Escaping the J-Curve in a $700k SDE Ecom Business

E Commerce was probably the hottest category for entrepreneurial business buyers when I started Acquiring minds back in 2021. In those peak Covid days, E Commerce demand was surging and we all wanted a business we could run remotely. Well, E Commerce fell back to earth pretty hard and there aren't nearly as many Ecom business acquisition stories these days.

So I was eager to hear the story of today's guest creat Chris FARKAS Chris bought EmergencyKits.com a business that seems to defy many of the weaknesses commonly associated with E commerce the consumer focus, the platform risk, the lack of differentiation. And with about $700,000 of SDE and nine employees, it was the right size for a self funded SBA searcher. Note Kris had to figure out that SDE…

Listen for how the seller's cash accounting made calculating the business's true profitability a challenge. Also listen for Chris brutal J Curve and how he finally got to the right side of that J. Finally listen for Chris's experience owning a business that requires a three hour door to door flight to reach.

He's made it work, but not without some personal costs. Here he is. Chris Farkas, owner of EmergencyKits.com youm know that the biggest unlock as an owner is making the leap from working in your business to working on your business. But knowing that and actually doing it are two very different things.

In a webinar this Thursday for former ETA CEO and business coach Jake Buettner will show you how to make the transition from overwhelmed owner operator to growth focused CEO. Regular listeners will recognize Jake from his appearance on the podcast last year. He's the one who bought a struggling it business for 600k and sold it a decade later for 35 million 11x on earnings.

Among the topics you'll learn this the shift from Hustle phase CEO to Growth Phase CEO. The seven attributes every scaling owner must develop, how to identify your biggest leadership bottleneck and the common mistakes that keep a business dependent on its owner. You'll also receive a diagnostic worksheet to pinpoint your highest impact.

Next steps the webinar is working on the business how owners make the transition and it is this Thursday, July 16th noon Eastern. Link to register is right at the top of this episode's show notes or on the Acquiring Minds homepage. Acquiring Minds 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. You know Enzo Technologies as one of the leading IT managed service providers serving the search community.

Led by Nick akers, an Acquiring Minds guest who bought the 35 year old business. The team at Enzo regularly works with searchers and their acquisitions and one feature of acquired businesses that INZO is seeing over and over is the need to implement cybersecurity promptly during the transition. So many acquired small businesses either have glaring vulnerabilities, lack security best practices or…

That step one to de risk the deal you just closed should be addressing these issues. INSO is your full service IT MSP for post close stability. They assess your target, surface the biggest risks in plain English and give you a day one through 30 plan to cut exposure, prevent downtime and even find cost takeouts like bloated telecom bills.

Check out enzotechnologies.com I N Z O or email Nick directly@nick zotechnologies.com Chris Farkas welcome to Acquiring Minds.

Thanks Will.