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In this episode, Derrick breaks down why a laid-off finance guy bought a Seattle landscaping business, how he picked the industry by betting on what AI can't easily replace, and what the brutal first six months of ownership actually taught him.

◼️ The part of the business he never saw coming until he took over, and found himself doing four people's jobs at once

◼️ Why he closed the deal without the seller financing he'd always been taught to require, and what made him trust it anyway

◼️ How he lost this deal to another buyer, then won it back a month later

◼️ The AI tools and field software he used to run the business leaner than its previous owner ever did

◼️ Why the first six months had him asking why anyone does this, and the hire that finally turned it around

Follow Helen:
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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In this episode, Deborah breaks down why AI pushed her to start looking for a business of her own, how she and her husband closed on an $887K bath and kitchen remodeling company after 15 lenders turned her down, and what the first three months of actually owning it looked like.

◼️ The 18% drop in revenue that made 15 lenders in a row say no, and what she found when she pushed the seller for the real reason

◼️ Why she had ruled out franchises completely, and the one that changed her mind

◼️ How she put the down payment together, and the move that kept a lien off her house

◼️ Why the day she took over was one of the worst days for the people already working there

◼️ The two hours she spent building an AI setup that cut her proposal time in half

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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In this episode, Ronnie breaks down why he walked away from the company he'd run for 18 years to buy one that was finally his own, how he bought a $3.5M flooring company in Charleston without putting his wife or their paid-off home on the loan, and what it took to keep it running when the man who ran everything quit a month after closing.

◼️ The man who ran the entire company quit one month after closing, and why they now call it the best thing that could have happened

◼️ Why they spend nothing on marketing and still can't get the phone to stop ringing

◼️ How they closed their SBA loan one day before the government shutdown froze new SBA lending across the country

◼️ The imported tile that forced them to rip out a finished backsplash at their own cost, and the rule they made so it never happens again

◼️ What a longtime flooring rep told Ronnie he was doing that people with 20 years in the trade weren't

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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In this episode, Amy breaks down how she bought an 18-person Los Angeles law firm clearing about $670K/yr with roughly 11% down, why she spent a year chasing HVAC and auto repair before she ever searched for a law firm, and what her first month as the new owner actually looked like.

◼️ The listing she passed on a year earlier, and the reason it came back

◼️ The question a friend asked her that had her searching law firms the next day

◼️ The 4 or 5 accepted offers that fell apart before this one, and what kept killing them inside 2 weeks

◼️ The bank with the better rates that almost cost her the deal, and who she closed with instead

◼️ What the firm's most senior person told her over dinner, days before she closed

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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In this episode, Clem breaks down how he bought a $1M marketing agency with only 5% down, why the first year nearly broke it, and how he rebuilt it to run on just a few hours a week.

◼️ How he got the seller to finance a big chunk of the deal so he barely had to put any money in

◼️ The 30% revenue drop that hit within months of closing, and the month he sat frozen before acting on it

◼️ Why his fix for a shrinking business was to make it even smaller on purpose

◼️ How he pulled off the entire turnaround without ever quitting his day job

◼️ The second business he quietly built with the agency's own cash, and why he calls buying the agency his biggest mistake

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

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In this episode, Aaron breaks down how he left the real estate grind to buy an online business he can run from anywhere, the financing curveball that nearly killed the deal a week before closing, and what the first three months of actually owning it have really been like.

◼️ The niche so specific he says there's no other company like it anywhere, and why that is exactly what made him want to buy it

◼️ Why he walked away from years of flipping houses and holding rentals to go all in on a business he could run from a laptop

◼️ The $800K deal that almost fell apart when his bank pulled out a week before closing, and how he and his wife saved it in days

◼️ Why he is now working 60 to 70 hours a week on a business the previous owner ran in just 10

◼️ The honest truth about his first three months as an owner, including the slump most people never warn you about

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-066745

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In this episode, Reid breaks down how he bought an $895k manufacturing business on Kauai, Hawaii without quitting the offshore job he'd worked for 15 years, and how he runs it from his home in Las Vegas.

◼️ Why he almost skipped the listing, and the conversation at home that changed his mind
◼️ Why the seller picked him over two other buyers who offered similar money
◼️ The state filing quoted at 15 days that took 10 weeks and put the whole deal on hold
◼️ The deal before this one, and what killed it after he'd already flown out to meet the seller
◼️ Why the roofing side of the business never worried him, and what did

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt

In this episode, Kyle breaks down why he left a stable corporate career to buy his own company, how he funded the deal without an SBA loan or a bank, and what it took to close a deal that fell apart three times before it finally happened.

◼️ How he found the company at a basketball game, from an owner who wasn't even looking to sell
◼️ How he bought a business far bigger than he could afford, without an SBA loan or a bank, after pitching around 60 investors
◼️ The $40,000 he paid out of his own pocket that exposed a problem big enough to change the entire price
◼️ The night the deal collapsed at the signing table, and why he refused to walk away after it fell apart three times
◼️ How the competitor he set out to beat ended up funding the deal and merging into his company

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

Follow Helen:
Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/