Baby Steps Into A Search Fund/micro Pe?

BABY STEPS INTO A SEARCH FUND/MICRO PE?

While I don't have plans to start a search fund in the near future, acquiring a business or starting a Micro PE fund is something I"m extremely interested in the long-term. I've ran across a few geographically based micro PE firms and am very intrigued.

Are there any ideas for baby steps down this path without actually searching for/buying a company, specifically with a geographic focus?

Some ideas I've had with intent of getting more small business experience & getting to know the community more:
- offer pro bono (to start) consulting services to small businesses (with current network believe I could get a few companies)
- start a podcast interviewing local business owners (again, geographically focused)

what do you think? are there any other ideas?

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searcher Creighton University - Heider College of Business - 10/20/2020

Read this twice: https://www.amazon.com/HBR-Guide-Buying-Small-Business-ebook/dp/B01KP33K4Y And listen to Alex's podcast episodes: https://www.alexbridgeman.com/podcast

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searcher New York University Colgate University - 10/20/2020

There are many ways to do this. Identify an industry of interest and then start to see who covers that industry. There are over 30M SMBs in the U.S. - lots of opportunities!

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admin Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management Taylor University Stanford University - Graduate School of Business - 10/20/2020

^[redacted]‌ - In addition to the comments you receive here, you should check out the Intro to Searchfunds link here: https://www.searchfunder.com/timeline/resources. You could also consider making a personal goal of reading, say, one IBISWorld report a day. If you did this consistently for a couple of years, you would have a huge head start. You can find IBISWorld reports by searching "IBISWorld" plus relevant the industry. Here is the direct link: https://www.searchfunder.com/ibisworld/

like reply | 3 likes

searcher University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business - 10/21/2020

From the get your feet wet first approach, I've been building up my self funded search fund by buying smaller businesses, mostly digital sites and such. Just sold a collection of affiliate content sites for about 2.5X of what I bought them for 9 months ago. Putting that into a few slightly larger properties that are directionally correct with my longer term goals. This next step will be to use these new properties as the foundation of my search for businesses in the $2.5 to $8 million range.

Also look at the microaquistions course, check out flippa or such. Buy something small with a little revenue, make sure you can lose that money if you had to, play with it and see if you can grow it. Their are all sorts of crazy niche marketplaces beyond websites. The skills you'll need for a more traditional search fund will probably be a bit more sophisticated but you will find out a lot about your gut by going through these steps while you're still figuring out your long term goals.

searcher Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology - 10/22/2020

This is a great recommendation. I've thought about buying a small etsy/shopify business before but reading this help me put it in a new context. Thanks for your insights!

searcher University of South Carolina - Darla Moore School of Business - 10/23/2020

Feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat about it or have any questions.

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searcher Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology - 10/23/2020

After I've had a chance to dig into some of the recommended resources I will definitely do that. Thank you!

searcher University of Wisconsin - Madison - 10/21/2020

Hello Kreigh,

I'm currently running a self-funded search that's backed by prominent investors who have completed successful searches themselves. Please message me if you will like to get some hands-on experience in addition to the recommended readings above.

BABY STEPS INTO A SEARCH FUND/MICRO PE?

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