In this post, I\u2019m sharing what I\u2019ve learned so that you can make entrepreneurship through acquisition work for you.<\/p>\n
Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Entrepreneurship through acquisition, or ETA, is a unique opportunity for individuals who want to step into entrepreneurship<\/a> without building a startup. Instead, individuals buy and grow existing businesses. Typically, these existing businesses are already established and generate consistent revenue. Entrepreneurs acquire these businesses and grow them to become even more successful.<\/p>\n Roddy\u2019s company, WOWorks, acquires businesses through the same means. He told me, \u201cWe buy businesses that are already up and running. So we didn\u2019t actually start them, and we\u2019re not the founders of these businesses. We typically buy businesses from the founders.\u201d<\/p>\n For WOWorks, that means working with a private equity firm to acquire health-conscious restaurants that align with their current business practices. For an individual entrepreneur, it means working with a mergers and acquisitions company or investors to purchase a business that aligns with your career goals and expertise.<\/p>\n Interestingly, 46% of Gen Z<\/a> and Millennials are entrepreneurs. There are plenty of reasons<\/a> why entrepreneurship is an attractive career path.<\/p>\n According to a recent survey<\/a>:<\/p>\n Entrepreneurial acquisition is an excellent option for entrepreneurs who don\u2019t want to spend time building a brand. With the right processes, like working with a mergers and acquisition firm, entrepreneurs can bid on for-sale brands and quickly become owners of an established brand.<\/p>\n (Pssst! Looking for more insights on the state of entrepreneurship? Check out The Hustle\u2019s 2024 Entrepreneurship Trends Report.<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Like any business venture, there are various pros and cons. To understand if managing an ETA business is your best option, we need to explore it. Since Roddy is an expert, I asked him about some of the pros of entrepreneurial acquisitions. Here\u2019s what he told me.<\/p>\n Starting a business requires ingenuity and creativity. If those are not your strengths, entrepreneurship through acquisition might be right for you.<\/p>\n According to Roddy, there\u2019s no need to reinvent the wheel and start a new business venture. ETA allows you to take charge of established brands without sacrificing time and money wading through the startup process.<\/p>\n Roddy told me, \u201cThe pros are these businesses are established already. And we\u2019re not having to create something new. So, they already have an established business model.\u201d<\/p>\n He says, \u201cWe have the chance to look at it to determine if we think it\u2019s a good business model or not. So, we have the advantage of buying an existing business model.\u201d According to Roddy, when you purchase an established business, many necessary operations, like team members and marketing strategies, are already in place.<\/p>\n This can save you time and money as an entrepreneur. Roddy adds, \u201cA lot of the marketing costs to launch the brand have already been invested.\u201d<\/p>\n Roddy told me that WOWorks focuses on acquiring health-conscious restaurants for one simple reason: It\u2019s easy to align the same marketing and business practices across all WOWorks brands when their audiences and businesses are similar.<\/p>\n Roddy told me, \u201cWe can take marketing principles from one fast-casual restaurant to another because they, in general, work very similarly. The operations all work very similarly. And so, what we\u2019ve been able to do is build this large business while acquiring small brands.\u201d<\/p>\n Although WOWorks operates as a business, this pro of acquisitions also rings true for entrepreneurs. Acquiring brands that fit your experience and career goals can be easier to manage.<\/p>\n You can take what you know to be true for your niche based on your industry experience, like which marketing strategies work best for your audience or which revenue operations strategies are most effective, and apply those same effective strategies to your newly acquired business.<\/p>\n Acquiring a business often comes with lower risks than starting a new one. When you purchase an already established business, you don\u2019t have to wonder if it will generate revenue \u2014 it already does!<\/p>\n Roddy told me, \u201cIt\u2019s a much lower risk to buy an established brand.\u201d In theory, you could simply take ownership of the brand without tweaking its marketing or revenue operations strategies, and you\u2019ll still generate income. Unless you make several ill-advised changes to operations, it\u2019s not likely you\u2019ll outright tank the business.