Hi all I first learned about M&A through a friend who'd learned from Jeremy Harbour and gave me a ticket to a small event where he was teaching stuff like roll ups. His message for me was simple: instead of trying to close marketing consulting clients, instead find businesses that work but who dont get/do marketing, acquire them and just implement what you know works! He was great because he taught simply by going through all his failures and what he learned from buying and selling businesses, not theory and not just the highlight reel. I then read and watched a bunch of Carl Allen, Roland Frasier & Ryan Diess and attended their events, and was part of a mastermind by Ken Mack. So I've read about the theory of it, and was even part of a fairly big roll up that ended up not panning out involving a number of 6-8 figure online personal development companies, which is my active income bread & butter. I've considered Mike Warren's program, but to get the level of hand holding, due diligence, SBA guarantor and investor for downpayment, it's $125k for 45% equity. I'm very confident I can use my skillset to grow a business, but lacking the deal flow, ability to do proper due diligence/know what to look for, and ability to secure SBA funding or come up with a downpayment on my own. Once I get super clear on a buy box, I think I could do very well generating leads for sellers using my online marketing skills, but I don't feel competent negotiating or getting a deal over the line even despite a lot of knowledge I've acquired.

Hey all, James Bunting here, out of Broussard, Louisiana (Lafayette area). 1. Search method: Independent sponsor. I'm an operator first. I'm currently co-owner and COO of a federal-focused medical staffing company, and I've founded and scaled multiple (4+) businesses from $0 to seven-figure revenue in healthcare, medical staffing, VA/DoD contracting, and residential construction/real estate. My brother is set to be my post-close operating partner. He brings the finance/accounting depth and hands-on ops. 2. Buy box: - Geography: Gulf South (Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas) is ideal. I'll flex outside the region for a strong business, since I've spent 10+ years running remote teams and operations. - Size: $1M–$3M EBITDA, roughly $5M–$20M revenue - Primary focus: Industrial and construction platforms, including wholesale/supply distribution, that sell products and/or services to GCs and major operators - Also interested in: Aggregates distribution and hauling, and other unglamorous B2B businesses with recurring customers and a real workforce - Ideal situation: A founder heading toward retirement, no clear successor, and a solid #2 or crew leads who'd stay on - Pass: Retail/consumer and software If you come across an industrial, construction materials/services, distribution, or hauling business in the Gulf South, please send it my way. 3. Biggest pain point: capital partners. The deals that fit my background are big enough that I am likely going to need outside equity, so I'm trying to build those relationships before I have an LOI instead of scrambling after one. I'm looking for HNW operator-investors, family offices, and other sponsors or searchers who co-invest. What I've found is that a lot of potential investor partners are already doing deals themselves, so they see me as a competitor rather than a partner. I'd love to hear how others here have found equity partners who back a sponsor and not just a single deal. I'd also like to connect with anyone open to co-investing or sharing deals that fall outside their own box.

Tell us three things: Tell me: 1. Search method (self-funded, traditional, sponsor, etc) 2. Your buy box (be specific so I can refer you stuff I see!) 3. Your biggest pain point in searching. What’s the one thing I (and this group) can help you fix I'll respond to every single one. And read each other's intros too because the person who's stuck on the same problem as you might already be in this thread. I'll go first. 🔹 I'm Jed; an independent sponsor at Sunset Coast Partners focused exclusively on government contracting firms. 🔹 My buy box includes companies with a minimum 35% government contracted revenue (federal or state & local), $2M - $10M EBITDA, and preferably in aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, or IT/cyber software. 🔹 My biggest pain point is raising capital in a GovCon environment where SBA affiliation rules prevent traditional capital. Simply put, the majority of acquisition money needs to come from me personally or a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) fund. That's it. It's simple and gives you data on who's joining, what they're searching for, and keeps the feed clear for content that retains people past week one.

Hello everyone! I'm the lead technical designer at a scenic fabrication shop based in the NYC/NJ area, with a second shop in Miami and work nationwide. We do sets, digital fabrication, experiential marketing, special events, branded environments, bajillion-dollar weddings, and more. Sometimes months of engineering and building for a ten-minute fashion show or a three-day pop-up. Started there knowing nothing about the trade and it grew from there. Two partners and I are now working through a deal to buy out the founders - two years of negotiating and counting. Buying a business from people you work with every day is a different kind of negotiation. Glad to be here. Looking to talk deal structure, and what comes after closing: org structure, management, how to grow the thing once it's yours. If anyone's done an inside buyout or taken over an owner-run business, I'd genuinely like to hear how it went. Happy to answer anything on fabrication, events or design in return!

Sellers are paid and working capital has hit the bank. Finally closed on my first acquisition. Quite a journey to get to this phase, but excited for the next step. It's a PR (public relations) business here in Boston, 20 years old with 7 employees. I know I haven't joined a lot of the calls and be super active in the group recently, but can attribute a lot of the mindset and approach that I used throughout the search process to various people in this group, so just want to say a quick thank you!