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How He Bought a $1.2M/yr Business With ONLY 5% Down (Runs It Remotely) — Transcript

by SMB Deal Hunter by Helen Guo · 10,690 words · 1,520 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00I had started a business on Airbnb and
0:02had built that up to like a six-figure
0:04side hustle. One day out of nowhere
0:07about eight years ago. Um I was
0:09suspended off the platform. No
0:12explanation why. No [music] ability to
0:14appeal. Like really nobody I could talk
0:17to.
0:18>> How could you tell that the [music] team
0:19was bloated?
0:20>> When I would tell them what our revenue
0:21was compared to our headcount, I would
0:23just get kind of laughed at. even sort
0:26of like positive unexpected surprises of
0:28running this business.
0:30>> One of them was like take a vacation for
0:32[music] three weeks in your first year
0:33of operating the business. It sounds so
0:35specific, but I did it.
0:40Hey everyone, it's Helen from SMB Deal
0:43Hunter. Uh today we have Christian with
0:45us. Uh Christian acquired a business a
0:48little over a year ago through the SMB
0:49Dealer Pro program and I'm really
0:52looking forward to catching up with him
0:53today and hearing how things have been
0:55going. Um so Christian, last time we
0:58caught up was a few months into you
1:00taking over the business. So today I
1:02want to spend the majority of our time
1:04just hearing about how things have gone,
1:06you know, since uh the acquisition, you
1:09know, how things have been going the
1:10past year. And uh for those who are not
1:13familiar with your story and maybe
1:14didn't watch um our last conversation
1:17together, Christian, I'd love to for you
1:19to just quickly maybe dive into your
1:21background and uh your search journey a
1:24little as well.
1:26Um I guess first off, Christian, thanks
1:29obviously thanks for joining me today.
1:31Uh excited. Um do you want to start off
1:34with just maybe your background and what
1:36you were doing before, you know, getting
1:37into business ownership and
1:39acquisitions? Sure.
1:41Um, thanks for having me, Helen. Uh, so
1:44my background is, uh, primarily
1:46marketing and advertising. Uh, you I've
1:49had roles on both the client side and
1:51the agency side over my career.
1:54uh you know and I spent you know good 20
1:57years on on the operating side you know
2:00growing mostly other people's businesses
2:02whether it be an agency or our clients
2:06uh or a company uh of which I was not an
2:09owner. So, I I'd say at some point few
2:12years ago, like the itch to do something
2:14that was mine, uh it it just got real
2:18and I I wanted to own something. Um not
2:21just like run somebody else's plan. Uh
2:24and and the the turning point for me,
2:27which is interesting, was actually quite
2:29personal. um as part of my uh
2:34just being a agency executive and you
2:38know having a a pretty remote um working
2:42life. Uh I had started a business on
2:44Airbnb
2:46um and had built that up to like a six-f
2:48figureure side hustle and one day out of
2:51nowhere about probably about eight years
2:54ago um I was suspended off the platform.
2:58uh no explanation why uh no uh ability
3:04to appeal like really nobody I could
3:06talk to. Um and I just remember feeling
3:09like totally locked out with nobody on
3:12the other end to talk to. Um it was just
3:15like hitting a wall. Uh and it was like
3:17personally like extremely upsetting. Um
3:20I've since recovered and I think I have
3:23pieced together what Airbnb's issue with
3:25me was.
3:27But uh so when I came across Riverbend
3:31Consulting, which is the business that I
3:32acquired, it just kind of clicked
3:34instantly like this business exists to
3:37be that human when um when an Amazon
3:42seller or Walmart seller hits a wall. Um
3:45and so I just like understood the
3:46customer's panic um before because I'd
3:49felt it myself. Um, so I think that my
3:53journey uh for in terms of finding
3:56Riverbend was actually quite short
3:57because I came across um the business
4:00pretty early on in in the um
4:05after joining SMB Deal Hunters. Uh but
4:08when I did, I I really kind of locked in
4:10and just knew this was the one.
4:12>> Got it. And I guess even prior to
4:14joining, you know, were you already sort
4:16of were you still working a job
4:17full-time? Were you
4:19>> No, I had uh uh when I my last job was
4:24um actually with a company, an agent,
4:26small agency that was acquired by a
4:28fairly larger agency. Um, and as part of
4:31my uh compensations and you know make
4:35sure that the my teams integrated well,
4:37I was on a three-year earnout and uh I
4:41stayed until about three years in one
4:44day
4:47>> out and I think that was also part of
4:49what gave me the itch was just like the
4:52culture clash was intense and it was a
4:55very difficult period of of my career to
4:59have to manage managed through that, but
5:00I saw, you know, opportunity on the
5:03other side, which is, you know, what I
5:05what I waited for.
5:07>> I'm curious, um, you know, given your
5:10agency background, did you know that you
5:12always wanted to run sort of an agency
5:16related business? Um, did you look at
5:18other deals in completely different
5:20industries? Tell us a little bit about
5:22that. Yeah, like most searchers uh
5:25especially ones who have uh recently
5:29left a corporate job uh I was really
5:33wanting to do something different. Uh, I
5:36explored all the home services spaces
5:39and um was was was finding myself very
5:43much drawn toward um you know bluecollar
5:47uh in person uh you know things where I
5:51could actually just like be helpful and
5:54be and and have a role uh in a real
5:57person's life but not like over a
5:59computer in real person um in real life.
6:02So I explored that for a little bit.
6:05Every time I went a little like
6:08a few steps in, I it would things would
6:12keep coming back to me like, "Do you
6:13really want to be up at 6 a.m. every
6:14morning? Do you really want to drive a
6:16van that has like your logo on it?" Um,
6:18you know, things that just felt just
6:20didn't feel like me. Uh, so ultimately,
6:24uh, when I came across Riverbend, I had
6:27sort of pivoted towards let's stick with
6:29what I know and what I know is client
6:32services. I know agency businesses. Um I
6:36didn't know Amazon and the e-commerce
6:38space as well as I do now. Uh
6:41but I knew that I knew that Amazon's
6:43like not going away. Um you know, it's a
6:46it's a platform that's uh just keeps
6:48growing. So I think all of that combined
6:51to just sort of feel like this was um
6:54this was like the right fit for me.
6:56>> Other than you know fit and obviously um
7:00Amazon you not going away. Tell us a
7:02little bit more about what originally
7:04maybe attracted you to the business you
7:06ultimately closed on.
7:08>> Um the financials looked
7:13good.
7:14Uh obviously in a services business um
7:18you know there's risk uh uh about 60% of
7:23the um revenue comes through projects
7:2640% is recurring.
7:29uh you know in terms of concentration
7:31while there wasn't customer
7:32concentration there's definitely
7:34platform concentration
7:36uh you know am we're at the whim of
7:38Amazon's policies uh so they make one
7:41change and it can you know throw our
7:43business upside down for good or for bad
7:46uh so I think that the um
7:50you know I saw I saw that the the brand
7:53itself had you know a really good
7:56reputation uh we're in a niche space,
7:59but uh I
8:01can confidently say we're the leader in
8:03that niche. Uh so I um I just saw a lot
8:07of ingredients that looked like
8:09something I could work with. Uh and you
8:13know, managers in place, jobs, you know,
8:17I wouldn't have to come in and like have
8:19to be doing anyone's job, per se. Um,
8:22and so it just it felt kind of stable
8:25and uh and and and I'd say right size.
