Happy Wednesday!
Yesterday, I covered the most important priority in your first week of ownership: locking in your key employees before anyone starts quietly looking for the exit.
Today I want to cover what comes next:
The vendor relationships that new owners consistently underestimate, and the operating rhythm that makes everything sustainable going forward.
Adam bought 50% of a $2M residential mortgage brokerage and AI software company with one of the most creative structures I’ve seen:
75% seller-financed on a 10-year full standby note.
He put $200K down, immediately started collecting $5K/month in guaranteed payments (replacing his W2 salary), and now owns half of a business expanding from 8 states to all 50 states with new banking partnerships.
The seller wasn’t motivated by money, he just wanted a strategic partner…
And Adam won him over by offering to handle backend operations so the seller could focus on growth.
👉 Want to learn creative deal structures that protect your downside? Book a call with our team here.
Week two: get ahead of your vendors
New ownership creates an opening for vendors to test you.
Some will try to renegotiate pricing or assume you don’t know what the previous owner was paying.
A few will wait to see whether you’re worth taking seriously before deciding how to treat you.
The best move is a warm introduction from the previous owner before they’re fully out the door.
Have them personally connect you with your key vendors (in person if they’re local, by phone if not).
That handoff carries a credibility that an email from a new owner never will
Follow those introductions up with something personal and low-key, like a genuine check-in call, a small gesture of appreciation, a note that shows you paid attention to the conversation.
Vendors who feel respected by new ownership are significantly less likely to raise prices, and significantly more likely to show up for you when something goes sideways.
This costs almost nothing and can save you thousands in the first year alone.
(In Acquisition Ace, members learn how to manage the full ownership transition, from employee retention to vendor relationships to the systems that keep everything running. If you’d like to learn that, too, book a call with our team here.)
Weeks three and four: build your operating rhythm
By the start of your third week, you should be establishing the management cadence that will define your ownership going forward.
At minimum, that means a standing weekly meeting with whoever is running day-to-day operations, and:
- Reviewing performance
- Discussing what the team is dealing with
- Flagging anything that needs your attention
- And making sure the week ahead has a clear direction
This is the meeting that keeps you informed without pulling you into the weeds.
It’s how owners who are working five to ten hours a week stay on top of what’s happening, by having a consistent, structured window into the business every week.
The first 30 days are when you build that structure.
Once it’s in place, the business can run largely without you.
Tomorrow, I’ll share one of the biggest things new owners get wrong in the first month, and why the urge to change things quickly is one of the most dangerous instincts you can act on.
If you’d like help building toward a smooth ownership transition, the Acquisition Ace community is a great place to develop that approach alongside people who have already been through it.
👉 Book a call with my team here and let’s get you on the fast-track to business ownership.
