I made my first SMB acquisition last Spring. Here are a few things I learned from the introduction until now:

1. Understanding the financial statements of a small business can be very different than what is taught in an MBA program

@BrentBeshore 2. The seller isn't telling you nearly the whole story. Sometimes they don't even know the story. Account for that.

3. The business is often worse than the seller will admit and can be improved more than the seller realizes.
@BrentBeshore 4. The employees that have been there the longest don't want to change and don't give a rip about your acquisition. They simply want to continue receiving a paycheck without much hassle.
@BrentBeshore 5. The company competitors have been waiting on a chance to pounce on your key customers. Change of ownership presents that.

6. You'll lose sleep and won't even be able to identify the problem. It's just the pain of owning a business that keeps you up.
@BrentBeshore 7. It's easy to wake up one day and realized you've been around your family but haven't been emotionally engaged in months. You'll drive down to a park during lunch last week and cry your eyes out. Did I just say that out loud?!
@BrentBeshore 8. I realized my wife doesn't know much about running a business but she has the most important role in it. If your spouse isn't 100% supportive then don't even consider trying it.
@BrentBeshore 9. When you take a large career risk like leaving a job to make an acquisition, you'll have people who rush to help you and others will rush to criticize you. Some of them will be close friends and family.
@BrentBeshore 10. You'll get to the end of your first year and realized it was the hardest but best year of your life. You'll look back and realized growth happens through small but good habits executed on a daily basis.
@BrentBeshore 11. You'll see all businesses in a completely different light. You'll focus far more on real cash flow and not just the kind that is discounted 5 years out.

12. You'll get asked how many hours you work and you're never really off.
@BrentBeshore 13. Employees will come to you with personal problems and you begin to see that God really put you there to serve people and not just to grow your net worth.
@BrentBeshore 14. I went into it with a customer focus but quickly realize your suppliers are just as important.

15. If you sign up to pay in net 30 then pay in net 30. Stretching payment terms isn't shrewd, it's dishonest.

More from Finance

1/ I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my new website, a one-stop shop for all the content I'm creating.

There you'll find links to all my podcasts, the TTMYGH newsletter, and other exciting future projects.

2/ In 2020, I reignited my passion for interviewing brilliant people by launching The Grant Williams Podcast in various forms, including The End Game, The Super Terrific Happy Hour, and The Narrative Game.


3/ Starting February 1, I'm taking the bold step of moving these podcasts completely behind a paywall.

For the very affordable price of only $10 a month, listeners can gain access to the Copper Tier of
https://t.co/fxUfH8maI4, which includes all current & future podcasts.


4/ Why am I doing this? First and foremost, I aspire to create VALUABLE content. By definition, if something is priced at $0, it isn’t valuable. The time, effort and creativity that goes into these episodes is substantial. To keep doing them properly, they can no longer be free.

5/ I also strongly believe content creators should be able to make a living creating content. If everything is free, that’s not possible. I never seriously considered accepting outside sponsors – complete integrity is too critical to me.
THREAD: Who are the rising stars of Chinese elite politics in the central Party-State bureaucracy?

For @MacroPoloChina I analyzed last year's ministerial-level promotions to posts in Beijing

TLDR: Ties to Xi Jinping—or a Xi ally—are very helpful! (1/14)

https://t.co/kO2A0Efyq2


Seven politicians were promoted to ministerial-level positions in central Party agencies last year

All are likely to feature on the next Central Committee selected at the 2022 Party Congress

Some could make the CCP's elite 25-person Politburo (2/14)

https://t.co/kO2A0Efyq2


Likeliest for the Politburo is Meng Xiangfeng, new Executive Deputy Director of the CCP General Office

He would replace Xi ally Ding Xuexiang as CCP chief-of-staff if Ding is promoted further in 2022

Meng worked under Xi allies Cai Qi in Hangzhou and Chen Xi in Liaoning (3/14)


Less likely for the Politburo but still important is Jiang Jinquan, new Director of the CCP Policy Research Office

He replaces 5th-ranked leader Wang Huning who led the Party's brains trust for 18 years

Wang remains prominent and will be <68 in 2022, so he'll stay around (4/14)


Other notable central Party promotions include Li Shulei and Liang Yanshun, who both assisted Xi when he led the Central Party School from 2007-2012

Li is a political conservative who is said to be quite close with Xi, even drafting his 2014 speech on culture and art (5/14)

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