What I Learned Last Week 12.6.2024
Curating the best M&A, SMB, and EtA-related content since 2020.
Hello Friends!
In this week’s issue of What I Learned Last Week:
📰 Articles
🧵 Online Highlights
🗓️ Events
⚒️ Tools & Resources
💡 How I Can Help
This issue of The Business Inquirer is sponsored by:
Close Your Deal Quickly and Efficiently: M&A Legal Solutions Integrating Automation and Project Management
At Sterrett Law, we’ve developed a streamlined process using cutting-edge automation and project management techniques to maximize speed and efficiency. Using templates and a client-centered collaborative process we’ll keep your deal on track and on time.
Ready to make your next move? Schedule your free consultation today!
📰 Articles
I summarize, so you capitalize.
The MBA's Guide to Modern Franchising vs Search Funds: A Risk-Adjusted Analysis
The article explores evolving MBA career paths, emphasizing the growing popularity of search funds and tech-enabled franchising as alternatives to traditional roles. It highlights how both models offer paths to business ownership, skill development, and value creation, with distinct approaches to leadership, operations, and growth.
Key insights include:
Search funds focus on acquisition, operational improvement, and flexible value creation.
Modern franchising uses tech-enabled systems for scalability and streamlined operations.
Changing MBA priorities favor entrepreneurship, lifestyle flexibility, and geographic independence.
Technological advances and market shifts create unprecedented opportunities for both models.
Hybrid approaches blending elements of both are emerging as new trends.
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EBITDA Multiples by Industry: How Much Is Your Business Worth?
The webpage explains EBITDA multiples and their importance in valuing businesses during mergers and acquisitions. It highlights that multiples vary by industry and factors like profitability, market trends, and operational improvements can influence a business's multiple. The article emphasizes working with experienced M&A advisors to maximize valuation and navigate the complexities of the sale process.
Key insights include:
EBITDA measures core profitability and supports fair valuations.
Multiples are industry-specific and influenced by market conditions.
Accurate EBITDA calculations are crucial for realistic valuations.
Professional advisors improve negotiation and sale outcomes.
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Managing Yourself in ETA/SMB
The Big Deal Small Business blog post explores the challenges of managing mental, emotional, and physical well-being while searching for or running a small business. It emphasizes the unavoidable integration of work and personal life, offering strategies like joining peer groups, maintaining close relationships, hiring a therapist or executive coach, and developing self-care routines to mitigate stress and maintain balance.
Key insights include:
Peer groups offer crucial emotional and tactical support.
Personal connections foster growth and resilience.
Therapists address emotional struggles; coaches tackle leadership challenges.
Consistent self-care recharges mental and physical health.
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Absentee Ownership: Can You Keep Your Day Job After Acquiring a Business?
The article from DueDilio examines absentee ownership, where business owners delegate daily operations while maintaining high-level oversight. It discusses the model's flexibility, income diversification potential, and challenges like finding suitable businesses and ensuring robust management. Financing options, such as SBA loans or seller financing, and tips for selecting scalable, low-complexity businesses are highlighted. Business categories like laundromats, SaaS, vending machines, and storage units are recommended, emphasizing the importance of due diligence, contingency planning, and strong operational systems for success.
Key insights:
Delegated management reduces owner involvement.
Ideal businesses have low operational complexity.
Strong teams and systems are essential.
Financing requires evidence of stability and profitability.
🧵 Online Highlights
I scroll, so you don’t have to.
Good opportunity to learn the HVAC trade…
A quick explainer of the “step up”…
Most business owners miss out on maximizing the QBI deduction…
After years of pushing a doomed venture, Steve learned that going against “common wisdom” and just letting go sooner is the right move…
Buying a business isn't just about numbers—it's about managing brokers, sellers, lenders, and lawyers, each adding their quirks to an already chaotic process…
🗓️ Events
SBIA Northeast PE Conference (Jan 8-9) - New York, NY
UM Ross EtA Conference (Jan 23-24) - Ann Arbor, MI
Babson College EtA Conference (Feb 7) - Boston, MA
SBIA Southeast PE Conference (Feb 13-14) - Nashville, TN
MIT EtA Conference (Feb 28) - Cambridge, MA
iGlobal Independent Sponsors (Mar 4-5) - Miami, FL
SBIA West Coast Capital Summit (Mar 25-27) - Los Angeles, CA
HoldCo Conference (Mar 31-Apr 3) - Sundance, UT
🎵 Listening: “Role Model“ by Fatboy Slim, Dan Diamond, Luca Guerrieri 🎵
How did you like this issue of the newsletter?
⚒️Tools & Resources
I want to share some tools & resources that I have found helpful. Please note that some of these are paid sponsors or affiliates of the newsletter.
PrivSource - PrivSource helps you source deals and connect with transaction partners without ever paying a success fee.
X5 Deals - Proprietary deal sourcing for a great price. They do the tedious and time-consuming job of deal sourcing so you can spend more time on DD and closing.
Rejigg - Platform that connects searchers/investors directly with owners of off-market small businesses ($200k - $3M EBITDA) considering exits. All deals are sourced by the Rejigg team. Their team adds 15 to 20 new deals each week.
Kumo - 100,000+ deals sourced from thousands of brokers and marketplaces. Plus, AI-powered listings, robust data & analytics, and more.
DealFlowXchange - The premier private capital funding community for raising and deploying capital. Use discount code DUEDILIO for 20% off your lifetime membership.
Sterrett Law - At Sterrett Law, we offer Manhattan and Boston experience at Vermont prices. Specializing in deals under $10 million, we're your go-to partner for navigating the complexities of mergers and acquisitions without the hefty price tag
BizNexus - Marketplace + off-market origination in one platform. The marketplace averages about 10k active listings & pre-CIM opportunities, and the off-market origination focuses on data & multi-channel.
Secret - Say goodbye to overspending on SaaS. With Secret, you get access to up to $1,000,000+ in savings on the best software to run your search, operate, and scale your business.
Deal Sourcing Guide - a comprehensive list of business marketplaces, brokers, deal origination firms, and more.
💡 How I Can Help
Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways for us to work together…
Schedule 1:1 consulting on deal sourcing, due diligence, M&A ecosystem, newsletters, entrepreneurship, or anything else you’d like to discuss
Promote your brand to business buyers, investors, SMB owners, and other M&A participants by sponsoring this newsletter
Assemble your M&A deal team with DueDilio
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