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Happy Monday!
Today I’ve got a case study about Kristie, who spent 10 years as a labor and delivery nurse before building a successful photography business from scratch.
She knew firsthand how exhausting it is to build something from zero and had no interest in doing it again.
Two weeks after closing on a two-location drop-in daycare center, she’s already projecting a 3x return on her $35K out-of-pocket investment.
Before getting into Kristie’s story, here’s a great success story from our Acquisition Ace community.
Kris bought a $2.6M oil field service company while keeping his full-time job at Chevron, and he’s now making $250K/year in passive income.
“The value that I got out of Acquisition Ace is learning all the definitions, learning what to say, how to deal with the banker, how to deal with the lender. I wouldn’t have any of that stuff had I not joined this group. I’m making a lot more money now than I’ve ever made.”
He went from knowing nothing to closing a multi-million dollar deal in 5 months.
👉 Want to learn exactly how to navigate lenders and close your first deal? Book a call with our team here.
Before the deal
Kristie had built her photography studio into a thriving business, but it was completely dependent on her.
She wanted a business that didn’t require her to be in it every day, and didn’t want to start another one from scratch.
Finding the deal
Kristie reviewed dozens of businesses before finding this one on BizBuySell.
It was a two-location drop-in daycare center that had been operating for 25 years.
The model is exactly what it sounds like: parents pay by the hour, no monthly contracts, no tuition commitments.
Six weeks through 12 years old, seven days a week, with licensing in place and a staff of about 15 childcare workers already managed by two directors.
The seller was retiring, the books were clean, and critically, Kristie wouldn’t need to watch a single child.
(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to identify deals where the management structure means they’re not buying a job. To see how Acquisition Ace could help you acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)
The deal breakdown
Listed price: $570K
Final purchase price: $485K
SDE: ~$225K
Total out of pocket: ~$35K
Projected year-one cash flow: Well over $100K
Projected cash-on-cash return: ~3x in year one
Kristie offered the seller $500K with a $15K seller note, or $485K cash - the seller took the cash.
What she’s doing now
Two weeks in, Kristie is in the administrative weeds, switching over utility accounts, transitioning vendor contracts, getting the internet sorted, integrating QuickBooks.
It’s a lot, and she knows it. But she also knows it’s mostly one-time work.
The two directors manage the staff and daily childcare operations, so her job is everything above that level.
And once the transition tasks clear, she expects that work to drop to only a few hours a week.
The key lesson
“The more streams of revenue you can have, the better. W2 is the worst way to build wealth. It eats your most valuable resource, which is your time.”
Kristie had already built one successful business from scratch, and knew what that took.
Buying into something already working - at a 2x multiple, with a team in place, using equity that was sitting idle in her home - was a better use of her money, her energy, and her time.
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 Kristie.
👉 Book a call with our team here to see if it's a good fit.
 | Onward, Ben Kelly PS: Check out our latest YouTube video. We reveal how one entrepreneur built a multi-million dollar pool company from scratch with no industry experience. |