8:29Uh, I don't I'll leave the exact
8:32financials to the sellers, but um it
8:34was, you know, low seven figures in
8:36terms of um purchase price with about a
8:4025% IBIDA.
8:43>> And you can you talk a little bit maybe
8:46about how you structured the deal? Um,
8:49you know, did you was there a seller
8:51note involved? Like tell us a little bit
8:53about, you know, maybe how much you
8:54ended up putting down and
8:57maybe along with that how you ended up
8:59financing that that deal.
9:01>> Yep. Um, so the the interesting thing is
9:04I closed in May 2025.
9:08Uh, SBA revised its guidelines in June.
9:12Uh, I think that my deal would never
9:15have gotten through if it had waited one
9:18more month. And that was part of the a
9:20delay in closing was that our my lender
9:23was trying to understand like what was
9:25happening with the SBA guidance and how
9:28that impacted my loan. So we did have a
9:30somewhat extended um close period of
9:32about five months. Um but it was a it's
9:36it was a mix of cash down. I was able to
9:37put 5% down. Um uh seller note uh half
9:43forgivable, half not forgivable. Uh, and
9:47then SBI for the rest.
9:49>> Got it. And did you just kind of
9:51leverage your savings for the the down
9:53payment?
9:54>> I had I had saved up uh some some money
9:57to for for just this reason.
9:59>> Yeah.
9:59>> Uh so I actually was able to close with
10:03uh with less than what, you know, I had
10:05more saved than I needed, but I I I feel
10:07lucky. I was able to find a lender that
10:09would uh agree to the 5% down along with
10:12other terms.
10:14>> That's great. Um, final question before
10:17just diving into the fun part.
10:20Looking back now, you know, is there
10:22anything you wish you asked in
10:24diligence? Um, I guess especially for
10:26those listening who are maybe thinking
10:28about buying an agency business or, you
10:30know, servicesoriented business that's
10:32more white collar. Um, that maybe you
10:35wish you asked um, knowing what you know
10:38now.
10:40>> Um, I can't say that I there was
10:43anything I
10:45feel I neglected to ask. I think that
10:47there were parts of the
10:51operations, the culture, the dynamic
10:56between the So, it was two sellers that
10:58were two two owners that were selling
11:00and and they were not like a they had no
11:03relationship other than being business
11:04partners. Um, and for being such a
11:08people focused business,
11:11uh, I, you know, I of course requested
11:15org charts and had questions about this
11:17and questions about that. And you know
11:19there were um there were some business
11:22issues that we had to work through
11:24during um kind of between LOI and
11:28closing particularly re related to a
11:31revenue line that was declining out you
11:33know due to an Amazon change and and
11:37that ended up having a big impact on the
11:39profitability of the business. And I I I
11:41I just think I I could have gone much
11:43deeper in terms of uh
11:47probing on like what people do uh you
11:50know what every you know so job
11:52descriptions didn't make sense to me
11:54like people's experience in different
11:55roles didn't make total sense to me but
11:56I just sort of trusted that I'd get it
11:59all figured out when I when I on the
12:01other side. Uh and that was hard. That
12:03was probably the hardest thing I've had
12:04to do is is right sizing the business
12:07for uh where we are.
12:10What about just generally speaking from
12:12a diligence perspective? Even the things
12:14that you did dig into, you know, what
12:16would you encourage someone to to really
12:18make sure they understand when you know
12:20buying a business like yours?
12:24>> Uh utilization. So, uh I coming from a
12:30agency background, I'm used to time
12:32sheets. that needs to like you know
12:33every hour is needs to be accounted for
12:36whether it's to a client project or um
12:39internal initiative. Uh and this
12:43business had different ways of measuring
12:45utilization which were more about um
12:49you know uh time cards and uh people's
12:54typing on computers or what websites
12:56they go to like kind of more like um
12:59surveillance type uh tracking which uh
13:03is you know I think it's common place
13:04especially with o overseas operations we
13:06happen to have a few overseas people um
13:09but I but I was very much wanting to
13:11make this, you know, it was pretty much
13:13a virtual business. I want to make it
13:14all virtual so that everybody, you know,
13:17could work from home and not be
13:18dependent on on offices. Uh, and we just
13:22didn't have the infrastructure in place
13:24to do that. So, I would say if you're
13:26buying a services business, like really
13:28understand like down to I'd say 90%
13:32accuracy what every single person does.
13:35>> Hey, quick break from the episode. If
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13:56figureure business with as little as 50
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14:13description below. All right, back to
14:15the episode. It's great advice. I love
14:18that. Um well, let's let's let's dive
14:20into the fun part. You know, I want to
14:22hear about how things have been going
14:23the past year. Let's first start with
14:26the transition. um tell us how that went
14:30and you know give us a sense of maybe
14:34what you were working on like what your
14:35day-to-day looked like uh during the
14:37transition period and maybe what you
14:39uncovered good and bad about the
14:41business.
14:43Um,
14:44so the first it was it was interesting
14:48the uh so there was two sellers. One
14:50seller was going to stay in the
14:52business. Another one was going to exit
14:53the business uh but still be available
14:56for me to uh to consult with him uh when
14:59needed. Uh he had a a planned vacation
15:03that he'd been planning for like months
15:06that just happened to start like the day
15:08after we closed or two days after we
15:11closed. So he was gone for like 3 weeks.
15:13Um and the other stellar who was now in
15:17the business um
15:20I I think uh wanted to give me space,
15:23wanted to, you know, have it have me
15:25kind of figure out my my role and build
15:28relationships and and all that, but I I
15:30didn't really get any kind of like
15:31training or, you know, this is how this
15:33works or this is what this team does. Um
15:35other than dribbs and drabs. So, um,
15:38honestly, the thing that I picked up on
15:41quickly was that the company was
15:43extremely bloated. Um, it was just over
15:46staffed. A lot of hiring over the years
15:48had been um, based kind of more on
15:50relationships with the owners more than
15:52like on skill or fit for the role. Um,
15:56and there was also a divide between the
15:58two sellers which um, which trickles
16:01down into the business. And that was
16:04kind of extremely hard to navigate. Uh,
16:08because that divide was definitely not
16:11something that was disclosed to me. Like
16:13I don't think there would be a reason to
16:14disclose it to me. Uh but but the
16:17reality was is that um you know there
16:20were lots of people who just like did
16:22not talk to each other because they were
16:23told they were not allowed to talk to
16:24each other. Um so the first 90 days was
16:27really like less about like my big
16:31strategy. Of course I had lots of ideas
16:33>> but more about just like seeing clearly
16:36um who's actually doing the work,
16:38where's the value being created for our
16:39clients? uh where are we carrying uh
16:42weight that isn't serving clients? Uh so
16:46it's a little it was a little
16:47uncomfortable because these are real
16:48people but um I felt I owed it to the
16:51team and to our clients and to just the
16:53survival of the business to to to to
16:56really just kind of observe and um help
17:00just rightize the team for what what we
17:04were um taking in on in revenue. And at
17:08this point, you know, the business,
17:09obviously, you're working remotely.
