Advertise on podcast: The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Michael breaks down how he went from losing his job to buying a marketing agency he'd never worked in, closing an off-market deal, and using AI to make the business more profitable. ◼️ Marketing agencies weren't even on his list, so what did he see in the books that convinced him to buy one anyway? ◼️ One seller was sure he'd never have the money. Hear the deadline he gave them that finally got the deal done. ◼️ He bought a $1.6M business with about $70K of his own cash down (much harder under today's SBA rules), and the sellers agreed to wait 2 years to get paid. He explains how the deal came together. ◼️ His team said one website job would take 2 more weeks. The accountant finished it in 2 days with AI. ◼️ Revenue is down, but profit is up 35% to 40% this year. He walks through what changed inside the agency. Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Chris breaks down why a tech CEO in his late 50s bought 2 territories of a hydraulic hose repair franchise, how he walked away from a $9M-a-year company at the 11th hour, and what it takes to launch a franchise from scratch. ◼️ The 4 banks that backed out of that deal, and why he walked even after the price dropped by $2M ◼️ Why he turned down 3 territories of a different franchise within 48 hours of visiting them ◼️ How he checked a franchise's real numbers when it wasn't allowed to show him its financials ◼️ What his $120K bought, and how it got him over the bar for an SBA loan ◼️ His 10-year plan to grow from 2 territories to ideally 3 or 4, then renew or sell Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Reagan breaks down how he bought a $1.5M plumbing company in 5 months without being a plumber, what his first year as an owner really looked like, and how he's growing it toward $2.15M a year. ◼️ The one question that convinced him to buy a $1.5M business instead of building one from zero ◼️ How he owns a plumbing company without a plumber's license, and his backup plan for when the arrangement ends ◼️ How a $379 drain cleaning call can turn into a $35K job ◼️ The $40K he spent on marketing that didn't work, and the lesson he took from it ◼️ The 2 costs he'd subtract from a seller's numbers before making any offer Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Mary breaks down how she and her husband Matt bought a Denver roofing, windows and siding company for just over $3M, why she kept her corporate job while Matt runs it full time, and what the first four months of ownership really looked like. ◼️ The company had run on referrals alone for over 10 years, doing $2M to $3M a year with no marketing at all ◼️ How they covered a purchase price just over $3M, and how much of it came out of their own pockets ◼️ What the broker told them about the other offers on the table, and why Mary wasn't convinced ◼️ How a company this size runs with one full-time employee and every trade subcontracted out ◼️ What the first four months of ownership actually looked like, including the one thing they still haven't been able to do Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (265,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Derrick breaks down why a laid-off finance guy bought a Seattle landscaping business, how he picked the industry by betting on what AI can't easily replace, and what the brutal first six months of ownership actually taught him. ◼️ The part of the business he never saw coming until he took over, and found himself doing four people's jobs at once ◼️ Why he closed the deal without the seller financing he'd always been taught to require, and what made him trust it anyway ◼️ How he lost this deal to another buyer, then won it back a month later ◼️ The AI tools and field software he used to run the business leaner than its previous owner ever did ◼️ Why the first six months had him asking why anyone does this, and the hire that finally turned it around Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Deborah breaks down why AI pushed her to start looking for a business of her own, how she and her husband closed on an $887K bath and kitchen remodeling company after 15 lenders turned her down, and what the first three months of actually owning it looked like. ◼️ The 18% drop in revenue that made 15 lenders in a row say no, and what she found when she pushed the seller for the real reason ◼️ Why she had ruled out franchises completely, and the one that changed her mind ◼️ How she put the down payment together, and the move that kept a lien off her house ◼️ Why the day she took over was one of the worst days for the people already working there ◼️ The two hours she spent building an AI setup that cut her proposal time in half Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (260,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Ronnie breaks down why he walked away from the company he'd run for 18 years to buy one that was finally his own, how he bought a $3.5M flooring company in Charleston without putting his wife or their paid-off home on the loan, and what it took to keep it running when the man who ran everything quit a month after closing. ◼️ The man who ran the entire company quit one month after closing, and why they now call it the best thing that could have happened ◼️ Why they spend nothing on marketing and still can't get the phone to stop ringing ◼️ How they closed their SBA loan one day before the government shutdown froze new SBA lending across the country ◼️ The imported tile that forced them to rip out a finished backsplash at their own cost, and the rule they made so it never happens again ◼️ What a longtime flooring rep told Ronnie he was doing that people with 20 years in the trade weren't Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Amy breaks down how she bought an 18-person Los Angeles law firm clearing about $670K/yr with roughly 11% down, why she spent a year chasing HVAC