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Dec 2023
1h 25m

Opening Up to Franchises to Buy a Great ...

Will Smith
About this episode

How Doug Johns overcame his reservations about being a franchisee to acquire a dream business with $1.8m EBITDA. (Rebroadcast from September 2022.) 

Topics in Doug's interview:

  • Buying a franchise vs. independent business
  • Opening your mind to a franchise
  • The many (overlooked) benefits to being a franchisee
  • Calling yourself "independent investor" instead of "searcher"
  • Running a search like a B2B sales process
  • The appeal of a deal with few addbacks
  • Why home service businesses are so appealing as acquisitions
  • Loving, rather than running from, managing people
  • Why the top home service businesses have more sophisticated funnels than the Fortune 500
  • ServiceTitan
  • Where the opportunity is when the business you buy is already well-run and mature
  • Owning a plumbing company without knowing anything about plumbing
  • The numbers of Doug's deal
  • The exact multiple is way less important than you think
  • Using ROBS to buy the business
  • Why high growth can make a business harder to finance
  • Understanding debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) thresholds
  • Doug's tip for choosing an SBA lender
  • The $500k value of Doug's appeal to the seller
  • Going to meet a seller face to face

Reach Doug at:

  • doug DOT johns AT couffley DOT com
  • LinkedIn

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

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