17:12You're in New York right now. Um, give
17:14us a sense. You know, we haven't really
17:15dived into the business. So, maybe let's
17:17let's start there, but was the business
17:19running remotely um at this point,
17:22partially remotely, like how are you
17:24actually getting to, you know, know all
17:27the employees and how'd that work?
17:30Um, so we have we had a small office in
17:35New Jersey uh which was primarily uh to
17:38staff like the sales team um and a
17:42couple other like sales operations
17:44groups and and that's where the one of
17:46the sellers lived. Uh so he he kind of
17:49just like built the office for himself
17:51and for for that team. Uh the remainder
17:55of the company was all virtual uh with
17:59employees throughout the United States
18:03uh team members in Costa Rica uh and a
18:08uh outsourced um kind of like a staffing
18:11partner team in uh and office in
18:14Philippines. Uh so a little bit all over
18:17the place. the um it's very difficult to
18:20get to know all the Philippines people
18:22because there was about 65 of them
18:25>> uh and with varying degrees of like
18:28English knowledge and also just varying
18:30degrees of uh just I don't think like
18:34some of them quite frankly I don't even
18:36think they knew what their job was. Uh
18:38they just would just take direction day
18:40by day. Uh, so getting to know everybody
18:43uh took time, but I did uh at least for
18:47us and Costa Rica just go through one by
18:49one and set up one-on- ones and uh get
18:51to know people.
18:54>> How could you like I guess to be more
18:56specific, how could you tell that the
18:57team was bloated in? You know, I think
18:59it's hard for a new owner to actually
19:01know when you obviously don't know the
19:03team and don't know the business super
19:05well.
19:06I mean, part of it was honestly every
19:10time I told like I've been at a a
19:12different business group that's a
19:14business roundt operated by SCORE. Um
19:18and uh and so I had made some good
19:20friends there and we we met every two
19:22weeks and so they were sort of alongside
19:24me for this journey and when I would
19:28tell them what our revenue was compared
19:30to our headcount, I would just get kind
19:33of laughed at,
19:35you know, and like I I tried to make it
19:37up. I say, "Well, it's Philippines, you
19:38know, cost of living's lower." Um, but
19:42in reality it was I I mean honestly kind
19:46of a little embarrassing like that we
19:48had that many people on staff.
19:50>> What was the total headcount
19:52>> in in Philippines was like 65
19:55>> and what about combined?
19:56>> Uh combined about uh
20:00uh probably 85 90.
20:04>> Wow. Um, so it was definitely and the we
20:08still have a our Philippines off team
20:11and they were extremely valuable and we
20:13love them. Uh, it just didn't need to be
20:16as large as it was.
20:18>> Yeah, makes sense. You know, obviously
20:20you didn't come from the Amazon space
20:22and I'm sure a lot of people who, you
20:24know, aren't familiar with maybe Amazon
20:26FBA um, don't quite understand maybe
20:31your business model. Tell us a little
20:32bit about that before we dive in
20:34further. You know, tell us what the
20:35business does,
20:36>> how you guys make money.
20:38>> Um, and you know, you mentioned there's
20:40this recurring element and project
20:42based. So, give us a sense of like what
20:43those entail.
20:45>> Yeah, so the business actually started
20:47uh between these two sellers, uh, these
20:50two operators. Uh, one was an Amazon
20:53seller and one was they were both Amazon
20:56sellers. uh one had a bit more expertise
20:59in the uh just kind of like the account
21:02health and compliance aspect of of
21:05Amazon. And so they somehow came
21:08together and you know nearly 10 years
21:11ago because one of the one of the uh
21:15sellers his uh his account got suspended
21:17and he needed help and he was told like
21:20call this person they can help you. uh
21:23and they did. And so I think he he came
21:27into it I think they both just sort of
21:28were like this could be a business
21:29because this seems to be happening a lot
21:31uh where you know for whatever reason
21:33Amazon just you know deems you in
21:36violation of their terms of service and
21:37we're going to throw you off and there's
21:39a a number of different reasons why an
21:42account can be suspended. uh some are
21:45just innocent mistakes, some are, you
21:48know, kind of neglect or of certain
21:50issues around just delivery of service
21:53or products or recordkeeping. Um there
21:55there can also be products that are just
21:58delisted for different reasons. Uh and
22:02navigating that level of compliance if
22:05you're, you know, a growing Amazon
22:07seller can become quite burdensome. So,
22:09I'd say the um if you were to say the
22:12crux of what we are is like we're the
22:14we're the emergency room when your uh
22:17e-commerce account gets shut down. Uh
22:20you we're the first people you call. So,
22:22we assess the um we assess the damage.
22:25Uh try to understand what might be going
22:28on underneath the surface because often
22:30times uh Amazon isn't as transparent as
22:33as uh you'd think in terms of like why
22:36they made that decision. uh and uh
22:40assess whether we'd be able to help that
22:42seller get their product reinstated or
22:46their um their brand ungated. Like like
22:50there's like a lot of different things
22:51that can happen that just can make your
22:53business um go sideways real fast. Uh
22:58and so we're sort of that first line of
23:00defense. And quite frankly, I think a
23:01lot of times people just are relieved to
23:03talk to a person. Uh,
23:05>> oh yeah, I've experienced this for sure.
23:07>> Yeah, I mean
23:08>> it's the number one, you know, I'm sure
23:10it's every Amazon FBA seller's, you
23:12know, you know, biggest nightmare is
23:14your account getting suspended, shut
23:16down, and you know, trying to contact
23:18Amazon and
23:20>> getting routed to an offshore sort of
23:22call center. So, at best,
23:25>> even if you do get somebody, they
23:27usually don't have that much authority
23:28to be able to really get anything done.
23:31Uh
23:33most of our consultants are former
23:35Amazon employees. They know the culture.
23:38They know the um they know how the the
23:42company works which is extremely unique
23:44unlike any other private business in the
23:46world. Um
23:49and so that uh I think just relatability
23:52that we can have with clients in terms
23:54of we can be this bridge between your um
23:58storefront and Amazon itself,
24:01at least from what I hear from sellers,
24:02is just like very relieving. uh they're
24:05just happy to to have somebody who is on
24:08their side um isn't charging like lawyer
24:12level prices um and can help guide them
24:16through to a successful outcome. Uh so
24:20that's I'd say that's like 60% of our
24:22business is uh people who come in and
24:24and they're just like I need help now.
