What my portfolio actually looks like and what it means for my day

Hey, it’s Ben!

Yesterday I wrote about the two models most people operate from:

1. Trading time directly for money, versus;

2. Building systems that generate income independent of your daily involvement.

Today I want to share what the second model actually looks like when it’s working.

Adam bought 50% of a $2M residential mortgage brokerage and AI software company with one of the most creative structures I’ve seen:

75% seller-financed on a 10-year full standby note.

He put $200K down, immediately started collecting $5K/month in guaranteed payments (replacing his W2 salary), and now owns half of a business expanding from 8 states to all 50 states with new banking partnerships.

The seller wasn’t motivated by money, he just wanted a strategic partner…

And Adam won him over by offering to handle backend operations so the seller could focus on growth.

👉 Want to learn creative deal structures that protect your downside? Book a call with our team here.

What my portfolio looks like

The businesses I own span several industries: financial services, accounting, an ATM route, a drilling company, a SaaS company, an engineering firm.

None of them are flashy, and most people wouldn’t find them interesting to talk about.

But they share a common characteristic: they provide services people need consistently, they run through capable management teams, and they don’t require me to be personally present to function.

I also didn’t build any of them! I acquired them from owners who were ready to move on, after verifying that the fundamentals - customers, systems, management, cash flow - were already in place.

I have no interest in building systems from scratch.

Instead, I like to buy systems that already exist, already work, and already generate revenue.

The acquisition process does the heavy lifting that a startup founder would spend years trying to figure out.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to evaluate whether a business already has the systems and management in place to run without them, before they ever make an offer. If that sounds like it would be helpful for your path to business acquisition, book a call with our team here to see how our community can help.)

What a typical day actually looks like

I generate over $850K a year across my portfolio and work a few focused hours most days…

And it’s all because the work I do now is fundamentally different:

• Strategic decisions

• Reviewing performance

• Making calls with leadership teams

The rest of my time goes to the things that actually matter to me like being present when my kids get home from school and showing up to the events that parents miss when they’re buried in someone else’s priorities.

What this means for you

You don’t have to build a portfolio of seven businesses to start experiencing this shift.

One well-chosen acquisition with capable management already in place can change your relationship with time and income in a way that a salary (no matter how good) simply can’t.

If you’d like to start building toward that, the Acquisition Ace community is where thousands of people are doing exactly that, at every stage of the process.

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