
You can view the listing on Quiet Light Brokerage.
☁ SaaS
Website Visitor Analytics - $1k
For sale is a 2-year-old micro-SaaS that offers a simple analytics platform that lets you track how your visitors are interacting with your website. Things like heatmaps, etc.
Competitors: Hotjar, Lucky Orange
264 customers; Priced at $39/$99/$129 per month;
Built with 66 Analytics
$5k ARR; Asking: $1k
✅ What I Like
Very helpful software for website owners. I use Lucky Orange for my e-commerce store but it appears that this solution might work for any type of online property. I like that this is privacy-focused. 264 clients is not a trivial amount. Looks like they simply repackage 66 Analytics and resell it as their own solution. I assume there’s not a lot of tech support required (could be very wrong here). Interesting micro-SaaS business for someone looking to learn the ropes. For $1k, you’re not risking a lot.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Not clear what % of the 264 customers are paying or free. Have to review the licensing agreement with 66 Analytics. It’s a micro-SaaS selling for $1k so there’s no need to go overboard on the diligence. Might be interesting for someone that has a strong marketing background.
You can view the listing on Microns.
————
Shopify Customer Retention Apps - $881k
For sale are two 3-year-old apps that help Shopify merchants increase customer retention.
2 apps; One generates 90% of the revenue;
24k e-mail subscriber list; Most website traffic is direct;
Avg of 3k unique monthly website visits;
Owner spends ~15 hours a week on the business;
Avg Monthly Revenue: $25k; Profit: $18k; Margin: 72%
Asking: $881k; Multiple: 3.79x
✅ What I Like
Shopify apps continue to be a great space to invest in. There’s a freelancer handling all the customer support tickets. There’s one paid marketing campaign running and the margins are reported at 72%. That’s a good sign that the business can pay to acquire customers and remain highly profitable. On first glance, valuation isn’t excessive. Might make sense to sell off the one app that’s only bringing in 10% of the revenue.
❓ Questions & Concerns
The developer isn’t staying on with the buyer so they will have to have a team in place or hire someone else. You’d want to understand the usual SaaS metrics like CAC, churn, conversion rate, etc. I think this could be a good acquisition for someone who knows marketing or has an existing audience they can cross-sell to.
You can view the listing on Empire Flippers.
————
Quiz & Survey Maker - $1.5M
For sale is a 9-year-old SaaS that helps businesses increase leads with quizzes and surveys. Product can be used for lead gen, client feedback, and collecting marketing data.
Competitors: Sumo, Optin Monster, SurveyMonkey, SurveyGizmo
2 founders and 2 full-time contractors
Strong SEO with DR of 76; Little spend on paid marketing;
$411k ARR;
30-Day Revenue: $71k; Profit: $40k; Margin: 56%
TTM Revenue: $576k; Profit: $376k; Margin: 65%
Asking: $1.5M; Multiple: 3.99x
✅ What I Like
A lot of operating history. Big competitors to learn from. Multiple-use cases with each market being fragmented. Listing mentions that there’s been a focus on SEO without the need for much paid marketing. Great margins. There was a service side to the software previously that added $700k of annual revenue. Valuation seems reasonable.
❓ Questions & Concerns
There are some large competitors in this space. I’d want to understand the market that this solution addresses. What type of tech support and client support is required? How are new clients acquired? What’s the churn?
You can view the listing on BizBuySell.
— — — —
Social Marketing Platform - $1.4M
For sale is a 5-year-old social marketing platform that offers content teams an automated solution. Not a lot of detail in the listing.
32k users; 2k affiliates; 200+ blog posts;
Priced at $19 to $147/month;
Owner spend 10-hours a week;
TTM Revenue: $364k; Profit: $192k; Margin: 53%
Asking: $1.4M; Multiple: 7.29x
✅ What I Like
There’s a good base here to grow the business. 32k users is a large user base. It takes time to build relationships with 2k affiliates and publish 200 blog posts. I like the focus on SEO and affiliate marketing as those are low-cost customer acquisition channels.
❓ Questions & Concerns
There’s not much detail in the listing. I’d want to understand how customers are acquired and for how much. What type of team is in place? How’s the tech stack? How does this solution compare against the competition? Valuation is very aggressive.
You can view the listing on BuySellEmpire.
— — — —
Startup Formation LegalTech - $149k
For sale is a 1-year-old legaltech SaaS that helps startups create checklists and workflows for business formation. This SaaS handles the business formation and all legal docs a startup may need before a Series A.
