🎙️ He Bought a Business for $0 Down and Sold it for $35M

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

What would you do if someone offered you a business with 7 employees, only 3 contracts, and it was losing money?

You'd probably run the other way, right?

Well, Jake Bittner did the opposite.

He bought that business with 100% seller financing.

AND THEN, turned it into a $35M exit.

Jake had spent over a decade in government data analytics at companies like MicroStrategy, Informatica, and SAP.

When a money-losing division was being carved out of a company selling to Accenture, he saw opportunity where most buyers saw a mess.

But buying the business was the easy part.

The first two years were survival mode. He and his partner cut their own salaries and chased anything that moved.

By year three, they were profitable but stuck. Growth targets of 30-40%. Actual results: 5% or flat.

Then they found the real problem: 54% customer retention.

So they studied their longest-tenured customers, figured out what made them stick, and stopped chasing everything else.

Retention climbed from 54% to 75%. Then 85%. Then 95%. Growth hit 35-40%.

By the end, Jake was leaving at 5:30pm every day for Orange Theory while his team ran the business without him.

In 2021, he sold Clarion for $35 million.

An 11x multiple.

Today, Jake invests in and advises first-time business owners through the same inflection points he faced.

Jake's father was an entrepreneur who never took care of himself. He died of a massive heart attack at 50.

Jake is 49.

He runs. He eats right. He made his health non-negotiable even during the hardest years. When we asked for his best advice, he didn't talk about deals or multiples.

He said: put your oxygen mask on first.

Here are some of the highlights from the deep dive:

🔥 The two-valuation trick that made a 100% seller-financed deal possible on a money-losing business

🔥 How they turned a 54% customer retention rate into 95% and unlocked the growth that made the business worth $35 million

🔥 How Jake went from solving every problem himself to leaving at 5:30pm every day.

🔥 He sold for $35 million, then the PE buyer couldn't make the $12 million earn out payment. What happened next is something every seller needs to hear.

Here's his must-watch breakdown...

And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Member Spotlight

For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview breaking down James's acquisition of a ~$1M food truck brokerage in Sacramento.

15 banks said no.

He got 80% seller financing instead.

Today the business cash-flows $330K/year.

James spent 20 years in San Francisco tech. He wanted something that would last.

So he joined the Pro program. 7 months later, he closed.

The result?

🔥 Found the deal through our AI deal aggregator, a listing most buyers scrolled past because it mentioned food trucks but wasn't actually a food truck company

🔥 Navigated a $959K acquisition at a 2.9x multiple with creative 80% seller financing after 15 SBA lenders said no

🔥 The broker nearly blew up the deal over minor contract amendments. James and the seller built a direct relationship that saved it.

🔥 60 days into ownership, James has already hired three new people to keep up with 20% year-over-year growth and gave his entire staff a raise on day one.

If you want to watch the full alumni interview, click below:

And here's what he had to say:

So, if you want me and my team 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.

👉️ Learn more and book a call

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.