Curated Pt. 5

A weekly roundup of cool stuff I hope you'll like

Dec 05, 2023

Happy Tuesday,

Last weeks meetup was wild.

Almost 100 of you came out to meet new friends, learn from talented business owners/operators, and maybe meet a future partner in life or business.

I’m grateful… to say the least.

Consciously stepping back every few months to evaluate just how lucky I am has been one of the most powerful things I do and I hope you can find time this month to do the same.

This weeks post is a little different…I decided to shed light on my first business acquisition.

Feel free to forward this to a friend (if you’re into it).

Upcoming Events (2)

Small Business Meetup
Date: January
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: Novel Ice Cream in Downtown Phoenix
RSVP here
Small Business Q&A
Date: January 24th
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: Dialog in Downtown Phoenix
Request an Invite

For real-time updates:
Twitter/X: @shawnwallard
Linkedin: Shawn Allard
Instagram: @shawnallard

I Bought a Business

What a ride.

A ton of ups, downs, and lessons over the last year to rehash which I’ll be doing in the coming posts.

But I’ll start with how this even came about.

I started searching for a business to buy in March after being introduced to the ETA (entreprenuership through acquisition) world just a few weeks prior.

I jumped on Twitter, heard about the book Buy Then Build, bought it, and read that thing front to back like that day.

I was sold.

Thanks, Walker!

Since college grad in 2019, I did some real estate stuff, started a rental car business and worked full-time in dental consulting (a fancy way to say we helped dentists get into private practice).

But after struggling to find my way through it all, this just felt right.

So I started searching.

I was quickly humbled by the fact that I had no idea what I was doing.

I don’t have an MBA, I don’t have true small business experience and I sure don’t know how to read between the lines of a financial statement.

When you learn more acquisition world, there’s a blueprint many tell you to follow.

“Buy the $1M + EBIDTA business or you’re buying yourself another job”

Sounds nice, in theory.

Making close a $1M a year running a small business with little to no experience?

I’m in!

But I wanted 2 things in my first acquisition:

100% ownership
Autonomy

So with the cash I had available, buying that size business wouldn’t work.

And again, that voice was creeping telling me that anything under $1M EBIDTA would be overpaying for a full-time job.

There’s risk in everything we do, and the risk I faced was staying the course and not doing what felt scary and uncomfortable.

If I failed and lost it all… at least I learned what not to do and could share that with you.

So I got to work.

Here’s the deal:

Business: Ice Cream Company (2 retail locations)

Purchase Price: $1,123,800

Gross Revenue: $1,200,000

SDE: ~$250,000

Loan Type: SBA 7a

Down Payment: $125,000 (10% of purchase price and came from parents)

Loan Term: 10 years

Loan Interest: 11% interest (variable - can fluctuate up or down every quarter)

Due Diligence: 45 days

How I sourced the deal:

I took every approach to finding a business I could:

Business brokers
Online listing sites
Direct-to-seller

This gave me a ton of deal flow and time to evaluate hundreds of CIMs.

Reminder - I don’t come from a financial background nor have I ever evaluated financial statements.

I knew 3 things:

Revenue
Expenses
Profit

But that’s not enough to know whether a business is worth buying or not.

Within 3 months, I was committed to buying 2 businesses I came across:

Landscaping (commercial and residential)
Auto shop (aftermarket and maintenance)

I submitted LOIs on both but neither worked out after going a bit of back and forth on price and terms.

Soon after (still within 3 months of beginning my search) I was on the phone with a great broker (can introduce you if you’re in Arizona) who had sent me a few other deals and he mentioned he had spoken to an owner about putting his business up for sale.

He figured I’d be interested in entertaining a conversation with him to see if it fit my buy box.

The funny thing is, I had one non-negotiable.

Nothing in the food and beverage space, especially retail.

We all know how competitive of a space it is, the difficulties around building brand, and the challenges you face at scale (people and operations).

But after connecting with the owner, learning more about the space, and seeing the potential the business had, I was all in.

Was it the most lucrative investment in the world?

Nope.

However, the idea of operating a local business and having an impact on my community was something I got really excited about.

The cool thing is, I can spend as much time as I want in the business…

Or I can let it operate at the same pace, spend a couple of hours a week, and let the incredible team I have run it as they always have.

Not sure if my philosophy around this space is sound or not but I got in the game.

That I can be proud of.

I’m almost 120 days in and it’s working.

Now what?

This journey for me is about learning the game of business, sharing my experience, and making some money.

As I get more and more in the weeds of Novel I know this will be the next legacy Ice Cream brand.

In 20 years from now, we will be known.

I’ve also learned the most valuable life skill through this experience - patience.

I’ve never had it.

But I’m applying it to everything I do now.

The goal is to continue to acquire more businesses, build a restaurant group, and continue building this small business community across the country.

You can do it too.

If I can support you or help in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out - sallard20@gmail.com.

Book

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

At 26, Will Guidara took charge of a struggling restaurant, Eleven Madison Park. Fast forward 11 years, and it became the world's best. How? Radical changes, teamwork between kitchen and dining, and unforgettable hospitality. Guidara's team surprised guests with a post-dinner sled ride in Central Park and turned a canceled vacation into a beach-themed dinner. His hospitality extended to his team, fostering a culture of intentional feedback and generosity. Guidara shares his restaurant journey with industry giants like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, urging everyone to find magic in their work for extraordinary experiences.

Life-changing read.

Grab it here

Podcast

I'm sure you're familiar with Dr. Jordan Peterson. His talks are very thought-provoking. I find myself rethinking some of my beliefs after listening to his stuff. I’ve become much more open-minded.

Check out his interview last week on Modern Wisdom.

Video

Love or hate him, Conner Mcgregor is a master at his craft.

His focus and commitment are unmatched.

In my last post, I said I committed to running a 10k every day for the next 30 days.

Well, I failed.

No excuses, I had to start over twice.

And I’m starting again for the 3rd time.

But when I need a bit of a push to get back on the horse, I pull this video up.

You’re welcome.

Health

I’m much more fluid with the way I train these days.

I tend to get very obsessed with one way of doing things, leading me to get bored or burnt out.

I’ve been obsessed with lifting weights for the past 2 years and over that time, all I did was lift.

No running, biking, swimming… nothing else.

After prepping for my first bodybuilding show in April, I kept the same training routine for a few months, and in the past month, I decided to break it up.

I incorporated running, biking, hiking, and some bodyweight stuff to give my mind and body some variety.

If you’re like me, you love to train.

If you don’t train, your day feels off.

Not having that variety made training feel like a job.

So, here’s my takeaway - a simple pivot could be the reason you keep going.

Community Supporter

Daniel Cheetham is the Founder and Principal of Captains Club. He’s been an incredible supporter of this community. He and his team help business owners find the highest quality successor when the time is right.

Schedule a call with him to learn more about his process here.

Curated