Who here has bought an existing business?

Very high level discussion I was having this week. Buddy of mine has acquired a few businesses in the last 5 years. 30 years old. All service related in a small county outside a Top 50 Metro. They own a pest control company, carpet/interior restoration, and appliance repair shop. They aren’t any of those things, simply growth minded entrepreneurs who acquired and brought on the expert to run the business. Pest guy wanted to kill pests and not handle books. Carpet guys just wanted to clean. So on and so forth.

Got me thinking, who here has acquired a business from a previous owner? What was your experience like? How did you pursue/uncover the opportunity? How’d you grow it once ownership taken over?

Feel like they’re are a lot of good cash flowing businesses, especial service related, that are out there and don’t market worth a damn and happy with what they have. Seems like lots of opportunity if the right business was injected with some new life. Plenty of Boomers running these with no energy or motivation to do anything different.