Edward McDonnell bought a local services business via traditional search fund and grew it to 8 branches across 5 states.

Register for the webinar:

• SMB Cybersecurity: Why Operators Need a Risk Assessment - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4u2GO7d

Topics in Edward’s interview:

• Mechanical engineering at Honda
• Choosing traditional search for budget
• Acquiring an indoor plant/landscaping business
• Going in with no management experience
• Digitizing the back office
• Constantly repeating the company vision
• Using EOS for efficient meetings
• Growing to 8 branches in 5 states
• Exiting and staying on as CEO
• Searching for his next business in Virginia

References and how to contact Edward:

• LinkedIn
• Botanical Designs
• am@monroehillgp.com

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

Scott Crosby weathered the challenges that come with buying a 4.5-employee services business, and Year 2 is looking up.

Register for the webinars:

• Common Legal Diligence Issues (and How to Handle Them) - TOMORROW!! - https://bit.ly/3OQhm4l
• SMB Cybersecurity: Why Operators Need a Risk Assessment - Thu, Feb 26 - https://bit.ly/4bY1KWe

Topics in Scott’s interview:

• His 2 major career-defining moments
• 20-hour days in film production
• Risks of buying from younger owners
• Economic development resource centers: a hidden gem
• Looking for business-buyer fit
• Using an analysis tool he found on TikTok
• First-time buyer mistakes
• Replacing nearly the entire staff
• Underestimating the stress of ownership
• Modernizing dusty operations

References and how to contact Scott:

• LinkedIn
• scottallencrosby@gmail.com
• American Services St. Louis
• Scott’s interview prep sheet
• Buy the deal analyzer spreadsheet

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

• From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

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

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• 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
Produced by Pam Cameron

Tato Corcoran returns with updates on her ownership of a sink maker that had just $400k in revenue when she bought it.

Register for the webinar:

• Red Flags That Kill or Reshape Deals - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4rsjvla

Topics in Tato’s interview:

• Growing her top line revenue
• Finding a mentor at Starbucks
• Creating an employee handbook
• Reconfiguring the factory with new equipment
• How she implements extreme ownership
• Profit First accounting
• Being tied to the real estate market
• Goals for her real estate portfolio
• Being a woman in manufacturing
• When she may be open to selling

References and how to contact Tato:

• LinkedIn
• Brandt Molded Marble
• Tato's first interview: When You Buy a Glorified Job, Not a Business
• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

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

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• 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
Produced by Pam Cameron

Don Grigg reflects on the different outcomes for 2 businesses he bought in his 30s, one of which became his life's work.

Register for the webinar:

• Red Flags That Kill or Reshape Deals - Feb 19th - https://bit.ly/468vw6W

Topics in Don’s interview:

• Discovering his passion for manufacturing
• Searching for “small, broken companies” to acquire
• Closing on 2 businesses within 6 months
• How plastics recycling works
• Scaling his plastics recycling business
• Private equity is a poor fit for small business
• Exiting his business felt like losing family
• His son and daughter’s acquisition
• Value of family businesses
• Entrepreneurship through acquisition as your life’s work

References and how to contact Don:

• LinkedIn
• Native Watercraft
• Bonafide Kayaks
• Enough by John C. Bogle

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
Produced by Pam Cameron

In addition to buying his own business, Evan DiLeonardi trades buy-side services for equity in other SMB acquisitions.

Topics in Evan’s interview:

• Entering the Airbnb space
• Joining Ben Kelly’s acquisition group
• Buying a commercial cleaning business
• Being a remote “workaholic”
• Realizing he bought a business in distress
• First year in survival mode
• Getting a team of great managers in place
• His “Equity in Kind” partner model
• Enjoying search more than operations
• Building a holding company

References and how to contact Evan:

• LinkedIn
• Quality Cleaning Service
• Gail Hamilton Azodo on Acquiring Minds: Buying to $4m Across 7 Sites in 3 Years
• Meridian Peak Capital

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

• Pioneer Capital Advisory

Get a complimentary IT audit of your target business:

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

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

He started by buying a small flooring business in 2000. Today Paul Lajoie takes home $1m a year and works how he wants.

Register for the webinar:

• Why Deal Flow Isn’t Your Biggest Problem - TOMORROW! - https://bit.ly/4ah8L1E

Topics in Paul’s interview:

• Background in Big Six accounting
• Buying the first business he looked at
• Partnering with his brother
• Downsizing his lifestyle in the beginning
• Underestimating working capital needs
• Detailed partnership agreements
• You are not smarter than the seller
• Pivoting to remodeling after 2008 crash
• Acquisition vs startup success rates
• His BizBuyPro community

References and how to contact Paul:

• LinkedIn
• paul@bizbuypro.com
• Kiplinger Today Newsletter
• Confessions of a Millionaire
• Gobundance

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

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

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

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

Andrew Kurzrok connected with his seller over his manufacturing background, leading to a successful deal and transition.

Topics in Andrew’s interview:

• Background in science and national labs
• Spending all his time traveling for work
• Wanting to stop traveling when his son was born
• Studying management at Yale
• Gaining management experience before searching
• Making a “no” list
• Success with cold calling business owners
• Putting down 25% equity
• Regional moat of sheet metal
• His “crawl, walk, run” approach to operations

References and how to contact Andrew:

• LinkedIn
• Hopewell Sheet Metal Manufacturing
• Heather Endresen’s working capital webinar: Working Capital for SMB Acquisitions

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

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

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

• Pioneer Capital Advisory

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

Sensing untapped potential, Ville-Matias Vilén bought a sub-million manufacturer with good IP and global distribution.

Topics in Ville’s interview:

• Desire to “eat what he kills”
• 1990’s Finnish Recession
• Aversion to solving people problems
• Acquiring a cattle brush manufacturer
• Funding his deal in Finland
• Patents as a moat
• Relocating the manufacturing 5 hours away
• Sharing ownership with his family’s company
• Goal to grow 5x in 5 years
• Long-term holdco vision

References and how to contact Ville:

• LinkedIn
• FinnEasy

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

• From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com

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

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• 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
Produced by Pam Cameron