Career Consultant Who Bought a 7-Figure Manufacturer

Today's guest was a successful consultant, but now in his mid-40s, Paul Callahan was becoming more aware of how many trips around the sun he had left, as he put it. He was tiring of the travel demanded by consulting. He was in a decent place financially, and he wanted to reconnect with an entrepreneurial spirit that had lain dormant for years.

So in 2024, he set out on a search for a million dollar in earnings business in the Atlanta Metro. In November 2025, six months ago, Paul closed on Metro Metalworks, a precision metal fabricator that fit the bill. Though, as Paul notes, that million feels like a lot less once you start paying off the SBA loan.

Paul worked with a buy side advisor to accomplish his acquisition. From time to time, you've heard Acquiring Minds discuss the buy-side advisor model, which I increasingly think is a good but overlooked option to explore for the right type of buyer. Paul and I also talk networking capital.

You'll hear how, somewhat counterintuitively, he had to come more out of pocket at close because the business had actually performed better since signing the LOI. Here is Paul Callahan, owner of Metro Metalworks. Webinars.

Most first-time business buyers spend months finding the right deal and securing financing only to reach closing without a clear plan for the financial processes and stack they'll need as new owner.

In a webinar this Thursday, Ryan Johnson of Acquisition Lab will walk through the finance and accounting decisions that matter most before and immediately after your closing.

including setting up banking and payroll and payments before close, building your financial stack from day one, understanding cash flow versus profitability, and making sure you don't miss a loan payment or payroll, what SBA lenders will expect after closing and on an ongoing basis, and why bookkeeping alone isn't enough. The webinar is Finance Essentials Before You Close, and it is this…

Link to register is right at the top of this episode's show notes or on the Acquiring Minds homepage, acquiringminds.co.

Welcome to Acquiring Minds, a podcast about buying businesses. My name is Will Smith. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs.

And on this podcast, I talk to the people who do it. Looking to secure an SBA loan to buy a business?

Meet Pioneer Capital Advisory, your go-to partner for sophisticated buyers who want deals closed quickly and on the best possible terms. The Pioneer team has closed more than 100 SBA loans, averaging timelines well below industry standards. Founder and owner Matthias Smith and COO Valerie Stash bring over two decades of SBA lending experience.

Matthias and Valerie have built a team that meticulously works your deal from underwriting to close. You'll have a full bench working on your behalf, sales associates who streamline onboarding, M&A financial analysts who craft investor-grade lender decks, and an operations team that manages every step of the closing process with institutional-level rigor. Pioneer is not a single person, but your…