“If I really wanted to, it could take zero of my time”

Happy Friday!

On Monday, I told you about Michael, a British expat and new father who closed on a remote podiatry billing company for $2.6M…

While working 50+ hours a week at his day job, putting in $266K of his own money, and projecting a 150%+ return in year one.

Today, I’m sharing his biggest lessons from the acquisition, and our full conversation about how he pulled it off. 👇

Before getting to Michael’s top 3 lessons, here’s today’s success spotlight from one of our community members.

Troy structured a creative $600K doggy daycare deal with $0 down using seller financing and a hard money loan.

Monthly conversations with Ben helped him realize this was actually achievable, and now he’s making it happen.

👉 Want monthly guidance that turns “sounds impossible” into “I just closed my first deal”? Book a call with our team here.

“If I really wanted to, it could take zero of my time. But I’m trying to build it to a level where it can replace my W2 as quickly as possible.”

Michael told me that a few months into owning a fully remote business he found through off-market outreach, in a niche he’d never heard of before.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Use the skills you already have to find deals

Michael spent his career identifying companies that were hiring.

He simply changed the criteria to look for revenue size, employee count, and SIC codes instead of open roles.

Your professional tools and background might already be your best deal sourcing advantage.

2. A tiered seller note can solve a valuation standoff

The seller believed the business was worth more than its current performance suggested.

Michael wouldn’t pay for future growth that hadn’t happened yet.

The solution was a seller note that pays out in tiers based on two-year average revenue post-close.

If it grows, she gets more. If it doesn’t, Michael’s effective purchase price drops significantly.

Win-win.

(Michael used his professional recruiting tools to find off-market acquisition targets - the same databases, just different search criteria. Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn creative ways to source deals beyond the standard listing sites. If you want to see how our community could help with your first acquisition, book a call with our team here.)

3. Niche businesses built on referrals are goldmines

This company spent 30 years growing entirely through word of mouth.

This left huge untapped upside waiting for a buyer with the right skills to capture it, and Michael’s sales background is exactly what this business needed.

This week’s action item

Think about the professional tools you already use in your current job:

• Databases

• CRMs

• Research platforms

• Industry directories

Write down three ways you could repurpose those tools to identify potential acquisition targets in your area of expertise.

You may already have a deal sourcing advantage you haven’t thought to use!

To hear the full story of how Michael found, structured, and closed this deal while juggling a demanding W2 and a newborn at home…

Watch our full interview here.

P.S. Michael credits the one-on-one coaching calls as the thing that made the most difference, especially when the deal structure needed to shift and he needed someone to think through it with him in real time.

If you want that level of help and support behind your search to acquire a business…

👉 Book a call with our team to see how the Acquisition Ace community can help.