How Marcus bought a $2.7M senior care company

Happy Monday!

Today you’re going to hear a case study about Marcus and his first small business acquisition.

He spent two decades in strategy and operations, including working directly in corporate M&A, closing billion-dollar acquisitions for a Fortune 100 company.

Marcus had spent his career leading large-scale, heavily audited acquisitions with teams of specialists handling every function.

Until he decided his next chapter would look different:

Buying a small business himself, self-funded, with no team to lean on.

Before getting to Marcus’s case study, here’s another success story from our Acquisition Ace community.

Avi and Jay bought a $1.3M cleaning company from another ACE member, and are now building a portfolio of cleaning businesses.

Their first deal came directly from networking inside the group, and now they're acquiring their second and third companies.

👉 Want to join a community where members share deals and partner together? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Marcus explored senior care and auto repair (his dad had owned an auto shop) before landing on a niche he had real experience with:

Non-medical care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Finding the Deal

The business was a 20-year-old franchise location generating $750K in SDE on a $3M listing price. Revenue was growing roughly $1M per year, driven by Medicaid waiver reimbursement increases and a smart geographic expansion strategy into underserved rural counties.

Marcus negotiated the price down to $2.7M after the seller initially dropped his own appraisal once key employees were removed from the valuation.

By the time they closed, the business’s run rate had grown to nearly $6M.

When financing initially didn’t pencil out at the agreed price, Marcus almost walked away.

The seller took him to lunch instead and said: “You’re not private equity. You’re the alternative. What do you need from me?”

That conversation saved the deal.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to navigate complex negotiations like this, including knowing when to lean on seller relationships to bridge a financing gap. To see how Acquisition Ace could help you secure your first business acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

Listed price: $3M

Final purchase price: $2.7M

SDE: $750K (growing toward $800K+ at close)

Structure: Stock purchase with a 338(h)(10) election

Financing: 10% buyer down payment (~$270K), 10% seller note (2-year standby, 6% interest), remainder SBA

Cash-on-cash return: Well over 100% in year one, likely closer to 200%

During due diligence, Marcus uncovered approximately $50K in commingled expenses between the seller’s two businesses - not a dealbreaker, just something requiring careful unwinding.

He also spent significant time renegotiating franchise terms directly with the franchise president, locking in favorable fee structures for two years that the previous owner had inherited but Marcus wouldn’t have automatically retained.

What He’s Doing Now

Marcus is about a month into ownership, still working his full-time corporate job while building out the leadership structure beneath him.

The business runs through a Director of Operations and regional team leads, with billing and claims handled by third-party administrators, keeping his day-to-day involvement intentionally limited.

His near-term focus is building systems to sustain the rapid growth that’s already happening.

Longer-term, he’s planning to diversify beyond Medicaid-funded care into private-pay services using the stability of government reimbursement as a foundation while pursuing higher-margin growth on top of it.

The seller, impressed by the trust built during the process, voluntarily left post-close revenue in the business for 90 days to give Marcus breathing room - something Marcus notes was never a legal obligation.

The Key Lesson

“Don’t give up. The right deal will come your way. Figure out what you don't want. Once you know that, you’ll spend your time and energy on the opportunities that actually fit.”

Marcus had corporate M&A experience most buyers will never have.

But what actually closed this deal was the same thing that closes every small business acquisition:

A genuine relationship with the seller, built on trust rather than pure transaction.

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 Mark.

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