7 ms·

I have a wide-ranging self-taught skill set as well that I've developed over the last 14 years of running my own businesses. I'll share what I'm doing from a hi

I have a wide-ranging self-taught skill set as well that I've developed over the last 14 years of running my own businesses. I'll share what I'm doing from a high level as it might not be the most common path. I've been acquiring small but promising businesses that don't have the right team in place to move them forward. I bootstrap them on my own and replace my roles as the business can afford staff. Once enough roles are replaced, I'm able to start looking for the next business. I'm on my fourth business now. Sold the first two, the third is a productized service netting seven figures, and I just acquired the fourth, which is a SaaS business that I believe has great potential. Currently, I'm formalizing this method and will build a team that can execute it much more quickly than me alone. I'll be shooting for a new business every 12-18 months to build a portfolio. We'll have a group of partners and a small staff that will be focused on getting these acquisitions straightened out and growing, then we'll install a team to run them full-time and we'll go on to the next one. So just taking what I've been doing for years and everything I've learned from it and scaling it up to reduce the timeframe from acquisition to growth and then operation of the business. If OP or anyone else who identifies themself in a similar manner wants to chat, email is in my profile. I'm actively looking for people like us to work with.

ahpearce 7y ago
Couldn't find your e-mail in your profile and wanted to get in touch. Very interested in going down this path, or potentially working together.
- akcreek 7y ago
  I did not expect the response I received to this post. I received 100+ emails in a few hours and had to remove my contact info as I was only expecting a few people to reach out. I wasn't intending to create a major distraction from my work for myself.
the-peter 7y ago
Same here, can't find your email. I am also a 'jack of all trades' and I'm ready to wrap up my third business and find something new. I'd love to talk to you, maybe do something together, maybe just trade our stories.
bouncearound 7y ago
i see you removed your email from profile good move. I rarely sign up to respond to someone but I think you may have been blessed to find the very unique niche that just may fit exactly my skillset. I get companies and ideas off the ground, once it gets corporate level, i lose interest. Makes me feel I'm not cut out for that corporate lifetsyle... SO I wonder like you what can work. Latest business venture since trying this method - service provider company, we hire various experts. Then internally we create campaigns out of pocket and as the calls come in we direct them to various industry. We should most definitely speak. I have several projects that fit our unqiue abilities. For 38 years I said i'm never going to achieve because I cannot stay in the same position once it becomes routine.... This is a brilliant approach! how can we be in contact? mrtorah AT gmail email me when you have a chance id like to see what you have going, we have a bit of financing and targeting some higher ticket niches right now.
Roritharr 7y ago
Interesting, how did you acquire the first business and keep yourself afloat before it took off?
- akcreek 7y ago
  I was in college at the time, so student loans kept me afloat. I was definitely not using that money correctly, but I believed I was using it wisely. The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. That was a large sum for them, but they believed they would see it again and they have always wanted to help my siblings and I in any way possible. It turned out to be one of their better investments as I did return that money and a percent of profits for years. After the first one I was able to continue self funding.
  - exterrestrial 7y ago
    >The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. Thanks for being honest. It might help to put this in the first comment though.
    - czbond 7y ago
      Why? Means little. You can put a $44k deal together, even if you're a college student with no connections. It takes vision, some hustle, and an action plan. You might not think you can, but I sure know many can (including you and others reading this). Most sellers are open to creative deals. No money down, seller financing (this applies to real estate and software).
      - raydev 7y ago
        > even if you're a college student with no connections. Unless you mean community college, just by virtue of being in college you are exposed to a network of people who have money.
        czbond 7y ago
chirau 7y ago
This business of buying and selling businesses, I have heard a bit about it here and there but i don't even know where to start looking for people who are either selling or who are buying. I'd love to look into it as I think I would quite enjoy it. Any resources you could point to?
- akcreek 7y ago
  Buying online businesses wasn't even on my radar at the start, but I stumbled onto the first one via a blog that I followed. They posted that they were going to sell their online business and to drop them an email if interested. I read that and immediately thought, well that's for me, so I sent them an email. I had zero clue what I was doing at that point. The last business I acquired was though a broker; FE International. They have some interesting SaaS listings from time to time. QuietLight is another broker I watch listings from, but they are more in the ecomm, FBA, etc. space though. Less pure software. There are other brokers as well such as Empire Flippers. There are some marketplaces like Flippa, Sideprojectors, Transferslot, etc. You can also find a business you are interested in and call them up and see if they might be interested in selling. I almost bought a business this way last year after seeing it on Indie Hackers and reaching out to the owner. We couldn't get together on price though. I was happy to overpay since the business wasn't on the market and I believed in the future potential, but the owner's expectation was just way too out there so I couldn't justify it.
  - minhazm423 7y ago
    Any good resources you’ve used to educate yourself? You mentioned you’re self taught so I figure you’ll have many!
  - s3nnyy 7y ago
    Isn't this a lemon market? Owner's expectations always are too good, or not? It is their "baby" and they are biased to think it's better than it is. A seller could hire someone to run the thing for them, so why sell unless the person needs money or is hiding something? Maybe I am too pessimistic.
hanoz 7y ago
That's facinating. Do you tend to buy the entity of the business, or would the original owner keep a small stake? And do you get any professional help with the accountancy and legal aspects of the original purchase?
- akcreek 7y ago
  Thus far my acquisitions have all been asset sales where I've started a new LLC, which has purchased the assets we define in the purchase agreement. I've not done any deals where the original owner keeps a stake, but I would consider an arrangement like that if asked for. Nobody has asked yet though. I did the first three solo and on the last one I had a couple of conversations with my attorney during the process. I wanted the attorney to be fully involved on the last one because the purchase price was higher than the previous acquisitions (high six figures), but the timing just didn't work out. I wanted to close quicker than he could handle so I just went ahead. Asset purchases aren't that complicated since you aren't brining on liabilities. Still, I'm sure it is advisable to have professionals help with due diligence, contract negotiation, etc.
ramsundhar20 7y ago
Glad to connect. Please do connect via email at ramsundhar20@gmail.com
TamDenholm 7y ago
This is basically me and my skillset and trajectory but UK based. Its something i'd love to do with others. I noticed you're in Seattle so not in the same country or i'd get in touch to talk. If anyone like this is in the UK and wants to get in touch, email in profile.
fxtentacle 7y ago
I support this approach. I learned a lot about online marketing and selling physical products by purchasing a struggling online shop. There's even dedicated web pages like flippa.com or empireflippers.com
- minhazm423 7y ago
  Once you purchased the shop which resources did you use? Where did you purchase from? And have you gone on to do more deals since then?
- jklein11 7y ago
  I know this is probably anecdotal but have you found that buying a struggling online shop was worth the money vs starting from scratch?

