“Show up. Drive the hour and a half. Meet them in person.”

Happy Friday!

On Monday, I told you about Alex, and how he beat out a private equity firm for a $6M delivery technology company, negotiated a seller note that’s now being forgiven, and is projecting $500K in cash flow in year one…

While still working his cybersecurity day job.

Today, you’ll get his 3 biggest lessons from that deal, and access to our conversation about how he made the deal work. 👇

Community Spotlight

Before sharing Alex’s key takeaways, here’s a quick spotlight on Andrew and his success story from the Acquisition Ace community.

Andrew bought a $700K nail salon in LA with his wife after joining Acquisition Ace, and found his investor through the AA investor database.

After finding an investor in the Acquisition Ace database and putting just $40K out of pocket, he’s on track for a 300%+ return in year one.

👉 Want a community where you can find investors, build relationships, and close deals? Book a call with our team here.

“Show up. Drive the hour and a half. Meet them in person. The sellers who built something real want to hand it to someone real, and you can’t show that over email.”

That’s what Alex told me after winning a deal that private equity was ready to take with cash, because he got in the car on a Sunday morning and showed up.

3 key takeaways from our conversation

1. Sellers choose people, not just offers

Alex was competing against a PE firm with cash in hand.

He won because the sellers - who had built seven businesses from scratch - cared more about who was taking over their team than who was paying the most.

2. A seller note can disappear post-close

Alex’s $1.2M seller note is currently being negotiated for forgiveness in exchange for a domain purchase worth $200-300K.

This wasn’t part of the original deal.

It happened because Alex built a genuine friendship with the seller post-close, proving that building strong relationships can keep paying dividends long after early conversations.

(Alex spent a year navigating bank complications, a lender that jumped ship at the last minute, and complex deal structuring. Inside Acquisition Ace, members get support through exactly those kinds of obstacles. To get that kind of support for yourself from the Acquisition Ace community as your work on closing your first acquisition, book a call with our team here and let’s talk to see if it’s a good fit for you.)

3. Fixed costs mean unlimited upside

The business’s cost structure doesn’t increase with new clients.

Every new restaurant Alex signs up goes straight to the bottom line, providing the kind of scalability most businesses can’t offer.

This week’s action item

Identify one deal you’re currently evaluating where you haven’t yet met the seller in person.

If geography allows it, make the trip.

A face-to-face conversation does more for trust and rapport in an hour than months of emails.

And if you can’t meet in person, at minimum get on a video call.

To hear the full story of how Alex turned a Sunday morning house call into a $6M acquisition…

Watch the full interview with him here.

P.S. Alex navigated a year-long process, a bank that bailed at the last minute, and a deal structure most buyers would have walked away from.

What kept him going was having a community and a framework to lean on throughout.

If you want that same support behind your search…

👉 Book a call with our team here to see how the Acquisition Ace community could help you land your first business acquisition.