Unsung 001 - Buying a small business

Morning all,

Thank you for reaching out in the first place to join this. Contrary to popular belief i’m not the biggest fan of the limelight on social media so this is taking some getting used to. Please bare with me as I overcome some of the awkwardness - albeit i should just strap on my big kid pants and get on with it.

Having had many hundreds of coffees with people over the years on career change a pattern for me was how many weren’t enjoying their corporate careers or professions. When i put out job roles like managing large farms and rural estates I was always perplexed at how many CVs I received from people in high earning roles at top firms. Many (not all) seemed trapped and trying to work out their options. For them the numbers didn’t work out anymore to achieve their aspirations for themselves, or their families.

I stumbled across the gritty world of small businesses (manufacturers, builders, timber merchants 🙃) 4 years ago. It dawned on me who could actually afford all the 1.2Mn+ euro homes, which my city friends couldn’t afford or the 10,000 euro electric mountain bikes; small business owners.

An industry that most university graduates never consider. It’s not socially validated on the feeds of Linkedin vs ‘Director’ at PWC, JP Morgan, Bain or senior associate at Freshfields. Many don’t have friends or know anyone, who own’s one.

Yet small business owners, intelligent hard working people in their own right, work sensible hours, see the direct impact of their decisions, work with humble & loyal teams who are not solely career focused, have strong cultures and get the reward of building something…and no boss!

They own an asset and the business’s net profit becomes their income (via dividends). Some…have managers, MDs or CEOs in place and only visit their business once a month.

The surprise for many is that you can buy one with or without your own money (genuinely). You can buy one around your day job. You can own one, with a management team, around your day job. You don’t need sector experience; as amply proven by search funds showing double the returns of private equity by backing first time young CEOs.

Why is this increasingly pertinent now? There is a huge succession issue across Europe and the US for the boomer generation. An accelerating number of business owners are looking to find a new owner for their business. Some can’t find them and simply ‘close the gates’ as i heard about a profitable haulage company in Cornwall, the UK last month.

I’m hoping Unsung, with the support of Andreas and David at EUVC and their large platform, can show people the option of buying a small business & teach those that wish how to do this, providing a map (with honesty of the risks).

Part of the journey will also be that for many people this is far easier than they think - both buying and running a small business. That’s not to say it’s ‘easy’ though.

So i’m looking forwards to the journey with those of you that wish to take part or dip your toe in at first.

For me the enjoyment is building things with people i meet or shining a light in the dark for them. So a dinner or an event is a good place to start. After that i’m increasingly building out a ‘map’ for people to follow as the next question is always ‘‘how do i start?’’.

I’ll need to learn from you and the future subscribers what you value, and what you don’t so please keep me honest with your direct feedback. In the spirit of Unsung I’ll commit to no fluff and trying to make things practical/actionable and highlight the bad as well as the hype.

So let us begin.

Will

In case you missed them here are four real stories of people in my network, who have acquired a business including some of the practical steps both in

Episode 1: Peppa has scaled 2 multi billion dollar companies as sales leader, she says her playbook on how to get the most out of a sales team and who to hire for any small business: Here

Episode 2: Chris M&A Lawyer breaking down the steps of how to buy and sharing what he’s seeing with small businesses needing a succession plan/ new owners: Here

Episode 3: Why Electricians are a Trillion euro opportunity: Videesha co-founded Altitude VC, a European fund SOLELY focus on small business tech. She shares some examples and what they’re seeing as a small business opportunity: Here

We had our first cosy dinner with 36 guests of which 6 were speakers:

➡️ Co-Founder Orca (UK’s 1st and largest fund of search funds)
➡️ Investor Evolutiq (Germany’s equivalent)
➡️ Billy Morley, who acquired a storage business having left corporate life
➡️ James - Debt broker for small business buying
➡️ Chris - M&A lawyer for small business transactions

Of the 30 guests since:

💥 8 bought business data
✉️ 4 sent letters and emails to potential owners so far
🔎 1 is now visiting a site for a business with £400k+ net profit (asking price: £1.2M)
🤓 4 are speaking to Funds of Search Funds

Next Dinners with a similar format of speakers:

🌆 Tuesday 26th May: Small Business Buying dinner for Women & Mums - London

✅ RSVP via email

🌆 Tuesday 23rd June: Small Business Buying dinner - London

✅ RSVP via email

I take enjoyment from connecting good people to good roles in the community. Pro bono 🫠

So will use this newsletter to highlight some, mainly CEO/MD roles of small businesses.

Currently we have 7 candidates for a digital and logistics business in Belfast that has just won it’s first £0.6Mn contract with a large global customer and a letter of intent to roll out globally with them. The business is family owned and wishes to find someone to help execute on the strategy and lead the team. Tangible equity stake on offer.

More to follow in time.