This Week’s Business Buyer (in 10 Seconds):
For 25 years in the investment world, Jay made other people rich.
Not comfortable rich. Private-jets-and-beachfront-homes-in-the-Bahamas rich, while he did the work.
He did well for himself but he wanted upside that he actually owned.
So instead of starting a company from scratch to get there, he bought one.
A $2M plant leasing business in Philadelphia that had been running for nearly 40 years.
He found the deal in his first week in Pro, and with our help, closed it in about 7 months.
Today, he runs that $650K-a-year business with a manager of 12 years handling the day-to-day.
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!
Are you watching other people get rich off your work?
You're paid well and you're good at what you do.
But no matter how hard you grind, the real 1:! always lands in someone else's pocket.
Jay knows that feeling.
He spent 25 years in the investment world, the last stop at a New York hedge fund.
But he never got to keep what he built. The big returns went to a cap table of two or three names, and his was never one of them.
With two young kids at home, he decided he was done building someone else's wealth.
But what he needed was someone in his corner who had done this before.
So he joined SMB Deal Hunter Pro.
Within a day of joining, he found the business he'd end up buying (that’s definitely not the norm but it’s also not the first time it’s happened!).
As a quick reminder, SMB Deal Hunter Pro is our business buying accelerator where we help you find, finance, and acquire a business in 6-12 months...or work with you for free until you do.
Today, he owns a plant leasing business in Philadelphia that's been running for nearly 40 years.
The business brings in around $650K a year in profit.
He runs it in about 40 hours a week, a manager who's been there 12 years handles the day-to-day, and 90% of the revenue is recurring.
So how does that actually work?
How does a Wall Street guy with zero industry experience end up owning a 40-year-old plant business?
How did he beat 6 other buyers with his offer?
And where did we step in?
We helped him structure the offer that won it, work through a deal that was 30% real estate, and get him to the closing table in about 7 months.
Here's why this week's alumni case study is a must watch:
→ On paper, the business looked like a 3.4x profit multiple deal. We helped him find profit the broker's numbers had missed, so by closing, it came in under 3x. We break down exactly how.
→ This deal came with significant real estate, not just the business, which scares many buyers off. We walk through how our acquisition strategists helped him clear the unique challenges that come along with that.
→ Six other buyers were in the running. We break down what made the seller choose Jay over all of them.
→ A manager who's been there for 12 years handles the day-to-day, so Jay isn't stuck in the weeds. Inside, we discuss his long-term vision: turning this into a platform to acquire even more businesses.
How He Runs a $650K/yr Business (After 25 Years on Wall Street)
And when we asked what he valued most about the program...
"Going back to your team, and using the tools you have through the website, really made it a lot more clear to me. I would never have had that had I not signed up with you guys. I would have been pulling from AI and other people that had done deals that were nothing like this one, in different industries. So it was hugely helpful.”
Jay leaned on our battle-tested deal team to help him...
Learn the entire business buying process from scratch, on calls with our acquisition strategists three times a week
Structure the seller note and consulting agreement that kept the previous owner on for a year as a resource
Decide when to push the seller on the closing date and when to wait
Plan his first 90 days; from keeping his 12-year manager to week-one priorities
Talk soon,
Helen
👀 P.S. Q2 numbers are in…
Our members closed $50.3 million in deals and went under contract on another $117 million, the most momentum we’ve carried into Q3.
Most buyers check out over the summer. Meanwhile our off-market deal flow doubled last quarter. So there are more deals than usual and fewer people competing for them.
If you want to take advantage of this window…
👉 Book a free strategy call and we'll pressure test your buy box and map out a timeline to your first offer.