Happy Monday!
One of the biggest myths in business acquisition is that you need industry experience to succeed.
Today I’m sharing a story that proves otherwise:
Avi, an M&A attorney, who bought a SaaS business in an industry he knew nothing about, and closed the deal in 4 months (while working full-time).
Community Spotlight
Before we dive in to Avi’s story, I wanted to highlight a really cool win from our Acquisition Ace community.
Kevin and his brother bought a $1.4M excavation company doing $2.5-3M in revenue after joining Acquisition Ace, and had this to say…
“Ben has been an invaluable resource... he’s helped us look at deals, structure deals, understand what red flags are. The community aspect of it has been huge… having other people to bounce ideas off of. It’s been a game changer for us."
👉 Want access to deal review and a community of experienced buyers? Book a call with our team here.
Avi is an M&A attorney who had experience working on 30+ deals from the legal side.
But he’d never been a buyer, and knew nothing about analyzing financials or making business decisions.
Four months after joining Acquisition Ace, he closed on a Bible study subscription business for $310K that generates $180K in annual cash flow.
Here's the full breakdown 👇
Finding the Deal
Avi initially looked at service businesses like HVAC and plumbing companies but pivoted when he realized New York rents made local businesses difficult.
He decided an online business would be better, as he wouldn’t have to deal with a physical location, employees, and could pull it off completely remote.
He found Amazing Words on Flippa, a brokerage specializing in e-commerce and SaaS businesses.
The company sells Bible study guides and bite-sized summaries in book format, plus a weekly subscription sending study guides to subscribers.
The business was almost entirely automated with systems already built on Shopify, automated Facebook ad campaigns, and one Filipino VA handling customer support.
(Members inside Acquisition Ace learn how to evaluate online businesses and structure creative financing when traditional paths don’t work. If you’d like to learn those strategies, book a call with our team here)
The Deal Breakdown
Original listing price: $415K
LOI price: $385K
Final purchase price: $310K (negotiated down after discovering SBA financing wasn’t available)
Cash flow: $180K annually (actually $200K projected for year one)
The seller had commingled financials across multiple businesses under one LLC, making SBA financing impossible, giving Avi leverage to negotiate the price down significantly.
He structured the deal using friends and family financing with debt terms, planning to refinance within 1-2 years once the business has clean tax returns.
His all-in cash plus debt service ended up being roughly half what the business was actually worth based on SaaS multiples.
What He’s Doing Now
Avi works 5-10 hours per week on the business while keeping his full-time M&A attorney job.
The business runs almost entirely on autopilot, with one VA handling emails and refunds, automated Facebook ads, and Shopify handling everything from order to delivery.
After $45K in annual debt service, Avi nets $135K, for a 100% cash-on-cash return in year one.
His growth plan is to translate the best-selling products into Spanish, French, and German to reach new audiences.
(Interestingly, the seller had received constant requests for translations, but never acted on them!)
His Key Lesson
“You don’t know what you don’t know. I went into this thinking I’d buy a service business, but I only figured out what I actually wanted by looking at tons of deals and getting reps in.”
Avi sent out dozens of inquiries, reviewed countless sims, and stayed flexible.
And ultimately, he ended up with a deal 10x better than what he originally imagined.
Ready to find and close your first acquisition?
Join the Acquisition Ace community with 2,000+ members who are learning to find, finance, and close deals just like Avi.
To see if it’s a good fit for you…
