Hey Biz Buyers,

If you’re new here, congrats — you’re 1 step closer to the room where it happens.

This is where we serve up Main Street insights, tips, and stories from inside our private biz-buying community.

So let’s get right down to business.

Before you dive in... Background, education, effort, and application will always affect your experience. The educational information contained here may not be typical and does not guarantee returns.

Today, in 5 minutes or less:

✔️ Take a look: The Main Street Accelerator Course

✔️ Real talk: Can you run a service biz remotely?

✔️ (9 NEW) cool things from Main Street

✔️ Some inspiration before you go…

Some of you have thought about biz buying for long enough…

We won’t name names. You know who you are.

If that’s you, it’s time to seriously consider our Main Street Accelerator Course.

It’s a brand new program designed from the ground up for learning the foundation of acquisitions (and taking action).

• Understand the tools, guidance, and steps to become an owner
  
  
• Create your “deal box” to spot the right deal for you
  
  
• Learn to evaluate businesses like a pro so they take you seriously
  
  
• Explore creative financing strategies to swing the deal in your favor

… And a whole lot more.

(Plus, it’s $200 off until midnight PST. Use Code OWNERSCLUB)

Real talk: Can you run a service biz remotely?

“Anyone have experience with running their service business remotely?”

One community member, Allen, recently posed this question to the group.

He was curious to hear about people’s experiences on the HVAC, plumbing, and lawn care spectrum.

“I’d like to know what it’s like. How often are you traveling to the location? What are your hours like? Stress? How well does it run? I’m trying to get a better perspective.”

Another member, Anna, jumped right in to lend a hand.

“I am running an HVAC business and I am in the business daily. For now. I’m happy to chat about the opposite side of it and what I see as possible or impossible and just share my personal experience if that would be helpful.”

Anna hails from “small town USA,” so some of her points are amplified by her location and regional culture, as she put it.

“I bought my HVAC business thinking I could run it remotely,” she explained. While she says her business definitely “cannot run remotely now,” the plan is to be at least mostly remote within a year.

“I think it may be possible to run remotely if you have a stellar operator to implant on day 1,” she says.

“But, in my case, I didn’t have that person. So, though my team had been running the shop while the former owners had been away, it proved incredibly valuable for me to be in the day-to-day.”

The top 5 things she’s learned:

1. “Relationships, relationships, relationships”

“Building relationships with my staff and community has proven vital to me. You learn your team in ways that I don’t think would be possible 100% remote. I also think it did wonders in allowing them to know me and TRUST me, my capabilities, and my intentions. Same with the community. My community engagement has opened unexpected doors for me.”

2. “Processes”

“Figuring out which processes are ACTUALLY in place (or not) — and developing processes that will work for your specific team and culture is much easier when you’re there day-to-day to observe the team.”

“In my example, I had asked a lot of questions about processes prior to buying, but when I got there, I realized that what I was told was pretty far off from reality. (Not maliciously, just… off).”

“Putting processes in place takes a specific type of in-house leadership that my team didn’t have. They have a great amount of technical expertise but not a lot of leadership / management / change management experience, so someone had to be there to guide this day-to-day.”

3. “Cost”

“I had a bunch of unexpected transition costs. So, not having the immediate expense of a big-time operator in place helped me still be profitable personally.”

4. Skillset knowledge

“Coming from outside the industry, being IN the business has helped me understand what I would really need in an operator, in terms of kills, traits, experience, etc.”

5. Industry knowledge

“Being IN the business has enabled me to learn about the industry itself more than I would have if I was remote. Learn what I like about it, what I don’t, and where I want to invest in my next biz. Hope that helps!”

(Oh, it helps alright. And this is just a taste of what you can find in the community — not just from our expert facilitators but from our members themselves, too. Pretty cool, right?)

(9 NEW) things we’re hearing on…

1. A marine veteran and landscape biz operator’s take on “core values”
   
   
2. How AI could improve a kitchen cabinet business
   
   
3. Our deep interview with Alex, the owner of that cabinet business
   
   
4. What’s easier on paper than in practice? Operating a company…
   
   
5. A small story about the opportunities in off-market searching
   
   
6. A street sweeping biz owner’s chicken and egg problem
   
   
7. Our wild interview with that owner (a former MLB player)
   
   
8. A hilarious clip about a family-run structural steel business…
   
   
9. Missed us last week? Catch up here.

Some inspiration before you go…

The following is a lightly edited excerpt from one member's post in our community’s “Mindset” channel…

Today I went to an event and realized how my mindset had changed.

The ability to see what’s possible now is infinite ♾

I walked in and I saw 2 opportunities right away, including a porta-potty.

I could never imagine buying this business before, but now the opportunity presents itself.

… And I’m seeing these opportunities everywhere.

Imagine for a moment you buy a cash-flowing business in a recession-resistant industry that sustains for years to come. It’s an amazing concept!

So stay the course and keep grinding.

Want to learn how to analyze deals? Yeah you do...

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