🆕 Big Brain Biz: Tutoring Biz For Sale 🧠

Welcome Back to The Corporate Pivot!

If you’re stuck drafting an email that somehow makes "per my last message" sound polite, maybe it’s time for a pivot. The Corporate Pivot will help you leave behind passive-aggressive emails and start communicating on your own terms—building a business that truly belongs to you.

Confusing Corporate Saying of the Day:

“Word Soup”

Professional Translation: “A creative mix of industry jargon used to enhance communication and productivity.”

Corporate Pivot Translation: It’s a buzzword… for using buzzwords?! “Let’s just make stuff up and see if it sticks”

Here’s what we have for you today:

Sam’s Perspective (1st Time Buyer)

🆕 Status Update: Some exciting opportunities have come up this week, and there's a new platform in the mix: Bizscout.com. It works similarly to BizBuySell—set up your filters and start exploring. Worth a look.

Tyler and I are still sending out NDAs and searching for the right fit.

Quick update on the service business we were considering, where the idea was to have the existing manager take on a part-ownership role. Initially, this seemed like a promising setup since the manager had expressed interest in buying the business but didn't have the funds. However, after more discussion, it turns out he's not interested in being a partial owner. 

The owner made it clear that this business isn't for the faint of heart—he’s got 45 years of experience and leads by example, working alongside his team. In a small town, trust is everything, and that trust is very much tied to him. We both agreed that for the business to succeed, the manager would need to step up into an ownership role, while we'd handle the admin, billing, and strategy, focusing on automating their manual systems.

Ultimately, the manager decided it was 100% ownership or nothing. No hard feelings—it just means it's a pass for us. We’re not interested in buying ourselves a job, so we’re moving on to the next opportunity.

We're learning from every conversation, and remember: these business owners are just regular people. Don’t put them on a pedestal. If you’re here reading this, you’re already successful and ready for more. You’re likely just as capable and prepared to make deals happen. 

📚 Cool Business Idea: Halloween Decoration Service

If you live in or near a neighborhood with some disposable income, I’ve got news for you: people love paying for convenience. That’s exactly what gave one woman the idea to start offering Halloween decorating services using pumpkins and other crafts.

In Dallas and Houston, people are paying $300 for these pumpkin setups, and she even charges for removal. Ever drive by a house and think, "Wow, their decorations are amazing!"? Well, there’s a good chance they paid someone to do it. Just like the booming Christmas light setup business, where people fork over good money to avoid the hassle of ladders and tangled lights—because honestly, wrapping those lights around a tree takes way longer than it should.

And here’s the kicker: she scaled up to 15 employees and made $1 million in just 4 months. The key here is not to think about whether you would pay for it. Instead, think about finding the 1 out of 10 people who hear this idea and say, "I’d pay for that." That’s your market. And trust me, in the right neighborhood, there’s always someone who will.

Tyler’s Perspective (Multiple Businesses Owned)

🚨 Tip of the Week: If you haven’t already noticed, brokers in this industry are an interesting topic. If you can find a responsive and competent broker, you’ve hit the jackpot. This past week, I reached out to multiple brokers, on multiple listings, and have yet to hear a substantive response back. The process of getting information on leads that have a broker can often take much longer than we (as buyers/investors) would like. You’d think it’d be the opposite, and that the Seller and broker working on the Seller’s behalf would move as fast as possible to close a transaction, but that has not been my experience. Staying patient and diligent is key. Keep going. 

💰 Deals < $500k

Business Name: Tutoring & Test Prep Business
Revenue: $306,773
Asking Price: $145,000
Profit: $101,377 (Profit Multiple = 1.43)
Location: Greenville, SC
Established: 2016

✅ Pros:

• Established Client Base: Strong relationships with schools and positive Google reviews drive consistent demand.

• Recurring Revenue Streams: High demand for both school tutoring and college test prep provides steady cash flow.

⚠️ Cons:

• Absentee Ownership: Lack of owner involvement could lead to missed opportunities for growth.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Active Owner Involvement: An engaged owner can enhance marketing efforts and nurture school relationships for greater client acquisition.

• Community Outreach: Collaborating with more schools and programs can significantly expand the customer base.

💰💰 Deals $500k - $2m

Business Name: Lead Generation Firm for Medical Billing
Revenue: $646,139
Asking Price: $600,000
Profit: $147,734 (Profit Multiple = 4.06)
Location: Tampa, FL
Established: 2018

✅ Pros:

• SBA Pre-Qualified: Business is pre-qualified, which lowers the entry barrier for buyers.

• Fully Automated Workflows: The business operates with minimal owner involvement (less than 5 hours per week).

⚠️ Cons:

• Niche Market: The narrow focus on medical billing leads may limit market expansion opportunities.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Geographic Targeting: Utilize SEO and PPC to target medical billing clients in untapped regions.

• Increase Client Types: Expand services beyond medical billing to include other healthcare sectors.

💰💰💰Deals $2m-$10m

Business Name: Specialty Logistics for Hospitality Industry
Revenue: $4,273,402
Asking Price: $2,900,000
Profit: $1,051,366 (Profit Multiple = 2.76)
Location: Collier County, FL
Established: 2011

✅ Pros:

• Preferred Vendor Status: Long-term contracts with premium hospitality providers ensure a reliable income base.

• Scalable Business Model: Consistent demand with opportunities to expand operations to other regions.

⚠️ Cons:

• Owner Reluctance to Expand: Current owner hesitated to expand, which has limited potential growth.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Services Statewide: Respond to client requests for services in other parts of the state and country.

• Diversify Service Offerings: Add complementary services such as contracting, cleaning, and supply provisions.

The Lean Startup: Ch. 7 Part 5

Today we are going to continue to talk about Grockit and their utilization of kanban ideology as well as cohorts and split tests. No, I’m not talking about the flexibility tests you had with your elementary PE teacher, Coach Michael… You know, now that I think about it we had no sports at my elementary school, why did we call him Coach? 

Whatever, he couldn’t run his mile in less than 8 minutes, why did he think I could?! I was 9 years old, and chubby, obviously I was slow… Ok, less about my childhood trauma, more about this book we are supposed to be reading. Grockit changed they way they looked about metrics in two ways:

1. Cohort based metrics

2. Split test metrics

Instead of looking for cause-and-effect relationships after the fact they would launch new features as a true split test experiment. 

“A split-test experiment is one in which different versions of a product are offered to customers at the same time.”

So, a company may send 2 different company’s email newsletter, with the same information, to see what items are viewed more, or purchased. By seeing the changes between the two groups, a person could make inferences about the impact of the different variations. In our example, the emails would contain identical products but change the design. To figure out what design was effective, all you had to keep track of was the sales figures (or clicks) from each group of customers. The Lean Startup incorporates it directly into product development. 

These findings, discovered from split testing, led to changes in Grockit. Eric uses the example…

Read more at corppivot.com!

Hope you enjoy this week's insights and happy deal hunting! Remember, if you find these updates helpful, share this newsletter with a friend!

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