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I'm super excited to announce that yesterday I bought a local small business, after searching for a bit over a year for the right fit. The business services a niche within plumbing, and has a lot of great characteristics (steady demand, minimal seasonality, lower overhead, etc). More importantly, it is a business that is a great fit for my interests and the type of life I want. Read on for some background of my journey and lessons learned in case it helps anyone: Over the last year few years, I caught the "actively-create-your-own life bug" (a condition described by my friend @OneManLBO): once you start re-thinking your career path to better suit your lifestyle, you take some risk in pursuit of a greater goal and it starts to spread to other areas of your life. I love the momentum this mentality brings - and to re-think what your life can look like if you start with a blank slate (where you live, how your kids are educated and raised, etc). Even though searching for a business is a bit of a rollercoaster, I've really enjoyed being around my family a lot more the last year and re-thinking everything about how I can design my career around my family and the things I care about most. I grew up working in my family's business maintaining apartment buildings; the work was often dirty and unappealing on the surface but looking back, I learned some incredibly valuable skills across a number of trades (plumbing, electrical, roofing, painting, landscaping, construction, etc). I learned the value of hard work too - my dad always joked that 12 hours is only half a day's work, and working side by side with him we always stayed as long as it took to get the job done. I really want my kids to also learn the value of hard work, entrepreneurship, and to learn valuable skills like I did growing up. My most recent position leading teams at Boeing was a great learning experience but ultimately wasn't helping me achieve my goals of greater flexibility to be with my family and be more involved in teaching them valuable skills. Most importantly, I want to teach my kids to learn how to learn - and be curious and adaptable to whatever comes their way, especially in this new world where AI and other technologies are rapidly changing everything. When I wasn't working in our family business, I've been an entrepreneur on and off through high school, college, and later jumping in full time to start a motorcycle parts business which was quite a fun adventure. The parts business wasn't a home run financially, but taught me so much - and also exposed me to a lot of areas where I needed to learn & grow more. I went back to school and got an MBA & Master's in Industrial Engineering, which was a helpful career pivot and led me to an interesting management rotation program at Boeing. After leading teams across many functions at Boeing (manufacturing, quality, engineering, supply chain) for ~9 years I became a better leader and learned how to manage complex operations - but couldn't get rid of that itch to get back to entrepreneurship. Knowing that I needed to change course and find something that was a better fit for my life goals, I looked at a ton of options - ultimately deciding I needed to either buy a business, start one from scratch, or buy into a franchise to accelerate the startup process. I had heard about "search funds" from a few classmates at the University of Michigan that left to buy businesses right after their MBA program (getting paid to search for a year or two by investors), and the idea was intriguing but intimidating at the time (especially since they were often buying somewhat larger businesses with a large amount of debt, working with investors, etc). After seeing some great posts on X about buying businesses, especially the possibility of doing it with the help of an SBA loan and not needing investors, I decided it was worth exploring. On my commute to work I listened to the audio books Buy then Build, the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, and many episodes of the Acquiring Minds podcast. The concept felt mostly doable but I attended @SMBootcamp_ (a great 3-day training program that also offers a few different formats), and that was the final piece that gave me the confidence and knowledge to really dive in and quit my job to search for a business full time. I made some great friends there that have been part of my accountability group to encourage each other on through the process - definitely a game changer. Along with that, finding others also on this journey through Searchfunder and local meetups like the ones hosted by @guessworkinvest have really helped me learn the process and get questions answered along the way. Here are some of my top takeaways about the search process (I'll post more about these in the future): Deciding to search full time vs part time is a tough decision and depends on your personal circumstances, but for me it made sense to search full time since I had enough saved up to have a long runway without working - and my job was very demanding and not flexible to do anything search-related during the day (talking with brokers, sellers, etc). I'm glad I went all-in and burned the boats. Get term life insurance early on - it can take over a month to set up (mine took almost 2), and is required for SBA loans (matching the amount of the loan). You can take out a 10 year term life insurance policy for an amount above the size of a loan you think you may take out (assuming you are doing an SBA 7a loan with a 10 year term - deals with real estate can qualify for 25), and then later assign the policy to the lender for only the amount of the loan. Doing this early prevents scrambling to do it in the middle of due diligence, and helps you take your time to look around for the best rates (which can vary wildly, especially if you have adrenaline junky hobbies like me). Take out a HELOC on your house early on if you have much available equity, while you still have a W2 job and can easily qualify. This can help with liquidity towards your deal or at least be a great safety net (that's the way I'm using it). Some lenders won't take a lien on your home if there is <15-20% equity in your home available after the HELOC (ask them about it early on though, don't wait to find out when it is deep in underwriting). The number of buyers is increasing, and