24:26Uh what can you do for me? Uh the other
24:2940% are um more managed services. So
24:33there's uh we have a uh a program called
24:36Guardian which is all about uh helping
24:40uh seven figure sellers before they run
24:43into account health issues. Uh you know
24:46once you start hitting a certain level
24:47of sales whether whether you be a
24:49reseller or a private label brand uh you
24:54need somebody who can man who can just
24:55like look after your account health. Uh
24:58you know go through violations as they
25:00come in. Um and violations can be
25:02minimal like it could be related to an
25:04unhappy customer who um you know
25:09returned their product and didn't get a
25:11refund or uh you know didn't have a
25:14customer service message responded to
25:16within uh certain number of hours. Uh so
25:20just kind of staying on top of that like
25:23kind of that account health uh for
25:25certain sellers is is quite valuable. So
25:27we offer that. We also offer suspension
25:30um basically like suspension insurance.
25:32Uh you know, if you uh if your account
25:35does get taken down, you'll be uh you'll
25:39be uh we'll will help uh remedy for
25:42remedy it for you. Um I've also borrowed
25:45some uh some tactics from SMB Deal
25:48Hunters. We launched office hours.
25:50>> Love it. [clears throat]
25:52>> Uh we just did I think our fourth one
25:54yesterday. It was so much fun. Um,
25:57>> amazing.
25:58>> Yeah. No, that's a really that's a great
26:00tactic. And for anyone who's considering
26:01the program, it's a very great it was
26:04probably my most valuable part of the
26:06program was office hours uh in terms of
26:09of learning. Uh so yeah. And so and then
26:12we've got we've got like a bunch of like
26:14different one-off services. Uh and I I'm
26:17trying to build that end of the
26:19business. Uh it's more what I'm used to,
26:23you know, in terms of agency client
26:26agency relationships. Uh it's obviously
26:28higher quality revenue if it's
26:31recurring. Um it's it's the the stage
26:36we're at right now is really trying to
26:37figure out like what is the right
26:41suite of services that a seller would
26:44find of enough value, how we price it
26:48and all that. So, I've been learning
26:49some new things in that regard, but uh
26:52so far so good.
26:53>> Yeah. And I'm curious, um give us a
26:56sense of like average ticket sizes, like
26:57how much are people paying you for, you
27:00know, maybe the one-off type projects?
27:01What's a range there? And then give us a
27:03sense of like the recurring side of the
27:05business. Um what that looks like as
27:07well in terms of, you know, how much
27:08sellers are actually paying you guys.
27:11>> Um contracts can run or one-off projects
27:14can run uh the gamut. I'd say we
27:17generally don't uh scope projects less
27:20than $2,000. Uh but they can go all the
27:25way up to eight or 10,000 dep depending
27:28on the complexity of the issue. Uh some
27:32you know a lot of uh uh searchers will
27:36come to us and hire us to do kind of
27:39like a it's almost like a QV for their
27:41for an Amazon business if they're buying
27:43one. Uh so we have like a whole team
27:46that just uh is it knows how to do that.
27:49So we we just call them account
27:50transitions. Uh it can be really easy to
27:53screw up. Uh and so helping a searcher
27:57when they're kind of in that flurry of
27:59buying a business feel an extra level of
28:03peace of mind that uh that the account
28:05health is solid uh is something that uh
28:09is it's quite valuable to the to the
28:12business buyer. Uh but it's also kind of
28:14like it's a good business for us too. So
28:16actually I'm trying to get the word out
28:17more to business brokers because um
28:20we've had really good experiences when
28:21we've uh taken on those transitions.
28:24>> Makes sense. Uh what about on the
28:26recurring side? What does that look like
28:28in terms of you know how you guys charge
28:30or
28:31>> Yeah.
28:31>> Maybe how often you know how long these
28:34customers stay. Is it pretty sticky?
28:37Give us a sense of that.
28:39>> It depends. I mean, we've had clients
28:41with us for since the beginning, you
28:44know, eight years, uh, paying, uh, you
28:47know, anywhere from,
28:50I don't know, 500 to $5,000 per month
28:52depending on the size of the and the
28:54complexity of of the account and and
28:57also just like what we include in those
28:59services. uh our uh our retain our our
29:04retainer contracts tend not to be like
29:05cookie cutter one-size fit ffits-all but
29:08we tailor the package of services for
29:11the seller. Uh
29:14sometimes the and the other thing about
29:16Amazon businesses they can kind of like
29:19you know go in and out of business based
29:21on the interest of the owner. So, and
29:24I'm surprised to see this sometimes,
29:25too, where uh I'll find out that a um a
29:28client has canceled their recurring
29:30service and I'm like, "What happened?
29:31What did we do wrong?" And they're like,
29:32"No, they just stopped selling on
29:34Amazon."
29:35>> Makes sense.
29:36>> Yeah. Uh so it can be a number of
29:39different reasons, but we do we stand
29:41out for our service and our people. Uh
29:44so most most sellers who have a chance
29:47to work with us uh stay with us for the
29:51people. That's great. I I guess going
29:53back to the transition, how long did it
29:56take for you to feel like you had a
29:58solid grasp of the business and um
30:02because you obviously didn't come from
30:04this Amazon space even though you kind
30:05of understood you obviously understood
30:07agencies and how they generally ran run.
30:10um give us a sense of when you you felt
30:13like you had a grasp for you know how
30:16things were going
30:18>> in terms of like the business and the
30:21the P&L and cash flow sales like how how
30:25the business was was like the flow of
30:28the finances and all that. I mean, I had
30:31that fig. I knew that before I even
30:33started, like before I closed on the
30:35business. Uh because we did have sort of
30:37that extended close period,
30:39>> right?
30:40>> The operations
30:43probably got me took me about a month to
30:45get up like to to figure it out. Uh the
30:49um
30:51the specific nuances of an Amazon
30:53suspension, I'm still learning every all
30:56the different things that could happen.
30:58Uh, and I one thing I love about our
31:02team is that they just roll with every
31:04new thing that like they kind of get
31:06really excited about uh when there's
31:08like a new suspension type or a new
31:09reason why Amazon's um poking around in
31:12people's accounts. Uh, and and I try to
31:15keep up with that as much as I possibly
31:17can. But the actual business and that,
31:19you know, servicing the clients and uh
31:22the operations of it was pretty pretty
31:26simple to figure out. But I think it's
31:27because I had done this kind of work
31:29before.
31:30>> That makes sense. Um and I think that's
31:32one of the best parts of you know buying
31:33a b business in your industry adjacent
31:37industry that kind of um where you can
31:38kind of leverage your existing uh skill
31:41sets. But I'm also curious and you kind
31:44of brought up earlier that you
31:46immediately noticed the team was bloated
31:48and probably some other things that uh
31:50in terms of like how you didn't like how
31:52the business was running. what point did
31:54you start actually making changes? Um,
31:58how long into, you know, taking over
32:01did you start doing that?
32:03>> I'd say within the first month. Uh,
32:06>> I mean, it was a conversation that I had
32:08started with the sellers prior to
32:10closing. Uh, and I had given them
32:15sort of the benefit of the doubt that we
32:18could make some of the harder decisions
32:20once I was on the other side. Although I
32:24did ask them to make some adjustments
32:25before. Um,
32:29you know, I think it's it's
32:31we had to start making changes like
32:33pretty quickly. Um, and it wasn't just
32:37people, it was also like subscriptions.
