I've been searching for an accounting firm to buy for a couple of months, and it seems to me that anything doing over a million dollars of revenue annually sells relatively quickly. There are a lot of buyers in that space. Because of this competition and the value of those companies, I wondered if I could accomplish a similar goal by buying smaller firms and assembling three or four in a short period of time to accomplish the same end. The obvious risks I see would be: - Limited revenue to pay myself a salary and have enough cashflow scale to move the business forward in the near term. - Overall limited economies of scale. About the same amount of work on my end for less pay. - Potential infighting if firms have different cultures and approaches to things. On the positive side, though, I see: - A much easier ability to obtain seller financing and at a larger percentage of the purchase price. - Purchase prices at a lower multiple. - Less competition from other buyers. - Less sophisticated sellers with fewer options. - Speeding up the overall acquisition process and getting into ownership faster. Has anyone ever done something like this? What thoughts or things am I missing as I consider this sort of play?