things are getting competitive which generally increases prices (sometimes to the point that deals don't pencil very well) - so be ready to pivot to starting a business or something else if you aren't getting traction after a while (I figured I'd re-assess around the 1 year mark if I wasn't making good progress). Luckily my deal was on the smaller side with a lower purchase price multiple - and I wasn't competing with as many others on it (but I knew I'd be jumping right in and actively building something small rather than overseeing a larger operation that is less owner-dependent). The industry you choose really matters - be open minded to many industries to keep up your lead flow, but score industries you see against attributes that are important to you and make a list of your top handful of industries to prioritize that have good tailwinds & stability. Also, make sure they are a good fit for you & your interests/experience! Find a solid support team, local is helpful if possible but get referrals, and look for a track record of responsiveness & experience in these types of deals: - Lender (look at more than just rate; their track record of closing on time and being good to work with are key) - Attorney - CPA - Insurance broker - Local peers - Small peer accountability group to check in with every week or two - Bootcamp/mastermind or other learning resources (podcasts etc) from those that have done it already Insurance takes a long time to get set up, start early on it! Best option is often re-using the existing insurance plans but even that can take many weeks to re-establish under a new entity in an asset sale. The due diligence process is more about project management than being a finance expert - you can get help from others on the technical stuff! There is surprisingly not a lot of detailed info out there about how to think through the due diligence/closing timeline, dependencies, etc. For an organized person that likes to have at least a semblance of a plan, it was a rollercoaster having to react to things when I found out new details of the loan process at the last minute (could have been avoided with better communication from the lender). I may post more in the future about some of the dependencies because it is so key to getting a deal done on time. The timing of the announcement to employees and day 1 activities is important; there isn't a single right way to do it, but get perspectives from a lot of people that have bought businesses to learn what worked for them and adapt that feedback to your situation. No matter what, the news will be a bit of a shock to employees. Choosing a lender that is local and can close the loan docs and fund the same day takes away the anxiety & ambiguity of not being able to fully transition accounts, etc right away. If you choose to take on investors, there are an increasing number of them focusing on small businesses now and it's a much more accessible option than it was a few years ago. Don't be scared of it if it makes sense for your deal to pencil out with enough liquidity! This community has been super helpful and open - I'm glad to be a part of it and I'm happy to help others trying to figure it out! Just reach out if I can help in any way.

I'm super excited to announce that yesterday I bought a local small business, after searching for a bit over a year for the right fit. The business services a niche within plumbing, and has a lot of great characteristics (steady demand, minimal seasonality, lower overhead, etc). More importantly, it is a business that is a great fit for my interests and the type of life I want. Read on for some background of my journey and lessons learned in case it helps anyone: Over the last year few years, I caught the "actively-create-your-own life bug" (a condition described by my friend @OneManLBO): once you start re-thinking your career path to better suit your lifestyle, you take some risk in pursuit of a greater goal and it starts to spread to other areas of your life. I love the momentum this mentality brings - and to re-think what your life can look like if you start with a blank slate (where you live, how your kids are educated and raised, etc). Even though searching for a business is a bit of a rollercoaster, I've really enjoyed being around my family a lot more the last year and re-thinking everything about how I can design my career around my family and the things I care about most. I grew up working in my family's business maintaining apartment buildings; the work was often dirty and unappealing on the surface but looking back, I learned some incredibly valuable skills across a number of trades (plumbing, electrical, roofing, painting, landscaping, construction, etc). I learned the value of hard work too - my dad always joked that 12 hours is only half a day's work, and working side by side with him we always stayed as long as it took to get the job done. I really want my kids to also learn the value of hard work, entrepreneurship, and to learn valuable skills like I did growing up. My most recent position leading teams at Boeing was a great learning experience but ultimately wasn't helping me achieve my goals of greater flexibility to be with my family and be more involved in teaching them valuable skills. Most importantly, I want to teach my kids to learn how to learn - and be curious and adaptable to whatever comes their way, especially in this new world where AI and other technologies are rapidly changing everything. When I wasn't working in our family business, I've been an entrepreneur on and off through high school, college, and later jumping in full time to start a motorcycle parts business which was quite a fun adventure. The parts business wasn't a home run financially, but taught me so much - and also exposed me to a lot of areas where I needed to learn & grow more. I went back to school and got an MBA & Master's in Industrial Engineering, which was a helpful career pivot and led me to an interesting management rotation program at Boeing. After leading teams across many functions at Boeing (manufacturing, quality, engineering, supply chain) for ~9 years I became a better leader and learned how to manage complex operations - but couldn't get rid of that itch to get back to entrepreneurship. Knowing that I needed to change course and find something that was a better fit for my life goals, I looked at a ton of options - ultimately