Who distressed business deals can work for

Hey, it’s Ben!

This week, I’ve covered why distressed deals look so attractive, what they actually require to execute, and how to evaluate whether a struggling business has real turnaround potential or just looks cheap.

Today I want to give you my honest take on who can actually make the strategy work.

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.

The profile of someone who can pull this off

The people who execute distressed acquisitions well almost always share a few things in common.

They have direct operational experience in the relevant industry, and an understanding of how that specific type of business runs when it’s healthy.

That knowledge is what lets them quickly identify what’s actually broken and what a realistic fix looks like.

They have a team assembled before they make an offer, with advisors, operators, and industry experts committed to helping them work through the transition.

Turnarounds are not solo projects.

And critically, they have capital reserves that can absorb a longer and more expensive process than planned.

You need enough to weather a timeline that stretches further than expected, because it almost always does.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to build toward more complex deal strategies over time. To see how our community can help you acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)

My honest take

For most first-time buyers, distressed acquisitions are not the right starting point.

The complexity is higher, the margin for error is smaller, and the skills required are much more specialized.

The discount you get on the purchase price is great, but it’s priced that way for a reason, and what you’re buying along with it is a set of problems that someone else couldn’t solve.

For buyers who want a more direct path to ownership and cash flow, acquiring a stable, profitable business with a solid operating history is a significantly better starting point.

The returns look less dramatic on paper.

But the probability of actually achieving them is exponentially higher, and the first deal going well is what makes every deal after it possible.

If you’d like help figuring out what kind of acquisition makes sense for where you are right now, that’s exactly the kind of conversation the Acquisition Ace community can help with.

To learn more about our community and see how it could help you acquire your first business…

👉 Book a call with my team here and let’s chat.