I run a whitewater rafting outfitter in Idaho. Two bases, 44 seasonal staff, 3.6x guest growth during my time as GM, highest rated in our market. Most intros here run the other direction, finance background looking for an operating role. Mine is the reverse. I have been operating for years and I want to own. My angle is owner dependency. The reason small service businesses trade at 3x or less is that the operating logic lives in one person's head, and a buyer cannot run it without them. I spent two seasons getting that knowledge out of my own head and into a system. Rafting has every constraint shape a small operation can have, certified staff, gear that can only be in one place at a time, permits, weather, turnaround windows across a hundred miles of river. Planning went from about 40 hours a week to about 4. I published the method and the results, including the parts that failed: justinsmith.build That is the thesis. The owner-dependency discount is real, and for most service businesses it is fixable in weeks, not years. I would rather buy that spread than consult on it. What I am looking for: service business in the West, owner-operator approaching an exit, real crews and real scheduling complexity. Seller note or SBA. I am not afraid of a business that runs on a whiteboard. That is the one I want. Happy to be a resource to anyone diligencing outdoor recreation, guiding, or seasonal-labor businesses. I know that model cold, including the parts that never show up in the P&L.