32:41uh we had
32:43so many software subscriptions that
32:45people didn't even know who used them or
32:47what the passwords were uh and they were
32:50all just getting charged charged charged
32:52and uh you know and and also just in the
32:55world of SAS there's so many duplicate
32:57subscri I mean like there's so many
32:58things that you know Slack Zoom Teams
33:02you know we had all of them [laughter]
33:05you and all we were really using it for
33:08was chat um So just going in and and I
33:12was, you know, I built an executive team
33:16fairly early on and
33:20still for the most part the same
33:21executive team I have today. Um, they
33:25were great. like they got it. Like they
33:27understood, they dug in. They helped me
33:29figure out what uh what was needed, what
33:34was optional, where like we should, you
33:37know, not make decisions too quickly. Uh
33:42and yeah, but but I mean it was it was
33:44evident from the first
33:48I mean even since before closing that
33:49that some changes were going to have to
33:51be made.
33:52>> Tell us about that executive team. Was
33:53it people that you internally promoted
33:56from within the company? Did you bring
33:57people from the outside? Give us a sense
33:59of that.
34:00>> Um, I have not hired a single person
34:02from outside. Uh, they were all people
34:05that had uh been within the company and
34:09uh had just proven to me that they were
34:15they understood the business. They were
34:17loyal to the business. uh they um had
34:21successfully navigated that kind of
34:24divide between the two sellers in a way
34:26that uh I found to be
34:30um just impressive. I that's a very very
34:33hard situation to be in and I I if it
34:35were for me I'd probably quit. Uh but
34:38they stuck through it and they just they
34:40had such a a passion for what Riverbend
34:43was doing uh that they worked be beyond
34:46it and and um continued to help the
34:49business's success. So it's a it's it's
34:51a great team
34:53>> and can you talk a little bit about
34:56maybe the most you you know you spoke
34:57about obviously working with the team to
34:59implement a bunch of changes starting
35:00month one. you brought up sort of the
35:03credit card situation, but what were
35:05maybe the most impa impactful changes
35:07you've made this first year that have
35:11actually, you know, made an impact on
35:12the bottom line or even the top line.
35:14Um, give us a give us just maybe the
35:17lowdown.
35:18>> Um,
35:20we had some software that was
35:24too big and I don't want to necessarily
35:25call out I'll say Slack. Like Slack is a
35:28great tool. Everybody loves it. I know
35:30you use it like we use it in the
35:32community. Um I still use it but it's
35:35expensive.
35:35>> So expensive. [clears throat]
35:37[laughter]
35:38>> And we had a few integrations built in
35:40but we weren't really uh I mean I like I
35:44know the capability of Slack like it's a
35:46it's a whole platform in itself and we
35:48just weren't using it for all of that.
35:50And so when I saw that we also have Zoom
35:54and we also have Microsoft uh I was just
35:58like this this is optional uh for now.
36:01Maybe we'll come back to it but for now
36:02and we made that transition. It was
36:04fine. And that was a significant
36:06software savings. Uh we had another uh
36:08sales tool like a auto dialer um but we
36:12only had two sales people. It was like a
36:14very expensive uh uh tool for the sales
36:19team. that's, you know, two maybe three
36:21people. Um, and also people aren't
36:24picking up the phone as much anymore.
36:25So, like, you know, doing uh cold
36:28outreach is probably not the most
36:29effective way of of getting in touch
36:31with people. Um, so things like that on
36:33the software side. On the people's side,
36:36we were a little bit um
36:39slower to I mean I have always believed
36:43in
36:44you know cut fast, cut bigger than you
36:47have to. You can always hire people
36:49back. Um and I didn't do that because
36:51that's really it's extremely hard
36:53especially when you're just new to the
36:54business. You don't know how it was
36:55built. Um but what I did so I was
36:58probably slower than I would have liked
37:00to be but I was 100% transparent.
37:03uh in in the past the um things like
37:07financials or just business performance
37:09was not necessarily shared broadly even
37:12with you know the the managers. Uh so I
37:16from day one I've been extremely
37:19transparent. Uh, and also just uh
37:25letting people know how I'm how I'm
37:27making decisions, you know, and I'm not
37:28just coming in uh on day one just like
37:32cutting things willy-nilly, but that uh
37:34I I wanted to understand if we were
37:37going to have to
37:40cut an expense, why, who, like what it
37:43means to other teams and departments,
37:45what it like what it means to the morale
37:48of the company, like the message that it
37:50sends.
37:51Uh, so yeah, but I feel like we're way
37:55on the other side of that now. Um, which
37:57feels good because that was like kind of
37:59hard for me to have to, you know, do
38:02surgically and slowly, but uh, we're
38:05we're in a good place now.
38:08>> How big is the team now compared to when
38:10you acquired the business?
38:12So now we're about
38:1612 in the US,
38:1912 in Costa Rica. Our Costa Rica team
38:22really is an extension of our US team.
38:25Uh there was an office, there was a
38:28Amazon had an office down there and so
38:29there was just this pool of talent that
38:31we've been able to
38:32>> Oh, interesting.
38:34>> source from which has been amazing.
38:36They're great great part of our
38:38consulting team. And then our uh
38:40Philippines operations probably about 30
38:4525.
38:46>> Yeah. And how did I guess I'm curious um
38:50obviously with every
38:52uh transition
38:55um
38:56you know potentially comes some
38:59challenges with the employees.
39:00Obviously, you've tried to be
39:02transparent this whole time, but you
39:04know, how has the team taken the change
39:06in maybe culture also or structure and
39:11just new ownership as a whole?
39:14>> Yeah. Uh there were a few folks early on
39:17that
39:20didn't take to it. Not many, like three.
39:23uh and
39:26including the seller
39:29uh and that was unfortunate that that
39:32didn't work out but and and I expected
39:35something like that would happen. Uh
39:38since then
39:41I can't think of a single person who's
39:43who's left us you know voluntarily I I I
39:47feel like folks are really kind of happy
39:50with with the direction. Uh I think that
39:53they were eager for uh fresh thinking
39:57and unified leadership. You not
40:01everything was going to be decided by a
40:02fight. Um and and also I think I'm I I
40:07just I've worked remotely for so long
40:10that uh I feel like I'm pretty good at
40:12it. you know, I I I get how to um
40:15organize and manage teams remotely and
40:18you know, what kind of incentives work
40:20and uh how to just keep people happy
40:22while they're working. Uh which is
40:24really just about letting them, you
40:27know, just having great people who own
40:28what they do and trust we trust what
40:31they do and uh and encourage them to be
40:36flexible.
40:37>> Yeah. I guess going back to maybe some
40:40of the changes. We spoke about some of
40:42the savings
40:44um the cost savings. Any sort of new
40:46initiatives that you've implemented this
40:49first year? Give us a little sense of,
40:51you know, what you've been working on
40:52there.
40:53>> Um well, I just hired a new salesperson.
