Take Five #027: A 49-tweet masterclass on how to structure your mini-Berkshire Hathaway, and more
Five takeaways we loved at Kumo this week
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Take Five #027: A 49-tweet masterclass on how to structure your mini-Berkshire Hathaway, and more
1. How To Buy A SaaS Business Via The SBA
A step-by-step walkthrough of how XO Capital is leveraging a SBA loan to buy their next SaaS— can’t wait for part two!
We have a deal under LOI right now that we plan on financing via the SBA. I'd like to document that process step-by-step since as far as I can tell, most of the Twitter advice on this is being shilled by charlatans who don't know jack about the process.
This information is from a dozen or so calls with various people or SBA lenders. Always do your own research.
From “How To Buy A SaaS Business Via The SBA - Part 1” by XO Capital
2. A 49-tweet masterclass on how to structure your mini-Berkshire Hathaway:
3. How one searcher narrowed down his focus
How David LaMore arrived at his decision to solely target B2B software businesses in his search:
In the first four months of my search, I dove into two particular niches with entirely different business models, one services-focused and one software, and what I found was somewhat surprising. In conversations with business owners, I sometimes struggled to articulate what I was looking for. Yes, I had a set of criteria, but they varied a bit based on the business model. Was I valuing the business on recurring revenue, EBITDA, or some combination of both? How should I be thinking about the quality of their revenues or their cost structure in general? I knew I needed to make a change to have more fruitful owner conversations.
After reflecting more on my first quarter lessons, I recognized that I could more effectively qualify opportunities and articulate my thesis with business owners by refining my focus exclusively on B2B software. I could double down to better understand the business model, communicate effectively with owners on what we’re looking for, and differentiate myself from others in a convoluted market. Further, its attractive business model provides the opportunity for equally high-quality revenue streams with increased scalability relative to services-based businesses. I won’t dive into the specifics of the SaaS business model but instead explain my logic on how reeling in my criteria helped certain aspects of my search.
From “Refining Your Focus” by David LaMore
4. Financial Accounting for SMBs 101
Great breakdown of some basic accounting principles:
5. Real talk from Reg Zeller, who is on his 7th deal right now:
“For the first 18 months, expect SMB ownership to be hell (and if it’s great, lucky you, you’re a unicorn). It gets easier as you get used to it, but you have to get through it, and it sucks.”
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