🚗 Chauffeur Transport Service Making $213k/yr!

Here’s what we have for you today:

Cool Business Idea: 

Mobile Lockers 🔒

Confusing Corporate Sayings:

“Your presentation was surprisingly clear this time!”

Professional Translation
“You did an excellent job and keep up the good work!“

Corporate Pivot Translation
“There’s no such thing as a good job, only a slightly less bad one.“

Sam’s Perspective (1st Time Buyer)

🆕 Status Update: We’ve got a meeting lined up with the hydraulics repair business, one of the listings featured in the 11/7 newsletter. You can check out the original BizBuySell listing linked in that issue. Not all brokers are created equal, but this one stands out—extremely responsive and even equipped with a Calendly link for scheduling calls. Our conversation is set for next Wednesday, and it should be pretty informative.

If you’re like many readers of this newsletter, you’re balancing a full-time job and have worked hard to build your savings. The last thing you want is to buy yourself another job. The goal here is clear: find a business with an operator who’s either willing to stay on or stick around long enough for you to find a solid replacement. This way, we can focus on implementing systems for efficiency without getting bogged down in day-to-day operations.

📚 Lessons Learned: Once we close on a business, this section will have a lot more to offer. For now, here’s a quick tip on financing your purchase: you don’t need all the cash upfront. You have options:

• SBA Loans: Cover up to 90% of the purchase price.

• Seller Financing: Negotiate for the seller to finance a portion of the deal.

• Creative Financing: Bring in another interested party for ~15% equity to cover the remaining 10% down payment.

With these tools, it’s entirely possible to get into a deal with $0 out of pocket. I’ll be adding a resource to the Tools section soon to break down all the financing options step-by-step.

Tyler’s Perspective (Experienced Buyer)

🚨 Tip of the Week: Year end can be tough. Not only do a lot of leads go cold, but responsiveness seems to get worse, and people seem to do everything they can to push things until “after the holidays.” I view this time as the perfect time to focus on strategy and to catch up on organizing the active leads you have. At a minimum, the down time allows you to reach out and follow up on cold leads to pick back up after the holidays are over. Also, it may give you some time to tighten up your existing processes. For example, it may give you time to really sit and think about what industries you are interested in, and allow you to narrow down your search and receive many more meaningful. Who knows, maybe you’ll have your breakthrough while you’re watching football and crushing your favorite Thanksgiving food. 

💰 Deals < $500k 💰

💰 Deals < $500k

Business Name: Yacht Services
Revenue: $414,208
Asking Price: $395,000
Profit: $193,112 (Profit Margin = 46.6%)
Location: Martin County, FL
Established: 1997

✅ Pros:

• Established Client Base: Long-standing clientele with 25-30 boats serviced year-round, providing reliable revenue.

• Semi-Absentee Ownership: Owner involvement limited to 20-25 hours per week, allowing for flexible management.

⚠️ Cons:

• Seasonal Demand Variability: Boat servicing requirements may fluctuate with travel and storage schedules.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Service Offerings: Introduce additional services such as yacht maintenance contracts or concierge packages.

• Increase Client Reach: Target nearby marinas and yacht clubs to grow the customer base.

💰💰 Deals $500k - $2m 💰💰

Business Name: Chauffeured Transportation Company
Revenue: $680,971
Asking Price: $550,000
Profit: $212,686 (Profit Margin = 31.2%)
Location: Leon County, FL
Established: 1989

✅ Pros:

• Repeat Clientele: Strong database of 1,000+ repeat clients ensures consistent business.

• Diverse Fleet: Well-maintained fleet, including limousines and high-top vans, to serve a variety of clientele needs.

⚠️ Cons:

• High Overhead: Maintenance and lease costs for the fleet and facilities contribute to overhead expenses.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Corporate Partnerships: Develop contracts with local businesses for recurring corporate transport services.

• Expand Marketing Reach: Utilize digital advertising to attract event-based transportation demand, especially in nearby regions.

💰💰💰 Deals $2m-$10m 💰💰💰

Business Name: Waste Disposal & Environmental Cleanup
Revenue: $6,335,868
Asking Price: $4,895,000
Profit: $979,115 (Profit Margin = 15.5%)
Location: Alberta, Canada
Established: 1999

✅ Pros:

• Diverse Clientele: Services 250 clients, with recurring contracts from municipalities and utility companies.

• High-Value Equipment: Owns over $2.6M in equipment, ensuring operational capability and collateral value.

⚠️ Cons:

• Environmental Regulations: Subject to stringent regulations which may impact operational flexibility and cost.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Service Coverage: Offer services across additional Canadian provinces or U.S. markets.

• Increase Recurring Contracts: Target more long-term contracts with government entities for predictable revenue.

**If today is your first day reading, go to Chapter Recaps to get up to speed!

The Lean Startup: Ch. 11 Part 2

Damn, we are at chapter 11 part 2. If you are reading along you may realize we have made it super far. Like so far the pages are thicker than my first girlfriend… sorry Jordyn.

Regardless, we are here to talk at the Lean Startup and I’ll be damned unless we do. To accelerate, lean startups need a process that provides a natural feedback loop. Adaptive processes force them to slow down, and as those processes pay off, they will naturally speed up! But the question is how do you decide if the investment in training is worth the benefit of speed due to reduced interruptions? It requires two completely unknown quantities:

1. How much it will cost to build an unknown program?

2. What is the benefit you will reap?

That’s why Eric brings in the Five Whys… and if you’ve ever been around my nephew Kenny he KNOWS about asking about whys. He must’ve read this book. No Kenny, I don’t know why water is wet, but I do know why your mom drinks a lot of wine… it’s because of you Kenny…

The intent is to tie investments directly to the prevention of the most problematic symptoms. By asking why FIVE times you can get to the route of the issue. Read Taiichi Ohno’s example from Toyota (yes, another Toyota reference) on page 230 if you want an in-depth example. It focuses the issues from a technical fault towards a human error. 

You should consistently make a proportional investment at each of the five levels of the hierarchy. The investment should be smaller when the symptom is minor and larger when the symptom is more painful. 

The Five Whys acts like a speed regulator. As investment in infrastructure or processes pay off, the severity and number of crises are reduced and the team speeds up again. It ties the rate of progress to learning, not just execution. Some engineers (nerds) believe they can derive other Lean Startup techniques from the Five Whys. Coupled with working in small batches it provides the foundation a company needs to respond quickly to problems as they appear, without overinvesting or over engineering. 

There are common pitfalls to the Five Whys. We tend to get frustrated if things happen that we did not anticipate. Eric calls it the Five Blames. Frustrated teammates can start pointing fingers at each other, trying to decide who is at fault. Talk about dysfunctional.

We need to look at as bad processes, as opposed to bad people. The first tactic to escape the Five Blames it to make sure that everyone affected by the problem is in the room during the analysis of the root cause. You should approach it as “if a mistake happens, shame on us for making it so easy to make that mistake”.

For the Five Whys to work properly, there should be rules that must be followed. There needs to be an environment of mutual trust and empowerment. If this is lacking Eric suggests 2 rules:

1. Be tolerant of all mistakes the first time.

2. Never allow the same mistake to be made twice.

As always, if you want to discuss topics of this chapter (or any previous or future chapters) join our Discord channel.

Read more at corppivot.com!