40:58Uh we
41:02a lot of a lot of our uh sales come in
41:06through uh basically someone searches
41:10for us online, searches for you know
41:11certain keywords and comes in through
41:13PPC. Uh so our primary marketing was
41:16really search as well as uh you know
41:19just kind of industry presence. You know
41:21we show up to all the major conferences
41:23and stuff. Uh but in order to build this
41:28uh kind of more managed monthly service
41:31side of the business uh I saw that we
41:34really needed uh an outbound kind of go
41:39to market sales motion uh that we just
41:42didn't have within the company. Uh so
41:45that is something I'm investing in now
41:47which is you know ideally going to pay
41:50dividends down the road. Uh I'm I
41:53personally don't know how to do uh like
41:55how to build that kind of operation,
41:57that sort of sales operation. So I need
41:59to bring in somebody who's done it
42:00before. Uh so I'm excited for that
42:02person to start and uh and that will be
42:05uh a big push for us.
42:08>> Got it.
42:08>> And and we've done other things like,
42:10you know, we had a lot of products that
42:12had weird names that didn't make sense
42:15to anybody. Uh so just kind of on the
42:17marketing side, which is my background,
42:19just uh freshening up uh our product set
42:22so that uh so that they are just more um
42:28I'd say a little bit more just more
42:29polished.
42:30>> Yeah, that makes sense. And tell us how
42:33the business has been performing because
42:35obviously it's one of the main reasons
42:37people buy businesses versus starting
42:38one from scratch. So give us a sense of
42:41you know the first year how that's been
42:42going and where you see things sort of
42:45trending now that things are more maybe
42:47more stabilized.
42:49>> Uh so the you know we're very much
42:52relying on on Amazon and at the whim of
42:55Amazon uh their uh
42:59enforcement has gotten
43:02more automated. So if you get your
43:04account suspended, it's most likely by a
43:07bot, an AI bot, not by a human person.
43:11Uh and then even the appeals process has
43:13become even more uh just AI driven. Uh
43:19so being able, a lot of people ask me
43:21like, well, why can't I just do my
43:23appeal using chat GPT? Uh and there's
43:27multiple reasons why you should not do
43:29that. uh one of which is
43:33AI is not always right. Uh and also uh I
43:37mean a Amazon's one of the biggest AI
43:39companies in the world like like they
43:41detect that stuff faster than anybody.
43:43Um, so you know, being able to have this
43:49kind of unique very humanled
43:53AI enabled, we use AI of course, but we
43:56don't like rely on it. Um, in a space
43:59where uh everything, you know, I just
44:03think we're in this unique space of
44:06because I'm deep in AI as I'm sure you
44:08are too, Helen. Uh it's a these tools
44:12are amazing. They're great. Uh I don't
44:15see them taking away human like human
44:19jobs altogether because uh they're
44:23really just tools and uh and so I I feel
44:27like we've got this opportunity to stand
44:30out as like this human-led business
44:32within a sea of robots talking back and
44:36forth to each other. Um, it's like
44:38LinkedIn, you know, that's just like
44:41it's just AI uh content.
44:44>> That's right.
44:46>> Slop.
44:46>> It's Yeah. Um, but yeah, so I think you
44:50know it trying to kind of ride that wave
44:54while um, you know, a lot of things are
44:57in motion is it feels a little scary,
45:00but it also just feels like a an
45:02amazingly great opportunity. Uh,
45:05>> has that been net positive for you guys?
45:07I guess going back to my sort of
45:08performance question this first year or
45:11>> has that? Yeah. Has that hurt you guys
45:13as a business, you know, or has the
45:15business kind of just been chugging
45:16along performing as as it was maybe at
45:19the time of close?
45:21>> Um, so when I took over, I found this I
45:25did not know this was not disclosed that
45:28uh the company had banned AI from from
45:31all employees and team members. Uh,
45:33interesting.
45:34>> Yeah. And perhaps that was just out of
45:36fear of
45:38misbehavior or just, you know, I'm sure
45:41there's a there was a reason. I mean,
45:43companies used to do that. Uh, I since
45:46came in and said, "Well, we're not going
45:48to ban it. Uh, but we're going to have
45:50some rules around how we use it and, uh,
45:53we're not going to just let people go
45:56token maxing on, you know, silly
45:59projects." But uh for those of you who
46:02can prove that you are using AI you know
46:06in on something that's beneficial to the
46:09business uh will you know will fund your
46:13like you know pro account or whatever.
46:15Um and that actually I you know it's
46:19kind of a policy that I just sort of
46:20like fell into but it seems to be
46:22working. Uh I've been in so many
46:25situations with teams where uh you try
46:28to push something that is just not
46:31coming naturally and it just usually
46:34doesn't end well. Uh so I think AI is
46:36one of those things where uh some people
46:41have a great deal of curiosity about how
46:43it works and want to keep pushing the
46:44edges of it. Other people do not. Uh,
46:49and that's probably going to change a
46:51lot over the next coming months and
46:53years. But, uh, but I think I haven't
46:56really done like a real analysis on it,
46:58but I I do say it's improved the quality
47:00of our work, the efficiency of our work.
47:02Um, there are certain things that I know
47:04I'm doing personally that uh
47:08I mean I well I won't give away I I
47:11won't talk about AI hack AI hacks but I
47:14there are some projects where I I leave
47:16the day feeling like wow you did a lot
47:19today.
47:21>> Love that
47:22>> a lot of prompting.
47:24>> Um no it's a it's interesting you know
47:27you you brought up that you just hired a
47:29outbound salesperson. Um, were you guys
47:32still getting a consistent sort of
47:34inbound volume uh and maybe repeat
47:37volume after you took over? Is
47:39obviously, you know, main reason you you
47:42bought the business. Um, and
47:46have you seen any what has been sort of
47:48like the downstream effect of some of
47:49these changes that you have made on the
47:51business? Have you um has it impacted
47:55the bottom line?
47:56>> Absolutely. It's a magical bottom line.
47:58Uh, you know,
48:01uh for sure it's it's for the positive
48:04made the business much healthier um
48:08financially uh so that you know we were
48:10able to you know fund hiring a
48:14salesperson or you know fund buying uh
48:18meta ads uh fund you know uh
48:22subscriptions AI subscriptions for folks
48:26uh a year ago I wouldn't have been able
48:28to do any of that because it was really
48:30just about keeping up with the costs
48:32that were um that were just kind of like
48:36eating away at the at the uh P&L. So, uh
48:40yeah. So, I think the downstream effect
48:42has been good.
48:44>> And is your goal now moving forward to
48:48you has has growth been one of the goals
48:50in the first year? Is it really more
48:52cost cutting and now you're focusing
48:53more on how can I grow revenues?
48:57>> Growth is always a goal. Uh it was it
49:00was challenging to figure out how to do
49:03that precisely as I'm learning the
49:05business figuring out where is are the
49:08right places to grow uh
49:11the industry.
