No SBA Loan and $75k Out of Pocket

In 1984. National Geographic had recently launched a travel magazine As a new title. It was called Traveler. My mother was on staff at Traveler in those years and in the Summer issue of 1984 is a piece that she authored on Charlottesville, Virginia.

And in that piece my mom writes of staying in a lovely historic home, a bed and breakfast. Quote Bed and breakfast. Stays at such historic homes, as well as at some luxurious estates scattered throughout the city and county are available through Charlottesville's guest houses.

Bed and Breakfast, Inc. End quote. Words my mom wrote in the early 80s. Well, last summer today's guest, Megan McGee bought that very business, Guest Houses.

I'll spare you the details of how we piece this together, but suffice it to say, a remarkable coincidence and a testament to the longevity of many of the businesses that entrepreneurs like Megan, like you acquire that history you find in some of these businesses. It's one of my favorite features of entrepreneurship through Acquisition.

Today's story is one that starts with a traditional search fund and ends with Megan's self funded search and acquisition. It was a business that checked new boxes that had emerged for her over a multi year search and one she bought with only $75,000 out of pocket and no SBA loan. Listen for how she structured things.

Megan bought quite small and in an operationally complex business, but despite the reputation of such businesses, it has not overwhelmed her and she's able to pay herself a full salary in a distribution. Besides, there is much to learn from Megan McGee's nearly five year journey to become a business owner.

Please enjoy A number of Acquiring Minds guests have reported being shocked by by the amount of time gobbled up by the paperwork, phone calls, overall logistics of transferring accounts from the previous owner's name to theirs. And unfortunately, all this work has to happen right at the beginning of the transition.

Well, this Thursday, Chelsea Wood of Acquisition Lab will host a webinar on getting tactical about what transition planning actually looks like.

In those first critical days after closing, you'll hear firsthand stories from lab members about things like opening new bank and payment processor accounts, moving registrations, utilities and insurance into your name, navigating access to the systems and passwords, vendors and subscriptions, setting up payroll and employee benefits.

These will be real lessons learned from lab members about what surprised them, what went smoothly, what didn't, and what they would plan differently next time. The goal is to help you avoid unnecessary friction during one of the most sensitive phases of ownership. That is this Thursday, March 12, noon Eastern.

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 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. Running payroll, paying your bills, closing your books, and producing financials. These are critical tasks every business owner must do or oversee.