Buying the American Dream: A Strategic Playbook for Acquiring Small Businesses.

By Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca

A few decades ago, the American Dream meant a white picket fence, two-point-five kids, a yellow lab playing in the backyard, and a healthy retirement plan from a forty-plus-year job. Three crises and a pandemic have exposed the fallacy of a system that is no longer designed to support this dream.
Authors Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca believe everyone should own some type of business. Whether it’s a part-time side hustle or a full-time income stream, the best thing you can do for yourself, your family, and your future is to stop depending on corporate America. You can, quite literally, buy the American Dream. No matter your background, area of expertise, industry, or the amount of money in your bank account, business ownership can be yours.
This playbook is your step-by-step guide to acquiring small and medium-sized businesses. Learn how to find the business, buy the business, and grow the business. You won’t find a lot of fluff on these pages—just straightforward, actionable advice you can start today. There’s no better time than now to create the life you want, and this is the book that will get you there. Are you ready?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665736473

Matthew R. Meehan

Matthew R. Meehan knows money and more specifically how to get it. You don’t spend over two decades on Wall Street without picking up a trick or two. Now he specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses, both private and public, obtain the capital they need to grow and succeed through performance-based sales initiatives, business development strategies, and guidance for financing and credit solutions. If you want to grow your business and grow it well, Luigi Rosabianca is the man with the plan. With a diverse educational background in architecture, law, and political science (they don’t call him “The Professor” for nothing), he is a strategist to his core. His experience allows him to accurately and precisely analyze your business’ strengths, identify areas of weakness, and customize actionable solutions.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Matthew R. Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3646-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3645-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3647-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023900141

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/15/2023

CONTENTS

Introduction

ROUND 1: FIND THE BUSINESS

1. Why Should You, Of All People, Buy a Business?

2. Starting a Biz vs. Buying a Biz

3. Ready, Set, Go: Six Things You Can Start Doing NOW

4. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match: What’s your type (of business)?

5. Before You Sign on the Dotted Line, Ask Yourself These 5 Questions

6. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Who to have (and not have) in your corner

7. Wanted: Business for Sale, Have References, Will Travel

8. Stranger Danger: Advice on Buying a Business in an Unfamiliar Industry

9. Franchises: To Buy or not to Buy? That is the Question

10. Why Branding isn’t just for Cattle

11. The Art of Selling Yourself (legally, of course)

12. Proceed with Caution: 8 Red Flags You Should Watch Out For

13. Oops, You Did it Again. Seven Common Mistakes You Might (Probably) Make

14. Great Expectations: How Long is This all Going to Take?

ROUND 2: BUYING THE BUSINESS

1. Is it Worth it? Let Me Work it: How to Value a Business

2. How to DIY an LOI: Writing a Letter of Intent

3. We are Now Entering Negotiation Station

4. Doing a Due Diligence Deep Dive

5. Show Me the Money! A Traditional Approach to Funding the Deal

6. Hacking & Stacking the System: A less traditional (but more fun) approach to funding

ROUND 3: GROWING THE BUSINESS

1. So You Bought a Business. Now What?

2. I Get by With a Little Help from My

Competitive Analysis

3. Please Mind Your Margins

4. Don’t Stop Me Now: How to Add Value to

Your Business

5. The Reason Nobody Has Ever Heard of You

6. Selling in the Ether: Why All Businesses

Should be Online

7. Need a Hand? How to Successfully

Outsource for Success

8. The Successful Business Trifecta: Employees, Customers, and Customer Service

9. Didn’t See That One Coming: The Unexpected Costs of Owning a Business

10. Our Second Favorite F-Word: FREE Resources to Grow & Scale Your Business

11. Do You Smell Something Burning? How to Avoid Entrepreneur Burnout

INTRODUCTION

What is the American Dream? A white picket fence, 2.5 kids, a yellow lab playing in the backyard, and a healthy retirement plan from a job you dedicated the last 40+ years of your life to?

While this might have been true ten or fifteen years ago, the economic landscape has shifted dramatically. Corporate America is no more. Job security is no more. In the last two decades, three financial crises and a pandemic have exposed the fallacy of a system that is no longer designed to support this dream. We are working more now than ever before (430% more since 1950, according to the U.S. BLS), and what do we have to show for it? Meager savings, long working hours, demeaning bosses, and a chain around our necks that gives the illusion of job security but is really just a noose that’s tightening year after year.

