My guest on this episode is Ujwal Velagapudi. Ujwal has acquired nine small companies, pieces of real estate, and other investments over the past few years and has stumbled upon quite a number of unique companies. He's invested in a vending business, virtual assistant business, commercial real estate, a sports bar, and several others.This episode is about getting started and is a departure from our usual episodes about larger businesses in order to focus on small incremental deals running efficiently.Ujwal is really thoughtful and claims to not be a great manager or operator, but I advise you not to believe him. We talk about all things amusement vending, re-investing profits, close calls, what he is interested in today, and his changed views on debt. Enjoy.Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.Links:Ujwal on LinkedInHiByronTopics:(4:20) - Ujwal’s acquisition off of Microacquire and other businesses he’s bought(10:06) - What did the business do when you acquired it and what have you grown it to?(12:05) - What did you do before you decided to start buying companies?(13:31) - How are you getting the capital for these deals?(16:49) - Do you still live off of $1500 per month?(17:26) - What stands out to you now in a potential acquisition vs. when you first started?(18:45) - What businesses do you stay away from?(19:35) - Can you share more information on your vending business?(21:28) - What types of machines are the most profitable?(23:41) - How does the operations structure for the Vending business work?(25:10) - How many employees are in your portfolio?(25:44) - What have you learned about management during this journey?(28:15) - How do you onboard new employees at your companies?(30:58) - Where do you see things needing to improve?(32:56) - What’s the growth plan?(37:15) - How much would the average machine earn in net profit for the restaurant on a monthly basis?(41:46) - What are some mistakes you’ve made that could have been "nails in the coffin" for your business?(45:53) - What college class would you teach if it could be on anything?(47:37) - What’s a strongly held belief that you’ve changed your mind on?(49:38) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?