Andrew Blazenko has made 6 acquisitions over the last ten years. Pairing businesses with operators is key to his model.

Topics in Andrew’s interview:

• Background as a business broker
• Wanted the exit joy for himself
• Danger of low barrier to entry
• Finding great operators to run his businesses
• Business acquisition requires reps
• Executive in Residence program
• Requiring operators to invest in the business
• Difficulty of raising equity in Canada
• Shipping costs as a natural moat
• Living as a “gentleman of leisure”

References and how to contact Andrew:

• LinkedIn
• ProSafe
• Eterna Equity
• TrueFoam

The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business:

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a complimentary IT audit for acquisition diligence or post-close transition.

• Visit inzotechnologies.com/eta.

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron

Dan Burnside thought he got a great deal on an $800k SDE business. Instead he'd bought bad faith and years of struggle.

Register for the webinar:

• Add-Ons and Carve-Outs: How to Get Banks on Board - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4sO0MAt

Topics in Dan’s interview:

• Buying in a small, rural area
• Discovering seller fraud after acquisition
• Key employee leaves and starts competing business
• Working to integrate himself into the community
• HVAC techs resisted technology changes
• Wife and kids unhappy in the new place
• Getting his Master Mechanical Contractor license
• Customers not paying their invoices
• Hiring challenges in rural areas
• Bankruptcy and his new AI venture

References and how to contact Dan:

• LinkedIn
• Jan Roll on Acquiring Minds: 21 Months to Stability Buying a $1.2m SDE Business

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business:

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron

Jeff Flannery is a great example of how franchising complements ETA, having rolled up 17 units since starting in 2019.

Register for the webinars:

• Advanced Deal Mechanics: NWC, Net Debt & Purchase Price Adjustments - TOMORROW!! - https://bit.ly/4u9KyD6
• Add-Ons and Carve-Outs: How to Get Banks on Board - Thu, Apr 30 - https://bit.ly/3OpzRgx

Topics in Jeff’s interview:

• Difference between a practice and a business
• 18 years of running a procurement recruiting firm
• Acquiring a failing Hand and Stone location
• Improving the franchisee playbook
• Ask franchisees for the actual profit margins
• Mastering the business from the bottom up
• Working 100-hour weeks for years
• Implementing enrollment fees
• Running spas in California through Covid
• Building an inbound and outbound offshore call center

References and how to contact Jeff:

• LinkedIn
• jflannery@purpleeaglespas.com
• Hand & Stone

Download the New CEO’s Guide to Human Resources from Aspen HR:

• From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com

Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complimentary IT audit for acquisition diligence or post-close transition.

• Visit inzotechnologies.com/eta.

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron

Nicolás Lulli bought a document storage business in Peru. 6 years later, it is a $25m leader in the Andean region.

Register for the webinar:

• Advanced Deal Mechanics: NWC, Net Debt & Purchase Price Adjustments - Tue, Apr 28 - https://bit.ly/490Ms0q

Topics in Nicolás’s interview:

• First employee at Relay Investments search fund
• Launched Peru’s first search fund, Colca Capital
• Covid lockdowns erased profits almost overnight
• Rebuilding the business into a tight submarine
• From $0 EBITDA to $5m in one year
• Shifted focus toward acquisitions for faster growth
• Records storage is a real estate business
• Invests in other searchers to pay it forward
• The cradle-to-grave strategy in records management
• Building a searcher community in Peru

References and how to contact Nicolás:

• LinkedIn
• Colca Capital

Get a complimentary IT audit for acquisition diligence or post-close transition.

• Visit inzotechnologies.com/eta.

The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business:

• The Acquisition Lab

Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Pioneer Capital Advisory

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron

Greg Hirsch wants more seasoned professionals to understand how valuable their experience can be to an ETA journey.