and auto repair before she ever searched for a law firm, and what her first month as the new owner actually looked like. ◼️ The listing she passed on a year earlier, and the reason it came back ◼️ The question a friend asked her that had her searching law firms the next day ◼️ The 4 or 5 accepted offers that fell apart before this one, and what kept killing them inside 2 weeks ◼️ The bank with the better rates that almost cost her the deal, and who she closed with instead ◼️ What the firm's most senior person told her over dinner, days before she closed Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Clem breaks down how he bought a $1M marketing agency with only 5% down, why the first year nearly broke it, and how he rebuilt it to run on just a few hours a week. ◼️ How he got the seller to finance a big chunk of the deal so he barely had to put any money in ◼️ The 30% revenue drop that hit within months of closing, and the month he sat frozen before acting on it ◼️ Why his fix for a shrinking business was to make it even smaller on purpose ◼️ How he pulled off the entire turnaround without ever quitting his day job ◼️ The second business he quietly built with the agency's own cash, and why he calls buying the agency his biggest mistake Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Aaron breaks down how he left the real estate grind to buy an online business he can run from anywhere, the financing curveball that nearly killed the deal a week before closing, and what the first three months of actually owning it have really been like. ◼️ The niche so specific he says there's no other company like it anywhere, and why that is exactly what made him want to buy it ◼️ Why he walked away from years of flipping houses and holding rentals to go all in on a business he could run from a laptop ◼️ The $800K deal that almost fell apart when his bank pulled out a week before closing, and how he and his wife saved it in days ◼️ Why he is now working 60 to 70 hours a week on a business the previous owner ran in just 10 ◼️ The honest truth about his first three months as an owner, including the slump most people never warn you about Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-066745

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ In this episode, Reid breaks down how he bought an $895k manufacturing business on Kauai, Hawaii without quitting the offshore job he'd worked for 15 years, and how he runs it from his home in Las Vegas. ◼️ Why he almost skipped the listing, and the conversation at home that changed his mind◼️ Why the seller picked him over two other buyers who offered similar money◼️ The state filing quoted at 15 days that took 10 weeks and put the whole deal on hold◼️ The deal before this one, and what killed it after he'd already flown out to meet the seller◼️ Why the roofing side of the business never worried him, and what did Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt In this episode, Kyle breaks down why he left a stable corporate career to buy his own company, how he funded the deal without an SBA loan or a bank, and what it took to close a deal that fell apart three times before it finally happened. ◼️ How he found the company at a basketball game, from an owner who wasn't even looking to sell◼️ How he bought a business far bigger than he could afford, without an SBA loan or a bank, after pitching around 60 investors◼️ The $40,000 he paid out of his own pocket that exposed a problem big enough to change the entire price◼️ The night the deal collapsed at the signing table, and why he refused to walk away after it fell apart three times◼️ How the competitor he set out to beat ended up funding the deal and merging into his company Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt In this episode, I break down how Jay went from 25 years on Wall Street to owning a plant leasing business that's been running for nearly 40 years and pays him $650K a year. ◼️ Why the biggest plants in a hotel lobby are rented and never sold, and how the same plant earns money at three different clients◼️ The 10% he put down on a $2M business, and where the other 90% came from◼️ Why a $500K business can be riskier to own than a $2M one◼️ How he beat six other buyers without offering the most money◼️ The profit hiding in the seller's books that the broker's numbers never showed Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt In this episode, Scott breaks down why he deliberately hunted businesses smaller than most searchers will touch, how he ran his entire search without leaving his job, and what it took to lift a decades-old repair company from single-digit margins to sixteen percent in his first year. ◼️ The afternoon at his old job that made him accelerate a plan he had been sitting on for seven years◼️ How he ran a year-long search on nights and weekends, keeping his day job the whole time, with two kids under six at home◼️ Why every other buyer promised the sellers bigger numbers than he did, and how he won the deal anyway◼️ The employee situation two weeks after closing that ended with him needing a police escort to recover a company truck◼️ The two mistakes he says cost him most in year one, including the one he is still paying for every month Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt In this episode, Christian breaks down how he bought a $1.2M-a-year business with only 5% down, what he found inside it that nobody disclosed, and how his first year as the owner actually went. ◼️ How he got a $3.45M deal done with only 5% of the price in cash◼️ The six-figure Airbnb business he lost overnight, and why it pointed him straight at this deal◼️ The two things nobody told him about the company until after he already owned it◼️ The one question he'd ask every seller now, and why he never asked it◼️ The three-week vacation he took in his first year, and what his team did while he was gone Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/