The Seller Bolted After a Week! War Stories with guest Reg Zeller - Acquisitions Anonymous e74

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 podcSubscribe to  weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking hereDo 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.For inquiries or suggestions, email us at [email protected]