From 16 Years in Corporate to a $1m SDE Acquisition

Imagine you're an outdoorsy person and you invest in an expensive parka from one of the big outdoor brands. That parka may come with a lifetime warranty, allowing you to send it into the manufacturer for free repair if, for example, you tear it. Well, repairing those parkas, as opposed to making them, is probably not the brand's core competency.

So they may direct your coat to a third party to actually execute the repair. Yes, there is a whole business whose service is repairing warrantied garments for high-end outdoor brands. And today's guest bought said business.

After 16 years in corporate and nearing 40 years old, Jesus Wong felt a yearning to build something for himself. He explored how he would become an entrepreneur, and when he learned about entrepreneurship through acquisition, it was a eureka moment. Jesus' words, I just found this wonderful world of ETA and was immediately sold on the idea.

Jesus is based in Vancouver, and we unpack how he financed the acquisition without the benefit of an SBA loan that we have here in the U.S. So listen for that segment, those of you who need or want to buy a business without an SBA loan. Okay, please enjoy this conversation with Jesus Wong, owner of Gear Restore.

In the webinar from back in May on how to build a franchise holdco, host Connor Gross mentioned how many acquisition-minded entrepreneurs are entering franchising through the strategy of planting your flag. That is, purchasing new territories in a franchise system intentionally to execute an acquisition strategy once their foot is in the door.

We received a lot of feedback and interest on the topic and decided it warranted a deep dive in a webinar of its own. So in a follow-up webinar with Connor Gross today, Thursday, August 7th, you will learn what the plant your flag strategy is, the types of searchers for whom it makes sense.

how to evaluate franchise opportunities with this strategy in mind, funding strategies for franchise acquisitions, and stories of flag planters who have executed this strategy and seen wild success. That is today, Thursday, August 7th, noon Eastern. The webinar is the Plant Your Flag Strategy, Build an Empire with ETA and Franchising.

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

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.

What do the following Acquiring Minds guests all have in common? Doug Johns, Morley Desai, Tim Erickson, Chirag Shaw, Shane Ersom. They all went through the Acquisition Lab, the accelerator and community for people serious about buying a business.

But they represent just a sliver of the lab's success stories. The number of deals across the lab's cohorts now stands at over 120, with over $300 million in aggregate transaction value. The Acquisition Lab was founded by Walker Deibel, author of Buy Then Build, the book that introduced so many of you to the very idea of buying a business.

The lab offers a month-long intensive, almost daily Q&A sessions with advisors, live deal reviews with Walker, deal team introductions, and an active community of serious searchers. Check out acquisitionlab.com, link in the notes, or email the lab's co-founder, Chelsea Wood, chelsea at buythenbuild.com. Jesus Wong, welcome to Acquiring Lights.