Considering Second Acquisition
May 01, 2023
by a searcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Los Angeles, CA, USA
I acquired my first business a little over two years ago. Since then, I have automated the processes of the business enough that I can now spend 20hrs a week on it - mostly focusing on sales/marketing and cash management (this is a capital intense biz).
I am now considering a second acquisition - roll-up/add-ons seem not to be an option currently as the broader industry the platform operates in is depressed. and the owners I have approached are not interested in selling at this time. As such, I am looking to acquire another company in an unrelated industry.
Wondering if anyone on the platform has gone through this and how they thought about diversifying their operating companies? Did you feel "ready" for the second acquisition?
from Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, USA
I owned an agency that was running mostly without me when I started looking for another company to acquire.
At first, I thought about an add-on, but I kind of wanted diversification, so I ended up buying a different but complimentary business.
My hope is to consolidate some of the back end operations and continue making acquisitions to build a portfolio of small companies that each stand on their own merits, but operate with higher profit because they share resources.
Point is, there's no right or wrong way to do this. Just keep making steps in whatever direction you want and you'll make progress.
from Universidad de La Coruña in London, UK