This Week’s Breakdown (in 10 Seconds):
Mary spent over a decade in tech, most recently doing UX research at Pinterest and LinkedIn.
Then the 2022 layoffs hit. She was let go seven weeks into a new role, and every job she found after was a short term contract.
Around the same time, her mom passed away without ever getting to enjoy her retirement.
Watching that, Mary decided she was done waiting. She wanted something she owned, and she wanted it already profitable.
About 10 months after joining our program, she closed on a $1.05 million medical billing business in an industry she’d never even considered.
We sourced it for her completely off-market.
That was over a year ago, so we called her back to find out what actually happened next.
Fast forward, revenue is up 35% year over year, and she’s grown her client list from 19 therapy practices to over 30.
And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
But if you want to learn a bit more, let's dive into the story...
Hello SMB Deal Hunters!
How many of you have watched someone announce they bought a business, and then never heard about it again?
The closing photo goes up, everyone congratulates them, and then the story just stops.
You never find out what the year after actually looked like.
She had never owned a P&L, and never had a single person report to her.
10+ years in UX research doesn’t teach you either one.
She knew that going in and decided to get her hands dirty.
Mary put herself in an account manager seat and ran new client accounts herself.
The first months were a fire hose but by month three, she was running it on her own.
She pays herself a lower salary than she made in tech (on purpose and we’ll explain why), and she has not taken a dollar out beyond that.
Everything else was re-invested into growing the business.
The previous owner had been signing about three new clients a year, almost entirely on referrals.
Mary built a real acquisition engine, and has taken the business from 19 practices at close to 30+.
She is already working herself out of the job.
She is promoting someone into an account manager role so she can hand off her own accounts entirely and move into focusing on growing the business full time.
And she does not miss her old job. In her words, "I don't miss building PowerPoints."
We got into a lot more than fits in this one email:
❓ Why she does not think AI is coming for medical billing, and the one thing it still cannot do
❓ The diligence step she skipped that cost nothing and nearly cost her a lot
❓ The marketing channel she put real money into that did not pay back
❓ What she got wrong about running a fully remote team
Member Spotlight
For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview breaking down how Chelsea bought a $3M pet food business making $500K/yr.
Chelsea is a former Boeing and Amazon employee who spent 12 years in supplier management and finance.
She knew she wanted to buy a business. She also knew that finding the right one on her own could take years.
So she joined the Pro program, and our team brought her the business she would eventually own, completely off-market.
But she originally lost it because the seller's son decided he might want to own the business himself.
9 months later, she came back with a Hail Mary offer and won.
The result?
→ We helped structure the Hail Mary offer so she paid $400K less than the seller wanted up front
→ Just before her now-or-never offer, Chelsea was about to give up and take a full-time job to pay the bills
→ Her store managers run the day-to-day while she focuses on growing the business
She spent 12 years building someone else's company. Now she owns one that's actually hers.
And here's what she had to say:
“I go home crying happy tears, and I've never cried happy tears in my life.”
So, if you want us to work with you to find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash-flowing business in the next 6-12 months, you might be interested in the Pro program.
👀 Mary's first year as an owner started with one off-market deal.
Our members have already closed 4 deals and put another 20 under LOI in July, and the month isn't even over.
None of them decided last week.
They made the call months ago, sitting right where you are now, reading an email a lot like this one.
On average, our members go from joining to closing in about 8 months, versus 23 for buyers going at it alone.
So if you want to work with us to find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash flowing business in the next 6-12 months, start now and you could be the one we call back a year from now.
COMMUNITY PERKS
• Ready to buy and operate a $1M+ business? Get expert help at every step.
• Want to invest passively in SMB acquisitions? Get access to investment opportunities.
• Get a personal introduction to my preferred SBA 7(a) lender, non-SBA lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, or legal counsel
• Raising capital for your deal? I’ll connect you with investors from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.
• Interested in selling your business? I’ll help you connect with buyers from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.
THAT’S A WRAP
Want me to interview you for my podcast? Hit reply.
See you next week with some new deals!
-Helen Guo
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Disclaimer
This publication is a newsletter only and the information provided herein is the opinion of our editors and writers only. Any transaction or opportunity of any kind is provided for information only; SMB Deal Hunter does not verify nor confirm information. SMB Deal Hunter is not making any offer to readers to participate in any transaction or opportunity described herein.