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In this episode, Ramsey breaks down why he bought a business he'd never shop in himself, how he got it financed after two banks turned him down, and what it takes to run it from another state.

◼️ Why a business he would never walk into as a customer turned out to be the only one that cleared every number on his list
◼️ How two banks turned him down over the category, and why he said no when the seller offered to finance the entire purchase
◼️ The visit he made to the store as an ordinary customer before he ever bought it, and what he was watching for
◼️ What running two stores from another state actually looks like, and why he says even when he's not there, he's there
◼️ Why he still has not taken a single dollar out of the business, and the three-year plan that changes that

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

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In this episode, Jay breaks down why he walked away from a 25-year Wall Street career to buy a business that was already running, how he closed a $2M deal in about seven months, and what his first month as an owner actually taught him.

◼️ Why he stopped building other people's wealth at a New York hedge fund and decided to own the whole thing himself
◼️ How he found his business within a day of joining and beat six other buyers without hiring a lawyer to write his offer
◼️ The add-backs he uncovered in diligence that pushed his multiple below 3x and lowered the price he paid
◼️ How a deal that was 30% real estate cleared SBA financing and an environmental review without blowing the timeline
◼️ What running a 40-year-old plant leasing business in 40 hours a week looks like with a 12-year manager on the day-to-day

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

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

In this episode, Mary breaks down how she went from a tech layoff to buying a $1.05 million medical billing business she knew nothing about, what her first year of ownership actually cost her, and how she has grown it 35% since taking over.

◼️ Why she let the previous owner keep 10% of the company instead of buying him out completely

◼️ The single client that made up too much of the revenue, and how she got a lender comfortable with it

◼️ How the business went from signing three new clients a year to a dozen in fifteen months

◼️ The one thing she skipped before closing that she would never skip again

◼️ Whether AI is coming for medical billing, from someone who runs one

Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (250,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/

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, Jay breaks down why he walked away from a 25-year Wall Street career to buy a business that was already running, how he closed a $2M deal in about seven months, and what his first month as an owner actually taught him.

◼️ Why he stopped building other people's wealth at a New York hedge fund and decided to own the whole thing himself
◼️ How he found his business within a day of joining and beat six other buyers without hiring a lawyer to write his offer
◼️ The add-backs he uncovered in diligence that pushed his multiple below 3x and lowered the price he paid
◼️ How a deal that was 30% real estate cleared SBA financing and an environmental review without blowing the timeline
◼️ What running a 40-year-old plant leasing business in 40 hours a week looks like with a 12-year manager on the day-to-day

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/

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

In this episode, Evan Stewart breaks down how he searched for years without quitting his day job, bought a 30-year-old commercial printing business making $1.7M a year in profit, and grew it past $3M in an industry most people write off as dying.

◼️ How he raised money from friends and family using a playbook from his political fundraising days (and the one question he used to cut his list)
◼️ The last-minute demand from the bank that nearly killed the deal, and the move by the sellers that saved it
◼️ Why he borrowed the absolute max the bank would give him for his first deal (he believes bigger is actually safer)
◼️ What happened when he realized he was "the dumbest person in the building," and how working second shift won over his 70-person team
◼️ The diligence mistake he regrets most: building model after model when he should have been studying the people

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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, Bailey breaks down why she stopped trusting Big Tech and bought a firm that's run since 1971, how she closed the $925K deal in six months without quitting her job, and what running it on 20 hours a week actually looks like.

◼️ Why she stopped trusting "the tech billionaires" to keep her employed and bought a business instead
◼️ How our team helped her kill the seller's balloon payment and land interest-only terms for the first two years
◼️ The rival buyer she beat out, even though the seller thought he was too "spreadsheet focused"
◼️ Why she drove her own car into a member's auto shop for an oil change, just to prove we weren't all "paid actors"
◼️ What running a $450K-a-year business on 20 hours a week looks like when you still have a full-time job

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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, Brian Seeling breaks down how he left a 15-year IT career, bought the very first business he ever looked at, and grew a boring commercial kitchen repair shop to almost $1.2M a quarter.

◼️ Why the first business he ever saw on BizBuySell ended up being the one he bought

◼️ The three separate times his deal fell apart before closing (and how he saved it each time)

◼️ The fine print that doubled his down payment mid-deal

◼️ How he's doubling revenue without chasing a single new customer

◼️ The no-cap commission structure that keeps his techs from milking the clock

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/

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

In this episode, David breaks down why he left 15 years of VC-backed startups to buy a 28-year-old lawn care business, how he closed with $50K down and no bank after an SBA rule change killed his first deal, and what he's doing to grow a company that hadn't added a new client in a decade.

◼️ Why a founder with an exit under his belt decided a lawn care business was the smarter bet
◼️ How an SBA rule change killed his first deal 60 days into due diligence, and the pivot that got him to the closing table anyway
◼️ The exact seller-financing structure behind a $179K close with $50K down and no bank or investors
◼️ How he rode the routes and rebuilt the P&L by hand to make sure he wasn't buying "a complete wreck of a business"
◼️ How a business that hadn't added a new client in 10 years is now adding 2 to 3 every week

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/