Business Buying Strategies from The Dealmaker's Academy

Welcome to the last Business Buying Strategies episode of 2022. This week we've picked out twelve highlights from the year - one for each month.

So in January, I talked with Richard Bundock, one of my dealmaking clients. Richard had started a successful business, but wasn’t able to grow it organically as quickly as wanted to, so he turned to acquisitions instead.

In February, I met Sam Turner, who gave up a lucrative and successful corporate career to become a dealmaker in the heating and ventilation sector.

In March, I caught up with Nick Manuel, who graduated from my programme with the right attitude, determination and most importantly the right strategy to make successful acquisitions.

In April, we met Peter Lidgitt, who bought nine UK businesses in 2020, totalling £20m in revenue – all whilst being locked down for most of the year at his home in France.

In May, I talked with legendary jewellery entrepreneur Gerald Ratner who grew his global business almost entirely through acquisition.

In June, we met John Richardson, whose expertise is in acquiring coffee retail businesses, and establishing a chain a coffee shops.

In July, I spoke with Graeme Carling, who spent a decade building a substantial property portfolio, before buying a well known Scottish construction company out of administration.

In August, we met Aled Davies, who runs a printing and textile printing family business. Aled had been trying to grow this business organically - but having listened to this podcast, and joining me on the Fasttrack Program, has now made his first acquisition.

In September, I was joined by Phil Hunt, one of my private clients. Although Phil has a full-time job as an HR director of a city bank in London, this hasn’t stopped him from making his first two acquisitions.

In October, Jo Bell joined us to talk about her first five business acquisitions and the lessons that she has learnt along the way.

In November, I met James Gardner, for whom a chance meeting led to the acquisition of a funeral care business, and has now become a group through acquisition.

Finally, earlier in December, I caught up with Andy Doyle, who joined my very first business acquisition mastermind program nearly five years ago, back in 2018. Five years on and he has made several acquisitions, and has ambitious plans for the years ahead.

Resources

If you are looking for a lawyer in the UK to help you get the deal over the line, then use my guy, John Andrews. You can phone his office at (0345) 2412494 or email him at [email protected].

If you would like to take the next step to learn the best ways of buying a business, without risking your own cash, you can access my free training at: https://www.dealmakersvideo.co.uk

Watch my Webinar Training Video: https://www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

You can also request a free copy of my book at: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/free-book-giveaway/

If you want to jump straight to my live Zoom FastTrack course, please go to: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/fast

Connect with Jonathan Jay at: Website: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDealmakersAcademy

In this episode, Jo Bell joins us to talk about her business acquisition journey and the lessons that she has learnt. We talk about how being a doer impacts the business and how it can affect your next acquisition. Jo explains that looking at deals as pure numbers can be extremely helpful when you are not sure what a business is worth. She also discusses some of the ways sellers sometimes lie about deals or place too much emphasis on things that really don’t matter in terms of pricing your business correctly. Jo also shares some words of advice to potential business buyers.

[01:42] Jo’s interesting business acquisition

[02:38] Impacts of being a doer in the business

[09:04] Do you feel that people believe in you?

[10:20] Driving the business and getting onboard with the structure

[11:51] Buying the perfect business

[12:34] What was the next deal?

[15:09] Perfect way of earning money without spending yours

[20:51] Business sellers fabricating customer lists

[23:03] What business buyers should look for when buying a business

[24:12] Seeing deals in factual numbers

[27:27] Balancing positive personalities and realities of business buying

[31:40] Things that business sellers don’t tell you

[32:53] How do you keep yourself positive

[37:06] Advice to people thinking of buying a business

[40:25] Bell’s next plans

• I think learning for me is just to do a lot more due diligence actually because I think, where I'd always gone for the model of buying goodwill and assets, not companies, I didn't see the need to do as much goodwill.
• Over the years, I’ve become a lot more selective; you know, I’ve realized that there are a lot of practices out there for sale and many businesses for sale. And it's more about the ones who say no than the ones who say yes, whereas maybe previously, I just saw everything as an opportunity.
• You know, I'm a fixer. So I enjoy the challenge of fixing something, but you then have to question why, you know, when there's stuff there that doesn't need fixing, maybe just needs tweaking or just improving.
• No matter whether you're buying goodwill and assets or companies do that, due diligence and an accountant can help.
• So I think, first and foremost, its profitability. That's ultimately the reason why we're all doing this. So you want to ensure that if it's not profitable, now, you sure as hell know how you'll get it profitable.

Resources

If you are looking for a lawyer in the UK to help you get the deal over the line, then use my guy, John Andrews. You can phone his office at (0345) 2412494 or email him at [email protected].

