“At worst, you might get 100% return on your investment.”

Happy Friday!

Last Monday, I told you about Chase, and how he and his brother bought an 85-year-old steel fabrication company for $1.85M, including the real estate, with no manufacturing background.

Today, you’ll get his biggest lessons from that deal, and access to our full conversation about how he pulled it off. 👇

Community Spotlight

Before jumping into Adam’s key takeaways, here’s another quick success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Taggart bought a $2.3M Porsche racing engineering company while keeping his full-time W2 job.

He used lessons from the program to navigate difficult negotiations and close his dream deal.

👉 Want proven frameworks for navigating seller relationships and closing deals? Book a call with our team here.

“At worst, you might get 100% return on your investment this year. Most likely it could be 200 to 300%. When I tell people that, they say my numbers are wrong. They’re not.”

That’s what Chase told me after closing on his first acquisition (while keeping his W2 job) with a GM who’s been running the business for 27 years.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Build rapport with the broker, not just the seller

Chase had multiple competing offers above asking price on this deal, but won it anyway.

The broker relationship he’d invested in led directly to a better loan structure, a smoother process, and ultimately a deal that penciled out far better than the original terms would have.

2. Hire to replace the seller before you close

Rather than scrambling post-acquisition to absorb the outgoing owner’s duties, Chase hired an accounting and administrative specialist ahead of time.

From day one, those responsibilities were covered, giving him space to focus on the business rather than the paperwork.

(Chase won this deal despite competing offers above asking price, largely because of the rapport he built with the broker and sellers from day one. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to build those relationships properly. To learn more about how the Acquisition Ace community could help you land your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

3. Radical transparency wins over inherited teams

The GM had been with the business for 27 years, whereas Chase walked in with no industry background and zero welding experience.

Instead of pretending otherwise, he held one-on-ones with every employee, ran a structured feedback process, and made it clear nothing was changing unless the team wanted it to.

By the end of week one, the GM told him it was probably the best thing that had ever happened to the company.

This week’s action item

Before your next broker conversation, spend 10 minutes researching them specifically: their recent deals, their specialty, how long they’ve been in the business.

Then open the conversation by asking about them rather than pitching yourself.

That small shift is the beginning of building the kind of relationship that wins deals.

To hear the full story of how Chase structured this acquisition and turned a rejected offer into a winning deal…

Watch the full interview with him here.

P.S. Chase watched testimonials like this one a year before he pulled the trigger on joining Acquisition Ace.

He said seeing people like him get deals done was what gave him the confidence to start.

If you’re in that same spot right now and are ready to dive into your own acquisition…

👉 Book a call with our team here to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you secure your first business deal.