Topics in Greg’s interview:

• Fifteen years learning systems at Sysco Foods
• Failed startup revealed builder, not founder path
• Helped scale trucking roll-up through industry consolidation
• Revisiting his “heck no” pile
• Invests in timeless blue-collar essential industries
• Late-40s searches benefit from life experience
• Spouse alignment essential before risking family security
• His wife’s perspective on the process
• Growth comes from removing operational friction
• His wife’s perspective on the process

References and how to contact Greg:

• LinkedIn
• Hirsch Ventures

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Download the New CEO’s Guide to Human Resources from Aspen HR:

• From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron

Thanks to strong business-buyer fit, Joe Wynn negotiated great terms to acquire a $600k SDE sales & service business.

Register for the webinar:

• Real Estate Issues When Buying a Business - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4smYdoQ

Topics in Joseph’s interview:

• Trading a mid–six-figure salary for business ownership
• Wanting to “build his own ladder” instead of climbing someone else’s
• Buying a medical equipment distribution and service company
• Designing and outfitting hospital operating rooms
• 45% net margins on $2M in revenue
• Raising service prices 20–50% in his first six weeks
• Navigating “lumpy” project-based revenue cycles
• Structuring a $1.35M deal with seller financing
• Putting only $120K down with no personal guarantee
• A post-closing banking freeze that forced him to cover payroll

References and how to contact Joseph:

• LinkedIn
• Surgical Specialties of Georgia
• Iris Levine on Acquiring Minds: $6m Business, 3 Minutes From Childhood Home
• Brian Hartman on Acquiring Minds: The Path from $2.5m to $60m in a Tree Business

The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business:

• The Acquisition Lab

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Download the New CEO’s Guide to Human Resources from Aspen HR:

• From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov
Produced by Pam Cameron

Constrained in her job and seeking more time for her kids, Ana Lia Barragan bought a $385k/yr, 30-year-old business.

Register for the webinars:

• Your First Finance Hires After Buying a Business - TOMORROW!! - https://bit.ly/3OvsNic
• Real Estate Issues When Buying a Business - Thu, Apr 16 - https://bit.ly/3PYIhf8

Topics in Ana Lia’s interview:

• Wanted flexibility while raising two young children
• Hit promotion ceiling in corporate tech ladder
• Joined Beta Accelerator, buying businesses training program
• Treat LOIs like conversations, not commitments
• DIY diligence first to avoid costly mistakes
• SBA rule changes complicated future acquisition financing
• Recurring revenue lower than seller originally claimed
• Lost major client after leadership cost-cutting shift
• Built custom AI app for operations tracking
• Bought a job first, business later

References and how to contact Ana Lia:

• LinkedIn
• Kelly Green
• Ana Lia’s LinkedIn post on how the new SBA rules affect her
• Ana Lia’s LinkedIn post on the pre- and post-closing gap in understanding her business
• Gabe Perez on Acquiring Minds: One Couple, 4 Kids, and a Business 3 Hours Away
• Darryl Lindie on Acquiring Minds: Hard but Fun: Transitioning a 77-Year-Old Business
• Nick Haschka on Acquiring Minds: How One Small Acquisition Led to 9 More in 5 Years

Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:

• Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov
Produced by Pam Cameron

Jenna Whigham and her brother bought a large business for a search fund, then grew it 6x larger over the last 5 years.

Register for the webinar:

• The Operator’s Perspective: Running a Business for an Owner - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4va4hUm

Topics in Jenna’s interview:

• Investment banking during the 2008 crisis
• Launching a traditional search fund with her brother
• Golden Retrievers led to an acquisition
• Acquiring a $100 million company
• Financial risk of being a “price taker”
• Expanding through M&A
• Software “Trojan Horse” strategy
• How they decide which states to expand to
• Managing a 25% staff turnover rate
• Realities of home care and compliance incidents

References and how to contact Jenna:

• LinkedIn
• Abound Health

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):

• Book a call with Tim or hello@systemsix.com and mention Acquiring Minds

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

• Email Nick Akers at nick@inzotechnologies.com, and tell him you’re a searcher

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Edited by Anton Rohozov
Produced by Pam Cameron