ahpearce 7y ago

Couldn't find your e-mail in your profile and wanted to get in touch. Very interested in going down this path, or potentially working together.

akcreek 7y ago
I did not expect the response I received to this post. I received 100+ emails in a few hours and had to remove my contact info as I was only expecting a few people to reach out. I wasn't intending to create a major distraction from my work for myself.

the-peter 7y ago

Same here, can't find your email. I am also a 'jack of all trades' and I'm ready to wrap up my third business and find something new. I'd love to talk to you, maybe do something together, maybe just trade our stories.

bouncearound 7y ago

i see you removed your email from profile good move. I rarely sign up to respond to someone but I think you may have been blessed to find the very unique niche that just may fit exactly my skillset. I get companies and ideas off the ground, once it gets corporate level, i lose interest. Makes me feel I'm not cut out for that corporate lifetsyle... SO I wonder like you what can work. Latest business venture since trying this method - service provider company, we hire various experts. Then internally we create campaigns out of pocket and as the calls come in we direct them to various industry. We should most definitely speak. I have several projects that fit our unqiue abilities. For 38 years I said i'm never going to achieve because I cannot stay in the same position once it becomes routine.... This is a brilliant approach! how can we be in contact? mrtorah AT gmail email me when you have a chance id like to see what you have going, we have a bit of financing and targeting some higher ticket niches right now.

