How Troy bought a $600K doggy daycare for less than $30K out of pocket

Happy Monday!

Today’s case study focuses on Troy, a Washington State resident with a background in small business management who wanted to stop trading time for money.

After a couple of deals fell through, he bought a doggy daycare from a family friend - for less than $30K out of his own pocket - and is projecting an 8x return on that investment in year one.

Community Spotlight

Before getting into Troy’s story, here’s a powerful success story from the Acquisition Ace community.

Kristie was a full-time photographer who didn't want to spend another 13 years building a second business from scratch.

So she bought a drop-in daycare with two locations for $485K using a HELOC, putting just $35K out of pocket.

The business was doing $225K in verifiable cash flow with a team already in place, and she kept her photography business running while the daycare operates with minimal involvement from her.

She’s now making over $100K annually from the daycare while working just a few hours per week, and didn’t have to start from zero.

👉 Ready to get the roadmap to buying your first cash-flowing business? Book a call with our team here.

Before the Deal

Troy had been exploring real estate, but cash flow was hard to find in the current market.

After coming across Ben’s content online, he joined Acquisition Ace and started searching for businesses to buy.

Two deals fell through (a hydraulic company and a bulkhead company) before the right one surfaced through his personal network.

Finding the deal

Troy knew a family friend who had owned a doggy daycare since 1995 and was approaching retirement age.

His friend’s sons had no interest in taking over, and the business would likely have closed when the owner retired.

Troy convinced him to sell instead.

(Deals like this that come from your personal network are some of the most slept-on opportunities for acquisitions. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to tap their network to source deals like Troy's. If you’d like to learn how to do that in our community, book a call with our team here.)

The Deal Breakdown

Purchase price: $600K (3x SDE)

Revenue: $600K–$800K (growing over 3 years)

SDE: $150K–$200K annually

Financing: 75% seller note ($450K, 12-year term, interest-only for first 2 years at 7%)

Down payment: 25% hard money loan ($150K) secured against rental property equity

Total out of pocket: Under $30K (legal, QoE, and loan costs)

Monthly cash flow after debt service: $15K-$20K

Projected cash-on-cash return: ~8x in year one

Troy also raised prices 15% immediately after closing, which covered his entire debt service with no impact on expenses.

What He’s Doing Now

Troy goes into the business two days a week and works remotely the rest of the time.

Three managers were already in place when he bought it, and they handle all day-to-day operations.

His focus right now is learning every aspect of the business from the ground up, then systemizing it as a franchise prototype for future locations.

His wife Jess is involved too, and neither of them has left their previous income behind.

The Key Lesson

“Utilize your network. Just talking about wanting to buy a business - to anyone - opens doors you didn’t know existed.”

Troy found this deal by telling people what he was looking for, and three more opportunities came across his desk after he’d already committed to this one.

The best deals often go to the people who are already in the room.

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 Troy.

To see if it's a good fit for you…

👉 Book a call with our team here.