🎙️She went from complete skeptic to buying 2 businesses in 2 years | Savannah Rush

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

This week, I sat down with Savannah Rush, Managing Partner at Funded Ventures.

Savannah went from McKinsey consultant to owner-operator of Midway Electric in Columbia, Missouri.

She and her partner Brian Wolfe (who I interviewed previously) have closed two home services deals and are laser focused on building a long-term holding company.

She's not aiming to flip or exit. Her goal is to build a compounding machine.

Here are some of the highlights from the deep dive:

🔥 How she went from "ETA skeptic" to running an electrical company in a market where she doesn't exactly look like the typical president

🔥 The state of the business when they bought it (everything was on paper, hourly rates were 40% below market, and the owners were barely holding on)

🔥 How they turned it around in months, including the pricing conversation with the team that actually got buy-in

🔥 Why they're willing to go "super, super small" on acquisitions when everyone else says to go bigger

Here's her must-watch breakdown...

She also shared some things I don't hear enough people admit out loud:

❓ Why she was nervous about operating her first business (and the lessons she learned)

❓ The one thing her McKinsey background didn't prepare her for

❓ Why "being involved in the community" has become one of their biggest unlocks for finding proprietary deals

👉 Dive into the full conversation with Savannah

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

Alumni Spotlight

For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview breaking down Branden’s journey from leaving his corporate career at companies like Disney/Snapchat to buying a ~$1M auto repair shop less than 10 minutes from his house in LA.

But the path to close wasn't smooth. In the interview, Branden breaks down:

→ How we helped him refine his buy box after looking at NEMT, dental implants, car washes, and cleaning services. Each had issues he only spotted through the search process.

→ How he used the Pro program's LOI framework to negotiate down from "north of a million." He used our time tested tactics to drive down the price using issues he saw during diligence.

→ How we helped him get his seller to accept a seller note after they initially refused any seller financing at all. 

→ How we helped him negotiate a loan rate that he couldn’t even imagine when starting the process by targeting multiple preferred lenders and leveraging competition.

Watch the full alumni interview here 👇

And when we asked him how it feels now that he's on the other side, one month into ownership, here's what he said:

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.