Competitors: Clerky, Avodocs, Gust
Priced at $1k one-time fee then $200 annually.
White label solution for law firms
30-Day Revenue: $5k; Profit: $4.6k; Margin: 92%
TTM Revenue: $35k; Profit: $29k; Margin: 83%
Asking: $149k; Multiple: 5.14x
✅ What I Like
There’s some early traction. Listing mentions that there’s huge demand from law firms for this white-labeled technology. I think this is where the opportunity is and I’d want to explore it. I think the best path to scale the business is through partnerships and affiliates.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Very young business. A lot of competition popping up in this space that costs a lot less than this product. As a co-founder of a legaltech SaaS, I can confirm that selling to law firms is not an easy task. What’s the tech stack? How’s security and compliance handled?
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
🕸 Content/Service/Other
Remote Healthcare Staffing Agency - $5.75M
For sale is a 2-year-old staffing agency focused on the healthcare vertical.
Competitors: ShiftKey, Krucial Staffing, Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Bootstrapped; 9-person team;
30-Day Revenue: $90k; Profit: $47k; Margin: 52%
TTM Revenue: $1M; Profit: $620k; Margin: 62%
Asking: $5.75M; Multiple: 9.27x
✅ What I Like
From an operations perspective, staffing agencies are relatively simple business models. This is an interesting niche as there’s a huge demand for healthcare professionals. The owner was able to quickly scale this business with healthy margins. Somewhat related but I’ve thought that this type of niche staffing business could work for adult daycare centers. I have a friend in that business and there’s a constant shortage.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Not a lot of detail in the listing. What does the 9-person team do? How do they attract healthcare professionals to the platform? What’s the customer acquisition strategy? This business was launched at the height of COVID when demand exploded higher. Is the founder cashing out at the top? Valuation seems absurd.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
— — — —
Wine & Spirit Tasting Competition - $3.3M
For sale is an 11-year-old wine & spirits tasting competition business. This one is hot off the presses. The listing just came through so I did not have the chance to do the usual write-up.
Recognized as the owner/creator of one of the most impressive portfolios of alcohol tasting competitions in the world, this 11-year-old digital service provider has created multiple platforms for the world's leading Wine, Spirits, and Beer producers. Suppliers pay to enter and participate in multiple competitions annually, while judges sign up for free to judge the contestants. Clients are based in all corners of the world - Europe, USA, Asia and UK. Winners then pay to receive digital and print medals.
Key Benefits
Growth Opportunities: Scale can be reached by expanding the portfolio of awards via both wine and spirit sub-expansion as well as increasing the geographic reach into regions that are desperate for these types of competitions. Other growth opportunities include cooperation with industry groups, events and retailers directly, and paid advertising in general.
Diversified Revenue Channels: Revenue comes in from a cross section of over 10 competitions with close to 1,000 regular suppliers/contestants.
Lean Operations: By nature of the business model, this has a high margin, low overhead operation, with little to no advertising (or product cost) and an affordable staff.
Repeat Customers: 80%+ of revenue is from repeat customers.
Industry Outlook: The wine, spirit, and beer industries are constantly growing. The shift to craft products across the globe has greatly accelerated the number of producers and products.
Substantial Barriers to Entry: Gaining the trust of the wine, spirits, and beer industries has taken a decade. Company expansion has been based on immense brand strength created and data collection.
Staff: The owner has assembled a solid team of 6 individuals, working virtually, consisting of 1 employed manager, and 5 contractors performing tasks from accounting, customer service, IT, etc.
Minimal Workload: The current owner only works about 5 hours per week and has a full staff in place.
Really interesting business model and listing. I bet these types of businesses don’t come up for sale too often.
You can view this listing on Quiet Light Brokerage.
— — — —
Make Money Online Content Website - $2,900
For sale is 11-month old ProIncomePanda. It’s a growing content website in the Make Money Online niche. 47 articles posted with 65k words. This is a starter content website with 278 page views per month. It’s ready for growth.
The reason I am highlighting this listing is that it is being brokered by The Website Flip Brokerage. They vet their deals and price them right. Great opportunity for someone who wants a quality content website to get started in this space.
You can view the listing on Flippa.
🛠 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.
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.
BizNexus - Proprietary deal flow, deal aggregator, and exit prep.
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.