Roritharr 7y ago

Interesting, how did you acquire the first business and keep yourself afloat before it took off?

akcreek 7y ago
I was in college at the time, so student loans kept me afloat. I was definitely not using that money correctly, but I believed I was using it wisely. The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. That was a large sum for them, but they believed they would see it again and they have always wanted to help my siblings and I in any way possible. It turned out to be one of their better investments as I did return that money and a percent of profits for years. After the first one I was able to continue self funding.
- exterrestrial 7y ago
  >The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. Thanks for being honest. It might help to put this in the first comment though.
  - czbond 7y ago
    Why? Means little. You can put a $44k deal together, even if you're a college student with no connections. It takes vision, some hustle, and an action plan. You might not think you can, but I sure know many can (including you and others reading this). Most sellers are open to creative deals. No money down, seller financing (this applies to real estate and software).
    - raydev 7y ago
      > even if you're a college student with no connections. Unless you mean community college, just by virtue of being in college you are exposed to a network of people who have money.
      - czbond 7y ago

chirau 7y ago

This business of buying and selling businesses, I have heard a bit about it here and there but i don't even know where to start looking for people who are either selling or who are buying. I'd love to look into it as I think I would quite enjoy it. Any resources you could point to?

akcreek 7y ago
Buying online businesses wasn't even on my radar at the start, but I stumbled onto the first one via a blog that I followed. They posted that they were going to sell their online business and to drop them an email if interested. I read that and immediately thought, well that's for me, so I sent them an email. I had zero clue what I was doing at that point. The last business I acquired was though a broker; FE International. They have some interesting SaaS listings from time to time. QuietLight is another broker I watch listings from, but they are more in the ecomm, FBA, etc. space though. Less pure software. There are other brokers as well such as Empire Flippers. There are some marketplaces like Flippa, Sideprojectors, Transferslot, etc. You can also find a business you are interested in and call them up and see if they might be interested in selling. I almost bought a business this way last year after seeing it on Indie Hackers and reaching out to the owner. We couldn't get together on price though. I was happy to overpay since the business wasn't on the market and I believed in the future potential, but the owner's expectation was just way too out there so I couldn't justify it.
- minhazm423 7y ago
  Any good resources you’ve used to educate yourself? You mentioned you’re self taught so I figure you’ll have many!
- s3nnyy 7y ago
  Isn't this a lemon market? Owner's expectations always are too good, or not? It is their "baby" and they are biased to think it's better than it is. A seller could hire someone to run the thing for them, so why sell unless the person needs money or is hiding something? Maybe I am too pessimistic.

hanoz 7y ago

That's facinating. Do you tend to buy the entity of the business, or would the original owner keep a small stake? And do you get any professional help with the accountancy and legal aspects of the original purchase?

akcreek 7y ago
Thus far my acquisitions have all been asset sales where I've started a new LLC, which has purchased the assets we define in the purchase agreement. I've not done any deals where the original owner keeps a stake, but I would consider an arrangement like that if asked for. Nobody has asked yet though. I did the first three solo and on the last one I had a couple of conversations with my attorney during the process. I wanted the attorney to be fully involved on the last one because the purchase price was higher than the previous acquisitions (high six figures), but the timing just didn't work out. I wanted to close quicker than he could handle so I just went ahead. Asset purchases aren't that complicated since you aren't brining on liabilities. Still, I'm sure it is advisable to have professionals help with due diligence, contract negotiation, etc.

ramsundhar20 7y ago

Glad to connect. Please do connect via email at ramsundhar20@gmail.com

TamDenholm 7y ago

This is basically me and my skillset and trajectory but UK based. Its something i'd love to do with others. I noticed you're in Seattle so not in the same country or i'd get in touch to talk. If anyone like this is in the UK and wants to get in touch, email in profile.

fxtentacle 7y ago

I support this approach. I learned a lot about online marketing and selling physical products by purchasing a struggling online shop. There's even dedicated web pages like flippa.com or empireflippers.com

minhazm423 7y ago
Once you purchased the shop which resources did you use? Where did you purchase from? And have you gone on to do more deals since then?
jklein11 7y ago
I know this is probably anecdotal but have you found that buying a struggling online shop was worth the money vs starting from scratch?