The Business Inquirer #063
In this week's issue, I highlight seven listings including a drainage products e-commerce store, a VT stairway manufacturer, a QA SaaS, 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!
In this week’s issue:
🛒 eCommerce - 2 listings
☁ SaaS - 2 listings
🕸 Content/Service/Other - 3 listings
🛠 Tools & Resources
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🛒 eCommerce
Drainage Systems - $2.5M
For sale is a 5-year-old e-commerce company that sells drainage products and accessories to homeowners or for commercial use.
SBA Pre-Qualified; Financing lined up
Sold through website, Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot
AOV of $300
TTM Revenue: $1.5M; Profit: $433k; Margin: 29%
Asking: $2.5M; Multiple: 5.77x
✅ What I Like
I assume that sales are highly correlated to new housing construction and renovation. Those trends are all positive. I like that they’re maximizing their distribution channels. They don’t sell directly to contractors which may be an opportunity. Getting into the big box stores is not easy. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to add additional products into the mix. Margin isn’t bad. Financing is already lined up. Would be a good acquisition for an experienced e-commerce operator. Interesting business.
❓ Questions & Concerns
There isn’t a lot of detail in the listing regarding product sourcing, fulfillment, shipping, etc. I’d want to understand why they’re selling now. There are a lot of moving pieces to this business.
You can view the listing on Website Closers.
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LED Lighting Brand - $1.4M
For sale is a 2-year-old e-commerce brand selling wireless motion sensor-activated LED lighting.
Sold DTC through Shopify store
13 SKUs; $134 AOV; 20% repeat orders;
19k IG followers; 3k FB followers; 75k monthly unique visitors;
Owners spend 4-5 hours per week; Virtual assistants handle most operations;
TTM Revenue: $1.8M; Profit: $326k; Profit: 18%
Asking: $1.4M; Multiple: 4.29x
✅ What I Like
Relatively simple e-commerce business with a lot of functions already automated. The products are in an evergreen niche. Interesting to see that many clients purchase these for the elderly. Sounds like the sellers work with the manufacturer to create unique products. There’s an opportunity to expand to Amazon and other channels.
❓ Questions & Concerns
The business is still young without a lot of operating history. Unclear who handles the logistics. From the low margin, I assume that this is a dropshipping business. I’d want to understand their marketing strategy and costs. There’s tons of competition in this space.
You can view the listing on Website Closers.
☁ SaaS
Insider Stock Purchase Notifications - $50k
For sale is a 3-year-old micro-SaaS that allows users to get real-time notifications through SMS and e-mail when CEOs buy shares of their own companies.
Tech: Nodejs, AWS
Priced at $9.99/m or $96/year
TTM Revenue: $7.7k; Profit: $6.5k; Margin: 84%
Asking: $50k; Multiple: 7.69x
✅ What I Like
With the rise of retail traders and the meme stock frenzy, these types of tools are in demand. I think there’s an opportunity to add an API and open up additional sales channels. I would also create a newsletter from this data. XO Capital has a good post on a recent acquisition they made in this space.
❓ Questions & Concerns
Need to have a tech team in place that can add additional features. Someone with a marketing background could scale this. Always tough to think about valuation for a micro-SaaS.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
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QA & Collaboration - $650k
For sale is a 5-year-old patented SaaS in the bug tracking & collaboration space. The software makes it very simple to debug applications in a collaborative way. Sellers are very flexible with deal structure. Not profitable.
Competitors: FullStory, LogRocket, BugHerd, Capture for Jira, Usersnap
4 co-founders; Bootstrapped;
TTM Revenue: $65k; Profit: $0;
Asking: $650k; Multiple: 10x ARR
✅ What I Like
The listing is very detailed and shows that the sellers put thought into it. The sellers are also very flexible in terms of the deal structure. The QA market has a large TAM and growing rapidly. All profits have been reinvested into product development. I assume that the product is solid at this point and just requires marketing and biz dev.
❓ Questions & Concerns
The reality is that the business is not profitable and has not figured out the right marketing and growth strategy. Those are very expensive things to test. The buyer would have to be familiar with this industry. You may need a tech team to update the product and handle customer support.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
🕸 Content/Service/Other
SEO Twitter Digest - $17k
For sale is 9-month old SEO Tweets. It’s a website and newsletter that curates the most popular Twitter threads about SEO.
Tech: Revue, Webflow, Zapier
1,500 subscribers; 2,700 unique visitors per month;
30-Day Revenue: $2k; Profit: $1,900; Margin: 95%
Asking: $17k; Multiple: 9x monthly profit
✅ What I Like
I discussed SEO Tweets in a previous newsletter. I spoke to the original creator and he walked me through the tech stack as I had an idea of creating something similar. Looks like someone purchased this 2-months ago and now they’re flipping it.
I think there is a lot of opportunity in curating Twitter content. No one is doing it currently (except SEO Tweets). I really like this newsletter and hope someone runs with it.
❓ Questions & Concerns
One issue with the workflow is that someone has to manually select the threads that are highlighted. Now that Twitter has opened up its API, perhaps this obstacle is removed.
You can view the listing on MicroAcquire.
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Penrod Stairways in VT - Open to Offers
This is a deal I found posted by someone on Twitter. See below:
”The stairway manufacturer is in Vermont. The owner just wants to shut down, but that's because he hasn't talked with anyone. If he heard from a few people he may be interested in selling the business. The company is Penrod Stairways in Colchester VT. They work with a number of local builders and lumberyards. They make many different types of stairs currently. They have virtually no presence on the web and do all their business word of mouth. They have limitations on workers because they don't understand that they have to pay for and incentivize quality workers.
This is their Facebook. https://facebook.com/Penrod-Stairways-661511544231611/…
I know that the daughter is considering relocating the company in the next month or two and has more work and business than she can manage and doesn't have any true understanding of how to run a business. I think the company could be MUCH bigger than it is today if the right person was running it.”
Contact the company directly if you are interested in this business.
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Technology Content Website - $500k - $600k
This is a private deal from Dealsflow newsletter :
The Company (“Project Titan”) is a leading Canadian technology website (.ca domain) that was founded in 2017. The business has grown substantially over the past 12 months and continues to see positive growth trends in both traffic and revenue. The business primarily generates revenue through high-paying advertising partnerships, diversified across a variety of software and financial services platforms, many of which are custom agreements.
DR 48, avg. 73k visitors per month, Display avg. RPM $26
“Proof of funds is required to move onto the next step, where we can reveal the URL, grant analytics access, and share our 2021 financials. (Our accountant is working on the statements, and we should have everything ready to share in early January 2022).”
“We've spoken to a few brokers and received a valuation between $500-600k (CAD). We are currently going through the vetting process with Empire Flippers and will list there in about 3 weeks if not sold privately.”
You can find the teaser here.
You can reach out directly to the seller: sg@simcoeventures.com
— — — —
Passive Content Websites - $20k - $180k
Ahead of their IPO, Onfolio is selling off some of their smaller assets. These sites are all profitable, cash flowing, and fairly passive.
You can view the sites on Onfolio.
🛠 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.
Cerebro Capital - Cerebro has a network of 1,500+ lenders who can provide debt financing for your acquisition, refi, etc. $500k minimum.
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 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.