What I Learned Last Week 9.8.2023
Curating the best M&A, SMB, and EtA-related content since 2020.
Hello Friends!
My wife and I are going on our dream vacation to Japan at the end of the month. During this time, I think I’ll have to pause the newsletter as we explore the Land of the Rising Sun.
If you have any must-see recommendations for Japan, I'd love to hear them.
Additionally, if you're interested in guest-editing this newsletter for the three weeks (~6 issues) I'll be away, feel free to get in touch.
In this week’s issue of What I Learned Last Week:
📰 Articles
🧵 Best of Twitter
🤔 Other
🗓️ Events
⚒️ Tools & Resources
💡 How I Can Help
This issue of The Business Inquirer is sponsored by Smash.vc
Buying a business with the SBA?
Would having a capital partner help?
At Smash.vc, they do two things:
Buy minority stakes in existing small businesses.
Partner with entrepreneurs trying to acquire new ones.
If you're actively looking to buy a cash-flowing business using an SBA loan, hit them up if you'd like a partner.
They contribute capital, give advice, or help with growth when asked... but stay out of the way the rest of the time.
Silent partners there to help when necessary, nothing more.
If interested👉 go say hi.
📰 Articles
10 Amazon KPIs to Track for Your Business
The title of this article from Empire Flippers is self-explanatory. I’m sharing it because these are the same KPI’s that you should be analyzing during due diligence of an Amazon or most types of e-commerce businesses.
Inventory performance index
Order defect rate
Product reviews & seller feedback
Return rate
Conversion rate
Keyword ranking
Account health
TACos, ROAS, ACOS
Buy box %
FBA fees
— — — — — — — — — — — —
11 Traps to Avoid When Buying a Business
Michael Girdley shares his 11 traps to avoid when looking at an acquisition.
Buying a job
Ask: Why am I the lucky buyer?
COVID blips
Seller fishing expeditions
Exploding real estate
Unfinancieable businesses
Peaked
Buyer-business fit
Not owning your customers
High degree of difficulty
High working capital requirements
🧵 Best of X (Twitter)
A great breakdown on using your 401k funds for a business acquisition…
Opportunities in distressed assets…
This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to get in the game but is not ready for an acquisition…
Interesting discussion around proprietary vs. broker deals…
All went downhill after discovering the search fund community 😅
🤔 Other
DueDilio Update
Initially, our platform was laser-focused on connecting clients with highly vetted experts in the M&A due diligence space. Reflecting on the 400+ projects we’ve successfully facilitated since 2021, we've realized the demand stretches beyond that initial scope. We've seamlessly matched clients with:
Lending specialists
Deal origination firms
M&A coaches
Seasoned CTOs, CFOs, and CMOs
Attorneys
M&A Advisors
And much more
To mirror this expanded range of services, I've recently revamped the DueDilio website.
DueDilio now serves as your go-to marketplace and advisory hub for building out comprehensive M&A teams for small business transactions. Our extensive, rigorously vetted network of independent professionals and boutique firms offer services in M&A advisory, due diligence, and value maximization post-acquisition.
I encourage you to explore the newly refreshed DueDilio website and would love to get your feedback.
🗓️ Events
Southeast ETA Conference (Sept 8-9) - Durham, NC
EtA Forum Asia Pacific (Sept 14-15) - Sydney, Australia
HoldCo Conference (Sept 18-20) - Cleveland, Ohio
Austin SMB Meetup (Sept 28) - Austin, TX
The Self-Funded Search Conference (Sept 30 - Oct 1) - Dallas, TX
Booth Kellogg EtA Conference (Nov 1) - Chicago, IL
Main Street Summit (Nov 8-9) - Columbia, MS
Capital Camp (May 21-24) - Columbia, MO
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 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. They do the outreach and send you relevant, actionable deals directly into your inbox.
Rejigg - Platform that connects searchers/investors directly with owners of off-market small businesses ($500k - $10m revenue) considering exits. All deals are sourced by the Rejigg team. Their team adds 7-10 new deals each week
Acquisition Lab - The Premier Accelerator for Buying a Business created by Walker Deibel, Author of Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Start-up Game. They combine world-class education, a vetted community, extensive group coaching, and resources to provide the first do-it-with-you buy-side advisory service.
Smash.vc - Whether you're looking to sell minority stakes in your business to take some chips off the table, looking for a partner to acquire an asset, or needing capital to complete an SBA deal, we'd love to chat with you.
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.
Search Fund Coalition - community for the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition ecosystem. Monthly events and meetups for acquisition entrepreneurs.
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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