They Got Acquired - Legal legend

May 26, 2023
​Read on web​

Today’s story is about The Contract Shop, an e-commerce store that sells contracts and other legal templates to entrepreneurs.

The founder, Christine Scalera, is a lawyer who landed her dream job as an in-house trademark attorney right out of law school. But then she had an unexpected reaction.

“I had this moment of, holy crap, I’m just going to wake up every day for the next 50 years of my life, and put makeup on and go through traffic,” she said.

She started her e-commerce business in 2015, had her first 6-figure month in 2018, and quit her job as a lawyer to focus on the company full time in 2019.

In 2022, with $500,000 in annual revenue, she sold for a low-7-figure sum.

Reasons to appreciate this story:

✅ She’s a lawyer who found another, more enjoyable way to earn a living

✅ The business is brilliant — she productized a service many entrepreneurs need: legal support

✅ When she got a valuation for her business, it was worth far more than she expected (this is rare; entrepreneurs who get a valuation for the first time often expect their business to be worth more than it is)

✅ Because she wasn’t selling physical products, her margin was likely higher than other e-commerce shops, which is perhaps one of the reasons she was able to sell for a 3.6x multiple of annual revenue

Dig into the story:

​She used her law expertise to grow an e-commerce store selling contract templates​

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Alexis Grant @alexisgrant Founders: Focus on PROFITABILITY. It kills me every time I talk with a founder who wants to sell and has millions in revenue... but profit is barely there. Buyers want profit. And you deserve profit as you're running the business! May 13th 2023 0 Retweets 10 Likes

See you next time,

Lexi Grant
Founder & CEO
​They Got Acquired​
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P.S. We're looking to partner with an exclusive sponsor for Season 2 of our podcast. 🎙️

Our audience is still relatively small, yet highly engaged. Some founders say they binged all of Season 1 once they realized selling was a possibility.

Season 2 will focus on short, how-to episodes, giving founders the practical information they crave. They'll hear about our sponsor on every episode, so it's a great opportunity to make your brand known by founders looking to sell.
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Reply if you want details!

Editor's note: This email contains an affiliate link from one of our partners.

🙌 How we can help

Here's what we offer for founders looking to sell in the next year:

- One-hour course on how to sell your business​

- Help choosing an advisor or broker you can trust

- M&A coaching if you have a potential buyer or want to approach buyers on your own

- A sounding board (free call) if you're not sure where to start

- Reports full of case studies and data about other founders who sold

- Posts covering the basics of how to sell your business​