EP #4: Chen Vasanthakumar - Buying A Business For $0 And Selling It For $60K

Micro-business investor Chen Vasanthakumar joins Ara to drop some knowledge on the best places to find and buy a micro-business, and how to assess if it will be profitable. Some of the other topics they discuss include Chen’s passion for travel and learning about other cultures, being in Barcelona at the height of the pandemic, ambitiously working towards the goal of having his family and friends possibly thinking he has a few screws loose, and his newfound love for Teslas.EP4 Timestamps00:15 - Introducing Chen Vasanthakumar02:45 - How Chen’s corporate finance background, and a friend from middle school, spurred his interest in buying businesses09:49 - Buying his first business for $0, running it for less than a year, and profiting $60K12:47 - Taking some time off to travel, network, and evaluate Southeast Asia14:09 - Finding a needle in the haystack business on Flippa17:40 - The impact of COVID and the lesson Chen learned about mitigating risk19:52 - Chen’s next move after buying a travel based business at the height of the pandemic and remote work visas24:00 - The difference between behere (https://gobehere.com) and Airbnb 25:54 - The best place to find and buy businesses31:32 - Doing the de-risking yourself to make more money34:35 - Where Chen sees himself in the next 3-5 years35:56 - Wanting to be remembered by friends and family for going against the grain37:11 - Chen’s favourite book (Shoe Dog)39:33 - Embracing a marathon mindset41:47 - Chen’s connection to the Tamil community on a personal and professional level45:36 - Chen pays respect to Shiv (co-founder of TamilCulture)47:09 - Tim Ferris almost made Chen quit his job, Nipsey Hussle being the only rapper who rapped openly about entrepreneurship50:11 - Would You Rather55:40 - Wrap upSupport the show