💻 Grant Writing Firm making $100k/yr!

Here’s what we have for you today:

Cool Business Idea: 

⛽️ "Gas-on-Demand" Subscription Service

Confusing Corporate Sayings:

“Great work this week, here is another assignment”

Professional Translation
“We want our best employees on the most important work“

Corporate Pivot Translation
“I messed around and became too important…“

Sam’s Perspective (1st Time Buyer)

🆕 Status Update: Making websites: I needed to create a site for the silk flower rental business, so I researched the best options. For any flower-related business, especially one aimed at brides or wedding planners, aesthetics are essential. Luckily, building a professional website without coding is now easier than ever. Three main platforms offer website building, hosting, and a URL at a reasonable cost: WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. Each costs around $12–$18 per month, but they vary in customization. More customization isn’t always a good thing though and might end up causing more headache to build and it might actually look a little worse. Squarespace is the opposite where it has little customization but you can launch much faster. Wix seemed to be the sweet spot between the two and that’s what we went with. Stay tuned for Simplysilkflowers.com. COMING SOON!

Tyler’s Perspective (Experienced Buyer)

🚨 Tip of the Week: Well, I’ve learned a lot about dealing with organic leads in the last few weeks. This past weekend Sam and I received some unfortunate news that the organic lead for a tourism company out of state wasn’t going to workout. Going into the deal, we thought we had buy-in from the seller/owner to stay on and be the operator of the business. That changed this week, and the seller/owner no longer wants to stay on as the operator. That obviously changes things significantly, and as a result, Sam and I decided to pass on it. For out of state leads specifically, we are looking for a true limited partner opportunity (i.e., to have an operating partner stay on and run the day-to-day operations). Fortunately, this was a smaller deal and not a life changer, but it’s always a bummer when a promising lead dies out. On to the next one. 

💰 Deals < $500k 💰

Business Name: Grant Writing Services Business
Revenue: $250,000
Asking Price: $334,900
Profit: $100,000 (Profit Margin = 40%)
Location: Albuquerque, NM (Relocatable)
Established: 2016

✅ Pros:

• Established Client Contracts: Contracts in place through 2024 and 2025, providing immediate income stability.

• Low Overhead: Operates as a home-based business with minimal equipment costs.

⚠️ Cons:

• Single Key Employee: Heavy reliance on key contract grant writers for service delivery, which could impact scalability.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Team: Adding more contract grant writers could increase service capacity and revenue.

• Increase Marketing Efforts: Target more nonprofits and funders nationally to build a broader client base.

💰💰 Deals $500k - $2m 💰💰

Business Name: Collection Agency
Revenue: $2,051,421
Asking Price: $750,000
Profit: $343,879 (Profit Margin = 17%)
Location: Orange County, FL
Established: 2016

✅ Pros:

• Consistent Growth: Strong revenue growth year-over-year.

• Diverse Clientele: Includes both small businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

⚠️ Cons:

• Fixed Costs: Monthly lease adds to operational expenses.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Expand Services: Introduce additional financial services for existing clients.

• Boost Marketing Efforts: Target industries with high collections demand for expansion.

💰💰💰 Deals $2m-$10m 💰💰💰

Business Name: Well-Established Chiropractic Business
Revenue: $1,514,940
Asking Price: $2,700,000
Profit: $1,189,334 (Profit Margin = 78%)
Location: Pensacola, FL
Established: 1988

✅ Pros:

• Long-Standing Reputation: Established in the community for over 30 years, with a loyal patient base.

• High Patient Volume: Servicing up to 120 patients per day, with a steady stream of new clients.

⚠️ Cons:

• Requirement for DC License: Buyer must be a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic, limiting the buyer pool.

📈 Growth Opportunities:

• Digital Marketing: Launching a website and social media campaigns could attract new patients.

• Expand Staffing: Hiring an additional chiropractor could increase service capacity and revenue.

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

The Lean Startup: Ch. 11 Part 1

Wow, we are at Chapter 11! We are going to about adapting. You know, similar to when you had a dad, and then he ran to get milk and got lost coming back home… I adapted and you can too, but this time in YOUR BUSINESS.

When Eric was the CTO of IMVU he thought he was doing a good job, but on a couple of occasions he realized that he’d actually been failing at his job! He struggled because he knew as the company grew, they would need additional processes and systems designed to coordinate the company’s operations at each larger size. As the CTO of a startup he didn’t want to make IMVU bureaucratic to become more “professional”. But having no system wasn’t an option. So many startups fail, so he had to figure out what to do next.

Most advice he had heard had suggested splitting the difference, basically engaging in a little planning but not too much. The problem is that it’s hard to give any rationale for why we should anticipate one particular problem but ignore another. Over time everyone will take the most polarizing position possible, which makes splitting the difference ever more difficult and ever less successful. Getting out of this trap requires a significant shift in thinking.

The question is: “Should a startup invest in a training program for new employees?” Early in IMVU would give you an emphatic NO. It requires a huge effort to standardize our work processes and prepare a curriculum of the concepts that new employees should learn. But when the mentors and mentees performances were linked the mentors took this education seriously. The training program evolved organically out of a methodical approach to evolving their own processes, that’s what Eric refers to as an adaptive organization (one that automatically adjusts its processes and performance to current conditions).

When are going too fast? Most of the book has emphasized SPEED. Startups are in a LIFE-OR-DEATH struggle to learn how to build a sustainable business before they run out of resources and die. They need built in speed regulators to help find their optimal pace! You cannot trade quality for time! Shortcuts taken in the product quality, design, or infrastructure today may wind up slowing a company down tomorrow!

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!