Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) is joined by Reg Zeller (@RegZeller) to discuss his journey from the corporate world into entrepreneurship, where he shares early experiences as a SMB owner, how a seller bailed out on him after a week on the job for the Bahamas, early wins & losses, his take on SMB ownership, and more.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:(0:49) Intro(2:58) Previous deals(3:18) What kind of funding do you used?(5:04) Story nr. 1: Second generation SMB Foundry(7:27) Seller wanted to close early, cash wasn't there yet(9:45) Seller bailed out to the Bahamas, 1 week into the job(10:44) Communicating to the customers the ownership change(13:07) No experience, 4 days of training... Early wins & losses?(14:37) How to freak your customers out(15:10) 38,000 reasons to do proper maintenance(16:39) King of the hill CEO status requires hard work(19:55) Cloudbookkeeping.com(21:03) Due diligence has to be done on assets as well(22:18) Story nr. 2: Getting burned by a deshonest deal(24:55) Pre LOI trust everything, Post LOI and due dilligence trust nothing(26:01) Don't buy against your gut!(28:10) Learn from screw ups(30:48) Handling customer concentration(33:28) The importance of customer relationship management(34:46) 10xing the profits takes an obscene amount of work and industry know-how(39:09) HR side stories(45:28) Reg's credentials, check the description to find him on Twitter!-----Links:* Twitter @regzeller / canekast.com-----Thanks to our sponsors!CloudBookkeeping offers adaptable solutions to businesses that want to focus on growth, with a “client service first” approach. They offer a full suite of accounting services that include sophisticated reporting, QuickBooks software solutions, and full-service payroll options.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#64 How to find the expected benchmarks and KPIs for your industry?#67 I bought a business. Now what? Learn with us from an expert - Dzmitry Miranovich joins us once more#62 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Loftus CEO of Connor's Landscaping#66 Analyzing Software Businesses for Sale with Steve Divitkos, experienced industry CEO#42 $900k Moving and Storage Company / $500k Rural Mini-Storage#61 Two Manufacturing Businesses for Sale - Brent Beshore - Founder and CEO at Permanent Equity--- Support this podc