Think Big, Buy Small

Entrepreneurship through acquisition doesn't always begin with a formal search. In this episode, Rick and Royce talk with Aaron Wyatt, an entrepreneur who built his business organically after leaving a sales job to become an independent manufacturer's representative. Aaron shares how he grew his business by deepening relationships with customers and family-owned manufacturers, while deliberately adding complementary product lines. He also reflects on the risks of leaving W2 employment and why, for him, those risks felt manageable when viewed as simply taking the next step. Aaron has since taken another step in his journey, purchasing a garage door service company with a longtime friend. He discusses what attracted them to the business, how they approached the transition with employees, the small operational changes that helped improve performance, and why they chose a buy-and-hold strategy rather than pursuing a quick exit. Along the way, Rick and Royce explore what Aaron's journey reveals about the many paths into acquisition entrepreneurship, and why existing entrepreneurs may be an important, though often overlooked, group of business buyers. This episode serves as a reminder that, for some entrepreneurs, the path to owning a business isn't necessarily a formal search but simply recognizing the next opportunity and being willing to take it. 

Jeff Stevens, one of the earliest searchers and a longtime investor in the ETA ecosystem, joins Rick and Royce to discuss how search has evolved over the past thirty-five years. In this episode, he reflects on the early days of search, when the model was largely uncharted territory, and contrasts that experience with searching in today’s more developed – but still challenging – landscape. Jeff discusses why searchers should focus on building relationships and credibility with business owners, how technology has transformed the sourcing process, and the trade-offs between industry-focused, geographically focused, funded, and self-funded searches. He also shares his perspective on the growing overlap between search and private equity, the role of the entrepreneur-CEO in creating value, and why he believes the traditional search model’s emphasis on managing risk and buying strong businesses remains powerful. They also delve into why search success rates have declined as the ecosystem has grown, the changing role of investors, and the importance of distinguishing between simply buying a company and buying a great company. Tune in to this engaging conversation to hear how one of ETA’s original practitioners views the opportunities and challenges facing the next generation of searchers.

After a self-funded search led to the acquisition of Ally Waste in 2020, James Crawley grew the company more than thirty-five-fold. What did it take to scale the business from a handful of employees to a nationwide operation, with hundreds of team members working independently across dozens of states? Many entrepreneurs focus on systems and processes when growing a business. James, however, argues that culture deserves equal attention. In this episode, he explains how a clearly defined mission and a set of core values – including an unusual "no jerks" policy – became the foundation for scaling Ally Waste. James also discusses why culture is more than a set of aspirational statements, how it shapes hiring and management decisions, why investing in people can become a lasting competitive advantage, and how leadership is ultimately about developing people who serve others. Whether you're acquiring a small business or leading a growing organization, tune in to learn how an intentional culture can become one of the most powerful tools for driving performance, building loyalty, and sustaining long-term growth.

It's always fascinating to hear the journey of someone who doesn't have a conventional MBA background but still finds their way to ETA, identifies high-quality acquisition opportunities, and then successfully buys and operates a small business. In this episode, we meet Tom Allsworth, who was in the Merchant Marine Academy and the Marines Corps, followed by some work experience at home and abroad, before acquiring Pacific Opportunities, a company that helps adults who experience intellectual or developmental disabilities to find and maintain employment. In 2024, he closed on a second acquisition, Trellis, to further expand his service offerings. In this conversation, Tom reflects on the process of finding and acquiring Pacific Opportunities, including why he considered himself to be “the luckiest guy in the world”; the magic in the multiples, but also how the multiple can change depending on which factors are included in one’s calculations; stroke-of-pen risk in government funded services; leadership, company culture, and building organizations with meaningful community impact; and more. Tom’s story is both inspiring and instructive – a compelling reminder that there’s no single path into ETA, and that diverse experiences can be powerful assets on the road to becoming an acquisition entrepreneur.

Jeff Homer is the founder of Ensemble Performing Arts, an organization that provides back-of-house support to music schools, allowing teachers to focus on what’s most important to them, excellence in music education. Though there are now over seventy music schools under Ensemble’s umbrella, it all began with Jeff’s acquisition of a single school in Colorado, initially meant as a side hustle that would allow him to both work at his day job in a family office and to pursue his passion for music. What he discovered along the way, as he began to roll up more music schools around the country, is that many of these founders are immensely talented musicians but are far less interested in, and have not been trained to carry out, the administrative burden that goes hand-in-hand with music school operations. In this conversation, Rick and Royce ask Jeff for his thoughts on the value of lower market roll-ups and why he believes music schools to be high-quality businesses. They also discuss the perils of part-time search, and those rare instances when it just might work; why, in hiring, Jeff selects for senior leaders who have an affinity for music; his approach to financing the many acquisitions he's made; why Jeff decided against rebranding the schools that he acquired; his vision of the future for Ensemble; and more. Listeners will gain insights on not only creating value in a roll-up but also on finding creative niches in the marketplace to roll-up. It’s a fascinating conversation!

At the end of each episode, Rick and Royce ask listeners to reach out with any questions they may have related to entrepreneurship through acquisition. In response, we’ve heard from people at all stages of their entrepreneurship through acquisition journeys, along with other stakeholders in search. Now, in the final episode of Season Two, our hosts address many of the queries that were received. This wide-ranging discussion includes reflections on how undergraduates can begin to think about the ETA path; traits of successful acquisition entrepreneurs – and whether they’re innate or can be learned; insights on financial modeling and valuation; whether franchises are appealing acquisition targets; mistakes to be avoided in due diligence; trade-offs for investors considering traditional versus self-funded opportunities; artificial intelligence, and more. Rick and Royce also share their thoughts on whether there are ETA-related topics on which they disagree – and they look ahead to Season Three!

In the last three years, Adriana Garcia Ceja graduated from Harvard Business School, became a mother and, after a funded search, acquired an aging life care management business called ElderTree. Many would-be CEOs set out on their searches primarily wanting to experience the joys of operating a small business, while being more agnostic about what the company does. This was not the case for Adriana, who from the outset wanted to acquire either an addiction recovery center or a company in the elder care space, searching for a business that she believed contributed to the greater good. In this discussion, she reflects on how the mission-driven aspect of her search was instrumental in fundraising conversations; the experience of closing on a business while being thirteen weeks pregnant; how and why the ETA career path can align so well for women; the merits and potential downsides of having an MBA while searching; her future plans for the company; and more. Tune in to learn about Adriana’s distinct journey and why she’s now so well positioned for both personal and professional success.