How a family of three bought a $1.3M sign company together

Happy Monday!

Today you’re going to hear a story about Leanne, a program manager with a background in talent acquisition.

Her husband was a military veteran turned federal government project manager, and their 21-year-old son was a finance major struggling to land meaningful internships.

Seven months after joining Acquisition Ace, the three of them closed on an established sign company in Denver, together.

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Even with 30+ deals under his belt as an attorney, he needed to learn the buyer side - and the community recorded calls taught him everything he needed to be successful.

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Before the Deal

Leanne and her husband had been watching my content for about six months before making the first call.

They wanted to build something for their family’s future, and saw business acquisition as the path to get there.

Their son, frustrated by the brutal competition for finance internships, decided to channel his energy somewhere more productive.

He volunteered to lead the search entirely, doing all the legwork while his parents provided the capital and experience.

Finding the Deal

The son got to work on BizBuySell and SMBMarket, plugging every deal into my screening spreadsheet and reaching out relentlessly to brokers.

If the numbers made sense, he’d follow up until he got a meeting.

The sign company checked every box:

• No certifications required

• Recession-resistant (everyone needs signs)

• Recurring revenue potential

• And financials that worked

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members get the tools, frameworks, and community support to run a search like this efficiently, even if they’ve never bought a business before. If you'd like to learn more, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Asking price: $1.4M

Purchase price: $1.3M (negotiated down)

SDE: ~$400K annually

Multiple: ~3.25x

Financing: 80% SBA loan, 10% seller note (3-year full standby), 10% buyer injection

The 3-year full standby on the seller note gives Leanne’s family breathing room to build cash flow before payments kick in.

What They’re Doing Now

Leanne stepped in full-time post-close when the operations manager who came with the business turned out to need significantly more oversight than expected.

Rather than seeing this as a failure, she’s treating it as a three-month investment to get systems, processes, and team structure where they need to be before stepping back.

Meanwhile, her son is functioning as the company’s chief of growth, running sales and project management, and already landing significant wins.

He secured an exclusive contract to wrap all trailers for a growing coffee franchise, which has since expanded into a full franchise relationship covering building signs, lobby signs, and ADA signage for every new location that opens.

The Key Lesson

“Buying an existing business where you have cash flow and revenue from day one is an awesome way to create opportunity for your life, your family, and generational wealth.”

Leanne didn’t come in with sign industry experience.

What she brought was decades of program management discipline, a husband with deep operational instincts, and a 21-year-old son with nothing to lose and everything to prove.

That combination is already paying off, and they’re already planning Magnify Signs 2.0.

Ready to find and close your first acquisition?

Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Avi and Jay.

👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it’s a good fit.