Where do I start?

For me, the foundational thing to understand...

The Search/Acquisition is the easy part and not the Purpose/Goal... The Business is... This means.... Leading, Operating, Managing, Improving, Growing and hopefully Scaling a business made up of human beings. Human beings who all are different, unique and have their own needs and wants.

It can be the hardest yet most rewarding thing. It can be a dream come true or your worst nightmare... At the end of the day, the business you acquire, own and operate is the Purpose.

Thus, have a Hyperopic view and not Myopic... What I mean is don't let the acquisition become what you do... It's just a means to achieve the Purpose (and again, the easy part). See the Forest and don't focus on the trees.

People get caught up in numbers and theory and such and forget they are actually buying a business filled with people that they most now lead, operate and grow. They see numbers and just treat them as facts now and the future as if it's a calculation. However, there is a good chance that the business is not the rosy picture it was painted out to be.

In Acquisitions, Risk management should be the driving force. For me, that starts with Acquisition strategy... I always advise clients or anyone looking to make acquisitions... The type of business matters.

I like to think of what I call... The Viscosity of a business... Does it flow easily (high viscosity) or is there alot of friction and pain... low viscosity.

Focus on high viscosity businesses, mitigate risk as much as possible and always remember the Purpose... Owning/operating the business you buy!

Hi Roy, I'm seconding Todd on reading every post on jimsteinesharpe.com. I also found ^Searchfunder member‌'s posts on SMEVentures really helpful starting out. Credits to ^Searchfunder member‌ here -- the Hadley Family Capital website has the most comprehensive list of search-related resources I've seen. https://hadleyfamilycapital.com/resources/ Hope this helps