Saying No to CEO Roles, Yes to Ownership

After serving as CEO of an HR firm that she grew and helped shepherd to a nice exit, today's guest was looking for her next thing. Investors and bankers were now eager to work with Marcy LaRoche, wanting her to come run other HR platforms for them and do it all over again. But Marcy now had money in the bank, and more importantly, a desire to do something at her own pace by her own rules.

So she set out on a search to buy her own business in the HR space. Ultimately, what she bought might surprise you. An HR consulting firm that was quite small at less than a million in revenue, with but a single full-time employee beyond the owner.

The rest, 1099s. Listen for our discussion as to why buying this business made sense to Marcy. After all, at that small size and with Marcy's own deep network and comprehensive knowledge of the industry, is this not a case where starting something from scratch instead could have made sense? Spoiler, no. Lots of themes informed her decision, including wanting to work on, not in, the business when…

the power of buying a business at a low multiple and at great terms, and the value of certain contracts that Marcy believes hold the key to accelerated growth. Okay, please enjoy this conversation with Marcy LaRoche, owner of CHR. There are a handful of legal diligence issues that arise again and again for entrepreneurs buying a business.

What are they? Attorneys James, David Williams, and Bill Barlow return for an office hours to walk you through them. And of course, how you, business buyer, should address them to protect yourself while still getting your deal across the finish line. That is this Thursday, July 17th, noon Eastern.

The webinar is Common Legal Diligence Issues and How to Handle Them. Link to register for the webinar is right at the top of this episode's show notes or right on the homepage of Acquiring Minds, acquiringminds.co. See you Thursday.

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 for an SBA loan to buy a business?

Then meet Pioneer Capital Advisory, your team for getting an SBA 7A loan quickly and at great terms. The team at Pioneer has closed 81 SBA loans in just the last two and a half years, with an average close time well under the industry standard. Founder Matthias Smith and general manager Valerie Stash both have 10 years of SBA experience and know the process cold.

There are three analysts at Pioneer who build you a lending presentation that speaks the language of the bank's underwriters and gets them to yes. Two account managers to guide you from underwriting to close as fast and smoothly as possible. And two sales associates ready to walk you through the Pioneer capital advisory process.

That's nine people at Pioneer, a real team to get you where you're trying to go. New owner of a business. Go to pioneercapitaladvisory.com or click the link in the notes.

Marcy LaRoche, welcome to Acquiring Minds. Thank you. Marcy, you bought an HR consulting firm. This is a story of very strong business buyer fit.