If you would like to take the next step to learn the best ways of buying a business, without risking your own cash, you can access my free training at: https://www.dealmakersvideo.co.uk

Watch my Webinar Training Video: https://www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

You can also request a free copy of my book at: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/free-book-giveaway/

If you want to jump straight to my live Zoom FastTrack course, please go to: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/fast

Connect with Jonathan Jay at: Website: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDealmakersAcademy

Watch our YouTube Channel The Dealmaker's Academy https://bit.ly/3b86OFI

5 business acquisitions in 15 months

In this episode, Jonathan Jay talks with Andrew Norton, who has successfully bought five businesses in the last 15 months. Andrew shares his experiences and the strategies he used to make the five acquisitions, and talks about why he prefers large deals to small ones. He also explains the advantages of buying a business rather than starting one from scratch, as well as the challenges of financing a business that doesn't have fixed physical assets. And he offers valuable advice for anyone considering making their first acquisition.

Key Highlights

[03:37] A brief background of how Andrew met Jonathan

[08:07] How Andrew's training program aimed at benefiting employees ended up benefiting third parties

[10:37] Selling a business at a low point in its growth

[12:32] How the Covid-19 pandemic gave Andrew time to readjust

[13:14] What triggered Andrew to acquire a business rather than a startup

[14:29] Reasons one should buy a business instead of starting one

[15:45] Sequence of events that led to him joining the Fasttrack Program

[16:11] Feeling before joining the Fasttrack Program

[19:31] Andrew’s first acquisition

[22:39] Financing a business that does not have fixed physical assets

[28:35] Worries that new dealmakers have in their first acquisition

[30:42] Andrew’s plan for the coming years

[32:49] Advice to those who have not yet made their first acquisition

[34:56] Advantages of joining the Fasttrack Program

Notable Quotes

• I thought it was really fun. I like that. And I could see some benefits and really grow quickly. Obviously, I was hungry to achieve.
• It's so much better when you've got skilled people in their roles from the outset.
• So our first acquisition was our smallest and funnily enough, and it's not intentionally this way; every acquisition we've made has got bigger each time.
• We were probably too worried at the start that there were certain things that we really wanted to clarify early.
• I think it's all about action, isn't it? And the rest of the journey is about action as well. So yeah, the first bit of action. It gave me confidence.

Resources

If you are looking for a lawyer in the UK to help you get the deal over the line, then use my guy, John Andrews. You can phone his office at (0345) 2412494 or email him at [email protected].

If you would like to take the next step to learn the best ways of buying a business, without risking your own cash, you can access my free training at: https://www.dealmakersvideo.co.uk

Watch my Webinar Training Video: https://www.dealmakerspodcast.co.uk

You can also request a free copy of my book at: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/free-book-giveaway/

If you want to jump straight to my live Zoom FastTrack course, please go to: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/fast

Connect with Jonathan Jay at: Website: https://www.thedealmakersacademy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jay-3556b230/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDealmakersAcademy

In this week’s episode of the podcast, we feature highlights from peak performance coach Nigel Risner’s presentation at our last Dealmakers Retreat on how to get deals done and negotiate with vendors.

During the presentation, Nigel delivers a masterclass on why some people are more effective than others in a negotiation, how to connect with and understand the other party to get the best deal and why you need to go deeper to understand why you’re not getting the results you want.

This is packed with valuable insights and practical suggestions that will make a difference in your next negotiation.

Here is what you will discover...

👉 The No.1 reason why people go to work (and how understanding this helps you negotiate better)

👉 Why money is not the biggest motivator for vendors (and why focusing on money is a bad idea)

👉 Why your past behaviour is the biggest driver of your future behaviour (and how to change it)

👉 Why you need to be 100% present with a vendor to close deals successfully

👉 The #1 thing that gets in the way of connecting with a vendor (this kills more deals than you know)

Key timings:

01:34 Nigel Risner's Insights on Personal Needs in Business

03:16 Understanding the Importance of Personal Needs in Negotiations

04:52 The Power of Being Present and Engaged

08:30 Overcoming the Past to Create a New Future

11:04 The Impact of Beliefs and Communication on Success

13:48 Seizing Opportunities and Simplifying Deals

15:59 The Psychology of Online Shopping

16:47 Learning from Giants: Amazon and McDonald's

17:53 The Power of Face-to-Face Communication

18:29 Mastering Communication Styles

19:34 Understanding Your Business Zoo

20:01 Navigating the Business Zoo: Monkeys, Lions, Elephants, and Dolphins

25:22 Becoming an Effective Zookeeper in Business

28:49 The Importance of Trust and Self-Belief

** Looking for a great acquisition lawyer in the UK? Use mine! **

If you are looking for a lawyer in the UK to help you get the deal over the line, then use my own lawyer, John Andrews. You can phone his office at (0345) 2412494 or email him at [email protected].

Ready to get started?

Here’s how you can start your business buying journey...

Download our free Business Buying Toolkit

https://dealmakers.co.uk/business-buying-toolkit

Join our Business Acquisition FastTrack programme

https://www.dealmakers.co.uk/fast

Already bought a business?

if you've already bought a business, you should be part of my Inner Circle group where we discuss raising capital, integration management, and exiting. Email Maria on [email protected] for more information.