New Deals - 21 Sept 2023

by SMB Deal Hunter

Today’s Sponsor

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

I’m excited to share 5 new deals worth checking out.

Today’s issue is sponsored by AE Studio, the AI team you didn’t know your company needed — until now.

Want to promote your business to my community of 10,000+ entrepreneurs and investors? Replyadvertise” and I’ll share my media kit.

1/ 4 Highly Profitable Crumbl Cookies Locations + 2 Territories

📍 Location: Tarrant County, TX
💰 Asking Price: $4,600,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,200,000
📊 Revenue: $4,600,000
📅 Established: 2021

💭 My 2 Cents: I just got off a call last week with a franchisor who told me that Crumbl Cookies is the franchise he looks up to the most because of their social media-first approach. With over 7 million Tiktok followers, the 9th most downloaded app in the Apple Store, and the fourth fastest-growing restaurant chain in the country last year, I’d agree. The franchisor has sold out locations nationally and the only way into Crumbl is to buy an existing location for sale. I like that this multi-unit opportunity comes with a Director of Operations, Area Manager, General Managers, Shift Leads, and experienced Bakers. In addition, this deal comes with 2 undeveloped territory rights for future growth.

Click Here To View The Listing »

2/ Amazon FBA American Made Pet Food Brand

📍 Location: Tampa, FL
💰 Asking Price: $6,000,000
💼 Cash Flow: $1,195,177
📊 Revenue: $4,678,746
📅 Established: 2016

💭 My 2 Cents: What attracted me to this pet food brand is not that it has 24,000+ reviews, but that over $1.5 million of its revenue is from subscriptions, with an impressive 30% YoY subscription growth. I’d want to request two key reports from the seller to verify subscription growth and also understand what churn and LTV look like: the Subscribe & Save Forecasting Report and the Subscribe & Save Performance Report. Given the Amazon FBA volume, there’s probably decent paid search volume for the brand, which could mean an opportunity to start and grow the DTC subscription side of the business.

Click Here To View The Listing »

3/ NY Car Wash & Lube Business with Absentee Owners

📍 Location: New York
💰 Asking Price: $4,000,000
💼 Cash Flow: $650,000
📊 Revenue: $3,000,000
📅 Established: N/A

💭 My 2 Cents: When buying a car wash business, it’s all about location. This is a car wash & lube business that has been around for many years on a heavily trafficked road in a high-density population area. What I like is that the owners are absentee and the business is run by managers. However, I usually like to take “absentee” with a grain of salt and understand what role the owners truly play. In this case, I’d also want to make sure the managers have been around for a while and are keen on staying. I’d also want to dig into data on the area and understand population growth trends and volume and type of traffic near the location.

Click Here To View The Listing »

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4/ 10-Location Bubble Tea Franchise

📍 Location: Minneapolis, MN
💰 Asking Price: $1,251,900
💼 Cash Flow: $1,905,780
📊 Revenue: $5,617,930
📅 Established: 2005

💭 My 2 Cents: If you told me when I was a kid growing up in Asia that bubble tea would be an international phenomenon, I probably would’ve laughed. Turns out, the joke’s on me because boba is expected to be a $3.78 billion industry by 2030. If you want to take advantage of the explosive growth of this “Gen Z symbol,” consider this 10-unit franchise division for sale. The margins are incredible, and the asking price almost seems like a fluke. Given that bubble tea was a thing 30 years ago in Asia when I was born (and still is), I’d bet it's probably here to stay.

Click Here To View The Listing »

5/ School Bus Transportation Company

📍 Location: Essex County, NJ
💰 Asking Price: $1,750,000
💼 Cash Flow: $530,000
📊 Revenue: $1,320,000
📅 Established: 1998

💭 My 2 Cents: I was today years old when I learned that school bus routes are a business (and a profitable one, at that!). Most of these services operate under contract with a school district (many school districts issue tenders for school bus services that private companies can bid for). And it turns out that school bus transportation is a highly fragmented market. This business services special needs children and comes with drivers and essential staff. What I like is it’s a recession-resistant and essential business. I guess it’s time to roll up school bus routes!

Click Here To View The Listing »

🐦 The Best of SMB Twitter (X)

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Tip if you’re buying a business that requires licensing (HVAC, plumbing, etc.) using SBA financing (link)

If you operate a service business, hire a CPA / fractional CFO who understands the following (link)

8 things Thomas Ince from LP First Capital spoke about on stage at the HoldCo Conference (link)

PSA re: potential government shutdown if you have an SBA loan in process (link)

What do investor Bill Ackman and Pablo Picasso have in common? (link)

Not sure which type of business to get into? Read this thread to work through it (link)

Thoughts on hiring an operator after buying an SMB (link)

If you’re buying a business via asset sale, the purchase price allocation will have major tax impacts (link)

🧠 Join the SMB Deal Hunter Mastermind

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Spots are limited and will be released on a first-come, first-served basis to qualified applicants.

See you next Tuesday!

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways for us to work together:

1. Invest with me in cash-flowing SMB deals. I’m bringing on a select few investors from this community into businesses I’m buying and operating. Reply LP” and I’ll share more.

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3. Interested in selling your business? Get an offer from me.

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📚 What I’m Reading

Everyone always asks how I stay up-to-date, so here are a few of my favorite newsletters. Click on the below links to sign up in one click (all free):

  • Sieva Kozinsky's Newsletter — The founder of Enduring Ventures shares weekly insights from his experience buying 17+ cash-flowing businesses.

  • The Sweaty Startup — “Boring business” entrepreneur Nick Huber who sold his 7-figure service business and now runs a self-storage portfolio shares actionable insights with entrepreneurs and investors.

  • Houck's Newsletter — Tactical advice every week from an a16z-backed founder on how to build, grow, and raise capital for your startup.

  • SMB Scoop — Learn to find, buy, operate, and invest in profitable & cash flowing companies

  • The PyQuant Newsletter — Real Python code for algo trading & market data analysis by traders and quants from Goldman Sachs & JPMorgan.

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