The Fastest Way to Double Your Business

If you own a business already – whether you started one or you acquired one using my system – you may think the best way to GROW your business is to find more customers…

Develop more products and services…

Establish new marketing strategies and channels to market…

Hire new people who can complement what you already do.

And you would be 100% correct – but not in the way you think.

You could hustle – day in and day out – to do all of the above bit by bit.

But there is a better way…

A way that’s faster, cheaper, safer…

That will help you do ALL of the above with just one action…

Simply BUY – or “bolt on” – another business that complements what you already do.

Here’s an example…

Let’s assume you own a plumbing business that services business customers.

You started the business five years ago, and you have $1 million in revenue and $200K in profit (a 20% margin) per year. Five long, hard years of hustle… but you are putting $200K per year into your pocket, so that’s good, right?

Now you want to hit $2 million in revenue and generate $500K in profits. That’s would be a big win for you, but to do it organically (constant daily hustling) will take you at least three years.

I can show you how to do this in ONE day – the day you close the deal to buy another business.

To get to that point, it could be as few as 99 days from now, depending on how focused you are.

Double your business in 99 days or three years?

I know which I would choose.

Let’s look again at your current business…

With revenue of $1 million and profits of $200K, your business is worth circa 2.5X the profit, which puts the valuation at $500K (2.5 X $200,000 = $500K).

(There are many variables that impact the multiple – growth, sophistication, IP, barriers to entry, systems, processes, management, customer base, etc. – but bear with me for now.)

Now, let’s say you go and acquire another business – NOT a plumbing business, but an electrical business.

The electrical business is the same size as yours… with revenue of $1 million, profits of $200K and a valuation of $500K.

However, the electrical business serves retail customers, not commercial, which gives you THREE times the cross-selling opportunities…

1. You can sell plumbing to the electrical customers.
2. You can sell electrical to the plumbing customers.
3. AND you have a new channel to market – you are now servicing BOTH commercial and retail customers.

Also, when you bring these two businesses together, there will be a lot of synergies – or duplicate costs you can eliminate – such as…

• Duplicate properties – which also eliminates duplicate rent, property taxes, utilities and maintenance
• Centralized services – to perform services for both businesses, i.e., one finance team, one admin team and one sales and marketing team
• Better rates with suppliers – buying in bulk for both companies will net you a lower price.

Let’s see what happens with some real numbers. In the chart below the current business is your plumbing business and the target business is the electrical company:

First, let’s look at the cross-selling. This is forecast over a 12-month period.

With all the new opportunities generated by the merger, let’s assume you can generate 25% of additional revenue by cross-selling. This is conservative, but let’s go with it for now.

That 25% from cross-selling is $500K of NEW revenue. (It’s 25% of the combined revenue of $2 million.)

Assume that new revenue has the same 20% profit margin – so $500K new revenue minus $400K in new costs is $100K in new profit.

Simple, right?

Now let’s look at the deal synergies. Conservatively, assume you can remove 25% of the total costs by merging the two businesses.

The new total cost base is $800K (plumbing), $800K (electrical) and $400K from the cross-selling. Total of $2.0 million, and 25% of that is $500K. That’s a cost saving and drops straight down into the profit line.

Adding up the columns…

• Total revenue = $2.5 mil ($1M + $1M + $500K cross selling)
• Total cost = $1.5 mil ($800K + $800K + $400K – 500K merger cost savings)
• Total profit = A — B = $1 million.

So from ONE bolt-on acquisition, you have increased your income by $800K per year. Not bad…

And look at the valuation!

At a higher profit, your multiple will be higher – around 5X – so your new business is worth $5 million.

Which means you’ve increased your net worth by $4.4 million in just one deal (8.3X your current valuation of only $600K).

How long would it take you to do this organically?

One last thing – there are multiple ways to finance this deal without having to use any of the capital from your current business. You can…

• Negotiate seller financing to pay for all (or part) of the business over time, using all that delicious new cash flow that’s gushing through your combined operation
• Leverage the working capital assets in BOTH businesses (inventory, receivables, etc.)
• Finance the fixed assets in BOTH businesses (plant, equipment, etc.)
• Apply for an SBA 7(a) cash flow lend
• Sell equity to an investor to partner with you on the deal.

And that’s how to (more than) double your business in a day – the day you close the deal on a complementary business.

I will speak to you soon.

Until then, bye for now.

Carl Allen
Editor and co-founder, Dealmaker Wealth Society

P.S. Bolt-on acquisitions are an awesome way to MASSIVELY grow your bottom line – practically overnight. If you already own a business and are looking to rapidly expand, send us an email with your questions. We’re getting ready to launch a product for business owners looking to grow their empires – and want you to be among the first to know!