49:13I don't know how in in the weeds you
49:16have been in your the past with the
49:18Amazon seller space, but it's a
49:21particular kind of person. You know,
49:23like the people who go into this
49:24business are very um finicky and for
49:28good reasons. They run their businesses
49:30on super tight margins uh and with lots
49:33of compliance and risks. Uh so figuring
49:36out where we should go uh has been
49:40evolving but I'd say at this point we
49:43are um definitely have built the
49:47foundation for growth uh and you know
49:49are on steady foot to to go from here.
49:52>> Tell us about some of those challenges
49:54you kind of highlighted a couple of them
49:57um with Amazon obviously as a the
49:59platform risk risk there
50:01>> um some sellers being finicky. What else
50:04has been kind of unexpected as you've
50:06learned this business that that has
50:08presented you know itself as a
50:10challenge?
50:12>> Um so my uh you know with my background
50:16in agency marketing services uh it was
50:21never hard to find businesses that
50:25needed our help. We did uh my last
50:27company we did uh social media marketing
50:30for pharmaceutical and medical device
50:34companies. Uh it's a whole thing that
50:37takes a lot of expertise, a lot of
50:40patience, a lot of compliance. Uh and we
50:43build a practice around doing just that.
50:44And and a pharmaceutical company would
50:46pay us a premium to manage that for them
50:49because uh they don't want to have to
50:51hire a team that does it. uh in the what
50:55what impresses me so much about this
50:58Amazon space is the folks who get into
51:01it are so resourceful
51:04uh so entrepreneurial
51:07uh they are such growthminded business
51:10people uh that you know they would
51:14rather
51:16find a an AI hack or a BA in the
51:21Philippines
51:23any anything that helps them get a set
51:26of tasks done that uh doesn't cut as
51:31much into their margin, which is exactly
51:34how, you know, a business of that those
51:36kind should should operate. Uh it's uh
51:40it's just been different for me um in
51:42terms of like the level of service that
51:44I I like to provide clients. So, um
51:48yeah, I think uh
51:50>> No, that's super interesting. anything
51:52else that's been sort of or just
51:55challenges you've had to sort of face
51:56this first year
51:58>> or even even sort of like positive
52:00unexpected surprises of you know running
52:04a business running this business
52:06>> someone along the way there's like
52:08little things that I like remember along
52:11the way that like bits of advice from
52:13listening to your podcasts and Will's
52:16podcasts and everything um you know one
52:19of them like one of them was take a
52:22vacation for 3 weeks in your first year
52:24of operating the business. Uh and it
52:28sounds so specific uh but I did it and
52:32uh
52:33>> wow team
52:34>> very impressive.
52:35>> Yeah the team did not call me they did
52:37not text me nothing. In fact to the
52:39point where I was a little bit worried
52:40but um I have been able to have a work
52:44life balance. uh I didn't want to go
52:48into something that I'd be because I
52:50have other, you know, other friends that
52:51I've made through the community who are
52:53uh who have bought businesses and they
52:56are just drowning in work. Um
53:00and I am not
53:04not dr I mean I I I work a lot but I I
53:06have some flexibility in terms of when I
53:09can get that work done and how I get
53:10that work done. Uh, so I'd say the
53:13positive has been being able to have
53:15balance.
53:17>> I think a big part of that too is you
53:18bought a business that was probably
53:21bigger than um maybe some of some of the
53:24other ones you're talking about and a
53:26team with more of a team in place,
53:28right? So
53:30um no, that that makes sense. Tell us
53:32about what your day-to-day looks like
53:34now. I'm very curious and how that has
53:36maybe evolved over time.
53:38>> Yeah. Uh, I've taken I've I've taken a
53:42really hands-on role with the sales
53:43team. Uh, so we meet every single
53:46morning. Um, you know, it's it I bossi
53:51used to say, you know, nothing happens
53:52until there's a sale. And I truly
53:54believe that, you know, nothing happens
53:57throughout the rest of the company until
53:58we sell something. Um, so really
54:02learning how these guys work. Uh, how
54:06we're positioning our services, how
54:09we're pricing it. Uh,
54:13I I' I've I've actually never managed a
54:16sales team before, so it's been really
54:17new for me, but I've kind of come to
54:19really love it. Uh, so that's usually
54:21like my first start of the day. And
54:23then, um, you know, we have a number of
54:27different initiatives going on. I mean
54:30just the other day someone said like we
54:32really need to have a WhatsApp account
54:36for the business right now like our
54:39sales team service team will if if
54:41clients on WhatsApp they just do it
54:43personally their personal accounts but
54:46uh
54:48you know given how many of our clients
54:50are international I think we just need
54:52to have more of a WhatsApp pres presence
54:54in the past that would be you know
54:57something I
54:59either put off or uh find a consultant
55:04or a freelancer to help me with. Uh but
55:07I've sort of like taken that on as being
55:09something like this is harder than it
55:11seems like it should be. Um but uh
55:16totally doable, will totally benefit the
55:18business and I'll be able to apply the
55:21little skills that I do have on our uh
55:24WhatsApp presence. Um so things like
55:27that and then we've got some like bigger
55:28initiatives uh that you know primarily
55:32affect the executive team uh and you
55:36know have to do with things like uh
55:38we're having an issue now with um
55:42just understanding our pre-sale. So try,
55:45you know, currently we try to do a sale
55:48of a recurring service after a client's
55:51been reinstated in our project, uh, and
55:53they're super excited and they're like
55:55writing us great reviews and they're so
55:57happy. And we always just assume that
55:59that would be the best time to enroll
56:01them in a like a preventive maintenance
56:03service. And
56:07I don't know if that's necessarily the
56:09best time. I also think that we need to
56:11be doing a better job of pre-selling it.
56:14Uh, you know, having uh these services
56:20merchandised by our day-to-day teams
56:22before that reinstatement happens. So,
56:25things like that. I mean, it I I have to
56:27say it does I tend to lean more towards
56:30marketing, sales, you know, the places
56:32I'm familiar with and trust a lot of the
56:35operations and service delivery to the
56:38folks who've been here for years.
56:39They're great. I mean, they're like
56:41second to none in terms of expertise.
56:43They've like have really impressed me
56:45with how they've um developed processes
56:48and uh make, you know, a what can be
56:51what can seem like a lot of um
56:55uh cha chaos in terms of like dealing
56:58with a suspension. They've really put
57:00really solid procedure around and made
57:03it so that it's repeatable and and
57:06successful.
57:07>> That's great. That's No, that's super
57:10interesting. How, you know, you
57:12mentioned being able to take a vacation
57:13for three weeks, which I'm very
57:15impressed by, by the way. Um, how many
57:18hours a week are you working? You know,
57:20are you working weekends? What What does
57:22that look like?
57:24>> Um, I've, you know, I've I've never been
57:26much of an hours counter, but uh
57:30and I also tend to work on my time. you
57:33know, I I'm a night owl, so I'm I'm
57:37probably doing 40, 50 hours, but uh it
57:40could be nights, weekends, early
57:43mornings. It varies dayto day.
57:46>> That makes sense.
