268 - The Scrappy Path of a One-Man Holdco
Today's story captures one of my favorite themes about buying businesses. That it is a path forward for the hungry entrepreneur who otherwise feels stuck. Maybe you don't have an idea. Or maybe, like today's guest, you already have a business, but it's reached its potential and you don't see it growing anymore. But what you do have is the energy. The appetite to build. Dustin Carreon had a small business that sourced & supplied hard-to-find electronics parts. It could kick off nice profits, but sales swung from year to year from $1m to $3m, so quality of revenue wasn't great. And more importantly, he didn't see a path to growing it further. So Dustin decided to take his profits from that business, and start buying others. Using low-quality revenue to buy high-quality revenue. 7 years later, and he has acquired 4 businesses, and his holdco will hit $20m in revenue this year. He owns 100% of it. And just as important as the money is the fulfillment. Dustin's words: "I am so excited, man... It's a dream... And I don't know what I did to deserve this, I'm just absolutely having fun. I love what I do and I love finding businesses and this is the best thing for a career that's ever happened to me." Here is Dustin Carreon, owner and builder of COI Holdings.