Acquisition Entrepreneur Blueprint
Find a business worth buying, work out what it is really worth, finance it without over-leveraging, and survive the first year of owning it.
Buying a small business is a different discipline from investing in a listed one. The information is worse, the seller is a person rather than a market, the price is negotiated rather than quoted, and when it is done you own the problem.
This Blueprint runs the whole path: defining a search, sourcing proprietary deal flow, valuing an owner-operated business whose accounts were built to minimise tax, structuring and financing a purchase, running diligence that finds the things that matter, and the first twelve months of ownership — where most of the value is won or lost.
By the end you will be able to
- Define a search thesis specific enough to generate real deal flow
- Source proprietary opportunities rather than competing in broker auctions
- Normalise owner-operated accounts and value a private business honestly
- Structure a deal with seller financing, earn-outs and the right debt quantum
- Run diligence that finds owner dependence, customer concentration and working capital traps
- Negotiate and close, and know what to do in the first hundred days
Curriculum
Defining what you are looking for, and generating deal flow that nobody else is seeing.
Normalising accounts that were built to minimise tax, and pricing a business with no market quote.
Financing without over-leveraging, and finding the things that actually kill deals.