57:47>> I'm curious, you know, taking a step
57:49back,
57:51how does it feel to, you know, finally
57:53be a business owner? Is this kind of
57:54what you expected? And um you know also
58:01obviously one of the reasons
58:03we didn't really talk about this but you
58:05know was your goal always to maybe
58:06replace your income? Um you do you feel
58:10like you're attracted to doing that?
58:13>> Uh I mean the goal was for it to be a
58:16job for me. uh I was not in a position
58:19just to you know put in an operator uh
58:24you know be happy with the dividends. I
58:26wanted to dig into it and I actually
58:28think for most people in this business
58:30buying space the notion of uh I haven't
58:34met anybody who's like oh yeah I just
58:36you know bought a business and they just
58:37sent me a check every week. You really
58:39do that that first year you really
58:41should dig in. You you don't have to be
58:44the CEO or the president or whatever but
58:45like dig and really understand how it
58:48works. Um,
58:51so I think in terms of that it I I
58:55haven't been very surprised because I
58:56knew this would be a lot of work. Um,
59:00what and I would never go back. I I
59:03think that I've always been pretty
59:05passionate about the work that I've done
59:07and and my jobs almost to a fault. And
59:11so today I feel like I can be passionate
59:15and even carry some stress and uh you
59:20know have to like make hard decisions
59:22but it's it's all for something that
59:26like we're building like you know I'm
59:28building with this team and uh I feel a
59:31great amount of just accountability and
59:34ownership over.
59:36>> That's great. Um, I mean that's that's a
59:39great feeling. And have have you been
59:40able to draw salary from the business?
59:43Um, or or even like take out any
59:46distributions or are you are you sort of
59:49>> teeny tiny teeny tiny salary?
59:53Um, but it's okay. Uh, business
59:56ownership has other benefits in terms of
59:59um expenses and things like that. And
1:00:01because we're pretty low low overhead in
1:00:03terms of offices and things like that,
1:00:06uh we our margins are um
1:00:11stabilizing. You know, they're st
1:00:13they're stabilized, but there was a
1:00:15while there that it was it was pretty
1:00:16tight, but um I've been able to keep my
1:00:20mortgage paid.
1:00:21>> That's great. And are you so right now
1:00:23is the plan to you know continue
1:00:25reinvesting the business like with the
1:00:27sales team and things like that? um and
1:00:30you know take as little out of the
1:00:32business as possible then or how are you
1:00:33thinking about that?
1:00:35>> Um so a lot of what we a lot of the
1:00:39growth so it's I mean it's a
1:00:42people-based business um you know we
1:00:44don't have to buy another truck or you
1:00:47know build another factory to produce
1:00:50more product. Uh the what we do need to
1:00:54do though is say we want to launch a new
1:00:57service and there's about two to three
1:00:58of them that I feel pretty close to
1:01:02being able to launch which would be a
1:01:05completely different direction for the
1:01:07business but I think complimentary
1:01:09uh we just need the plan you know we
1:01:12need the plan we need the operations we
1:01:14need the scripts to talk to sell it um
1:01:17so it's it's it's a lot of stuff that
1:01:19can be done with the team that we have
1:01:22uh it's just a matter of
1:01:25uh committing to it and doing it. Um and
1:01:30the company does have a history from
1:01:32prior to me of starting a lot of things
1:01:35and not finishing them, but I I think
1:01:37that happens in small businesses all the
1:01:39time. Um I'm much more of a hey, if
1:01:41we're going to do this, we're going to
1:01:42stick with it for a year at least um and
1:01:45see how it goes. So, so, so to answer
1:01:48your question, I think growth is
1:01:49possible without a lot of new
1:01:52investment. You know, maybe some people
1:01:54here and there, but I don't see it
1:01:56required
1:01:58requiring uh a ton of new investment.
1:02:03>> Have you thought about sort of bigger
1:02:04picture? You know, do you want to keep,
1:02:08you know, being a part of the business
1:02:09dayto day, you know, being the CEO of
1:02:12the business?
1:02:14um or you know taking a step back at
1:02:16some point or or even you know
1:02:19systematizing things and selling the
1:02:21business one day. What maybe you came in
1:02:24with a different idea than where you're
1:02:26at now, but I'm curious where your
1:02:27head's at there.
1:02:29>> Um well, I mentioned that I love the
1:02:31search space and I love I love I just
1:02:34love the space and I'd be lying if I
1:02:38said I am not you know I don't I still
1:02:41look at Sims. still am curious about
1:02:43other businesses. I don't know if
1:02:45necessarily an e-commerce services
1:02:47business, but uh there are some things
1:02:50that interest me. Uh what I feel good
1:02:53about is uh because of this like amazing
1:02:57leadership team I've got uh I would have
1:03:00zero hesitation about turning uh parts
1:03:04of my role over to one or some of them
1:03:07and and know that the business would
1:03:10would would be just fine. Right now it's
1:03:12more by choice that I'm that I'm digging
1:03:15in as much as I am.
1:03:17>> That makes sense. I'm be sensitive time.
1:03:19Christian, um, what's the final thing
1:03:21you'd say to someone who maybe hasn't
1:03:23taken the leap into business acquisition
1:03:25or ownership?
1:03:27>> Um, it's the same thing that I said at
1:03:29the last time we talked, which was if
1:03:32you have the ability to
1:03:35quit your job while you're searching,
1:03:38please try to do that. I I think I truly
1:03:41believe that uh the folks including
1:03:44myself who had the the flexibility to
1:03:47really dig into their search and uh not
1:03:51have the distraction uh not so much the
1:03:53distraction but the option of uh of work
1:03:58W2 work uh go for it. In fact, it's
1:04:02funny. The the friend of mine who
1:04:04introduced me to the program, he was one
1:04:06of the early joiners of it. Uh he
1:04:12never closed. He never bought a
1:04:14business. And I caught up with him
1:04:16recently and I was like, "What happened?
1:04:17Like where like you were so into this."
1:04:19He's like, "You know, my boss gave me a
1:04:21raise and uh and you know, they changed
1:04:25things up and so I'm giving it another
1:04:27shot with my job." And I more power to
1:04:30him. I mean, he's got three kids. He's
1:04:31got like a whole light like he's got a
1:04:32lot to to manage and prioritize. But I
1:04:36think for me and for other folks that I
1:04:38know who have closed, being able to have
1:04:40that flexibility of just focusing on the
1:04:42search will most likely result in a
1:04:44better outcome faster.
1:04:47>> No, that's great. Great insight and
1:04:49great advice. Um, well, Christian, this
1:04:51is this has been so fun catching up and
1:04:53hearing how things have been going. I'm
1:04:55super excited for you. We'll have to
1:04:56we'll have to do this again same time
1:04:58next year.
1:04:58>> For sure. Thank you, Helen. I couldn't
1:05:00have done it without you guys. Um, major
1:05:03fan of the community uh and the program.
1:05:06Uh, you are the best out there. Uh, so
1:05:10please keep doing what you're doing as
1:05:11well.
1:05:12>> Really appreciate that. Thank you again
1:05:13and uh I'll see you at the next happy
1:05:15hour.
1:05:15>> Sounds good. Thanks.

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