Bleak, eh? This ain’t no Norman Rockwell painting.

This is the new reality.

But this doesn’t have to be your story. You can decide on a different path. You can decide to do what so many others are unwilling or too afraid to do.

And how can you do that?

Through business ownership.

We believe that everyone should own some type of business. Whether it’s a part-time side hustle or a full-time income stream, the best thing you can do for yourself, your family, and your future is to stop depending on corporate America or a 401(k) to provide you with the financial security you need.

But starting a business from scratch isn’t for everyone. We know a majority of startups fail within the first few years, and it’s a massive gamble with zero assurances that it won’t send you straight to the poor house.

That’s why we wrote this playbook. You don’t need to be a Business Starter to be a Business Owner; it’s something you can acquire. You can, quite literally, buy the American Dream.

Who are we?

We spent decades on Wall Street, building teams of all sizes in multiple industries. But there came the point where we’d had enough. We got tired of working for big banks and helping the rich get richer. We recognized the potential of small business ownership and how it could transform lives, but we weren’t content to sit by and watch people figure it out on their own. We wanted Main Street to have the same tools and resources as Wall Street.

It was from this desire that The Liquid Lunch Project podcast was formed. A throwback reference to the days when most business deals were sealed with a handshake and a drink, we wanted to get back to those basics. We wanted to take the conversation out of elitist board rooms and elevate the discourse in the small business industry by connecting with others on a person-to-person level.

Each week we sit down with the top leaders, visionaries, authors, CEOs, pioneers, and movers and shakers in the industry. We cover everything from physical and mental health, funding options, entrepreneurship, the gig economy, real estate, and more. Our listeners (and ourselves) have learned a lot - and several of those episodes are actually linked within this book. We also launched a wildly successful newsletter called The Weekly as an extension of The Liquid Lunch Project, which has become a must-read for those interested in keeping up with the latest news, trends, and facts in the world of finance, technology, and small business.

Through the lens of our combined real-life experiences, successes (and failures) of business ownership - and, more importantly, acquiring businesses- we have assembled this strategic playbook. It’s just another way we’re helping people achieve their American Dream.

A Word of Warning Before You Get Started:

We like to say that everything worth doing is on the other side of hard. This isn’t a get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme or a How to Achieve Wealth in Five Simple Steps workbook. There are plenty of shysters lurking about the bowels of the internet who would be all too happy to exchange empty promises of easy success for the low, low price of $99.99. If that’s what you’re looking for in this book, you will be woefully disappointed.

What we will provide, however, is straightforward, actionable, common-sense instruction that anyone, no matter their background, can take and implement immediately.

Don’t be surprised if you find a few extra grey hairs during the process; it will mean work. But it also means freedom and flexibility. It means creating a life and lifestyle that you have complete control over. It means not requesting (and waiting for approval) to take time off to spend with your family. It means having a say in when you work and what you do. It means no caps on your earnings potential. It means being master of your domain or captain of your ship or whatever other types of alliteration you want to use here. It means you, and you alone, are in control.

Huzzah!

How to Use This Playbook:

Like most things in life, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. We designed this playbook to take you from Beginning to End - OR to be used as a reference guide throughout your business acquisition journey.

To keep things organized, we’ve divided it up into three rounds (we are The Liquid Lunch Project, after all). Within each round, we cover a range of topics, like determining the type of business you want to buy and how to spot red flags or secure funding - all the way to learning how to scale and grow down the road. We’ve also included some links to pertinent podcast episodes, plus free worksheets and checklists to help you along the way.

Scan the QR code or visit www.theliquidlunchproject.com/buyingtheamericandream

to receive a link to access all bonus materials.

QR%20(1).jpg

It doesn’t matter HOW you use this playbook; it matters what you DO with the information.

The decision you make today - this very moment, even - can change the entire trajectory of your life.

Maybe you’re OK with how things are.

But what about a year from now?

Five years?

How do you feel about doing what you’re doing right now for the rest of your life?

If you’re tired of the rat race and are ready to join others who transitioned away from job security to a life of freedom, flexibility, and control, consider this your down payment towards buying your own American Dream.