deciding I needed to either buy a business, start one from scratch, or buy into a franchise to accelerate the startup process. I had heard about "search funds" from a few classmates at the University of Michigan that left to buy businesses right after their MBA program (getting paid to search for a year or two by investors), and the idea was intriguing but intimidating at the time (especially since they were often buying somewhat larger businesses with a large amount of debt, working with investors, etc). After seeing some great posts on X about buying businesses, especially the possibility of doing it with the help of an SBA loan and not needing investors, I decided it was worth exploring. On my commute to work I listened to the audio books Buy then Build, the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, and many episodes of the Acquiring Minds podcast. The concept felt mostly doable but I attended @SMBootcamp_ (a great 3-day training program that also offers a few different formats), and that was the final piece that gave me the confidence and knowledge to really dive in and quit my job to search for a business full time. I made some great friends there that have been part of my accountability group to encourage each other on through the process - definitely a game changer. Along with that, finding others also on this journey through Searchfunder and local meetups like the ones hosted by @guessworkinvest have really helped me learn the process and get questions answered along the way. Here are some of my top takeaways about the search process (I'll post more about these in the future): Deciding to search full time vs part time is a tough decision and depends on your personal circumstances, but for me it made sense to search full time since I had enough saved up to have a long runway without working - and my job was very demanding and not flexible to do anything search-related during the day (talking with brokers, sellers, etc). I'm glad I went all-in and burned the boats. Get term life insurance early on - it can take over a month to set up (mine took almost 2), and is required for SBA loans (matching the amount of the loan). You can take out a 10 year term life insurance policy for an amount above the size of a loan you think you may take out (assuming you are doing an SBA 7a loan with a 10 year term - deals with real estate can qualify for 25), and then later assign the policy to the lender for only the amount of the loan. Doing this early prevents scrambling to do it in the middle of due diligence, and helps you take your time to look around for the best rates (which can vary wildly, especially if you have adrenaline junky hobbies like me). Take out a HELOC on your house early on if you have much available equity, while you still have a W2 job and can easily qualify. This can help with liquidity towards your deal or at least be a great safety net (that's the way I'm using it). Some lenders won't take a lien on your home if there is <15-20% equity in your home available after the HELOC (ask them about it early on though, don't wait to find out when it is deep in underwriting). The number of buyers is increasing, and things are getting competitive which generally increases prices (sometimes to the point that deals don't pencil very well) - so be ready to pivot to starting a business or something else if you aren't getting traction after a while (I figured I'd re-assess around the 1 year mark if I wasn't making good progress). Luckily my deal was on the smaller side with a lower purchase price multiple - and I wasn't competing with as many others on it (but I knew I'd be jumping right in and actively building something small rather than overseeing a larger operation that is less owner-dependent). The industry you choose really matters - be open minded to many industries to keep up your lead flow, but score industries you see against attributes that are important to you and make a list of your top handful of industries to prioritize that have good tailwinds & stability. Also, make sure they are a good fit for you & your interests/experience! Find a solid support team, local is helpful if possible but get referrals, and look for a track record of responsiveness & experience in these types of deals: - Lender (look at more than just rate; their track record of closing on time and being good to work with are key) - Attorney - CPA - Insurance broker - Local peers - Small peer accountability group to check in with every week or two - Bootcamp/mastermind or other learning resources (podcasts etc) from those that have done it already Insurance takes a long time to get set up, start early on it! Best option is often re-using the existing insurance plans but even that can take many weeks to re-establish under a new entity in an asset sale. The due diligence process is more about project management than being a finance expert - you can get help from others on the technical stuff! There is surprisingly not a lot of detailed info out there about how to think through the due diligence/closing timeline, dependencies, etc. For an organized person that likes to have at least a semblance of a plan, it was a rollercoaster having to react to things when I found out new details of the loan process at the last minute (could have been avoided with better communication from the lender). I may post more in the future about some of the dependencies because it is so key to getting a deal done on time. The timing of the announcement to employees and day 1 activities is important; there isn't a single right way to do it, but get perspectives from a lot of people that have bought businesses to learn what worked for them and adapt that feedback to your situation. No matter what, the news will be a bit of a shock to employees. Choosing a lender that is local and can close the loan docs and fund the same day takes away the anxiety & ambiguity of not being able to fully transition accounts, etc right away. If you choose to take on investors, there are an increasing number of them focusing on small businesses now and it's a much more accessible option than it was a few years ago. Don't be scared of it if it makes sense for your deal to pencil out with enough liquidity! This community has been super helpful and open - I'm glad to be a part of it and I'm happy to help others trying to figure it out! Just reach out if I can help in any way.