<\/p>\n Roddy mentioned that buying a business is often easier than creating a startup. According to Roddy, the heavy lifting has already been done. He says, \u201cIt\u2019s much easier than trying to start from scratch, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n While the pros of acquisition entrepreneurship are significant, you need to be aware of some of the cons, too. It can be challenging to acquire a brand and learn the ins and outs of how it operates \u2014 especially if you\u2019re acquiring a brand outside of your niche or business model.<\/p>\n I asked Roddy about the cons. He told me there are two major cons to entrepreneurship through acquisition, and both of them involve making changes after purchasing a brand to ensure it continues to be profitable.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to make a few changes, and it\u2019s a little bit disruptive,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Roddy told me that when WOWorks acquires a new brand, they spend significant time relabeling common terms. This might mean that certain positions within the company get a rebrand.<\/p>\n Roddy gives an example of this. He says, \u201cThe people who help oversee the stores and coach the franchisees, sometimes they have a title of \u2018franchise business coach.\u2019 Sometimes, they\u2019re \u2018business consultants.\u2019 Sometimes, they\u2019re \u2018advisors.\u2019 We change the names and the titles of a whole lot of different things, including procedures and processes. And so it\u2019s just teaching people a new common language.\u201d<\/p>\n While you may not change the terminology of the brand you buy, you\u2019ll have to learn a whole new set of vocabulary to ensure you\u2019re on the same page with your employees. Although this is challenging, it\u2019s necessary to operate a business smoothly.<\/p>\n Just like rebranding common terms to keep everyone on the same page, Roddy told me that technology sometimes poses a challenge, especially when implementing a new tech stack.<\/p>\n He told me, \u201cWe have an IT team trained around a certain type of technology. We may have to switch out a brand\u2019s POS systems or their multi-programs so that we can run a common technology platform.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning a new point-of-sale system isn\u2019t always easy and can be challenging for you and your employees. If you immediately change the tech stack when you acquire a new company, you might hear a few grumbles and complaints as everyone learns a new, more streamlined system.<\/p>\n Roddy didn\u2019t mention this, but I think it\u2019s safe to say that another drawback of entrepreneurship through acquisition is its associated costs. In fact, 36% of entrepreneurs<\/a> say raising capital and funds is the most challenging part of buying a business.<\/p>\n There are four ways an entrepreneur can go about acquiring a new business. They can:<\/p>\n Whichever way you decide to acquire a business, you\u2019ll need between $15,000 and $30,000<\/a> to get started. It can be challenging to raise capital from investors, considering you\u2019ll need to convince them why helping you acquire a new brand is in their best interest. Alternatively, you can self-fund your acquisitions or apply for an SBA loan<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n If you\u2019re ready to enter entrepreneurship through acquisitions, it\u2019s helpful to understand the circumstances when these investments work best.<\/p>\n Since Roddy is an acquisition expert who has been working with WOWorks for several years, I thought he would be the best person to ask which conditions are more favorable for a successful acquisition.<\/p>\n He told me it\u2019s best to search for well-established brands available for purchase. He says, \u201cI would say that it\u2019s usually more successful because you have a business that\u2019s been running for several years.\u201d<\/p>\n Because the business has been profitable for years, it\u2019s a good indication it\u2019s a good investment of your time and resources. Roddy says, \u201cThe best predictor of the future is the past. You know these brands have been running well for many years. So there\u2019s a really good chance that they\u2019re going to continue to run well.\u201d<\/p>\n As I mentioned before, it\u2019s unlikely that you\u2019ll run your newly acquired business into the ground unless you continually implement ill-advised strategies. This is why it\u2019s helpful to search for brands that fit within your niche, industry experience, and overall career goals. Your background knowledge of the niche can help you steer the company in the right direction.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at a few examples of successful ETA businesses purchased by individual entrepreneurs. If you\u2019re on the fence about entrepreneurship through acquisition, I think you\u2019ll find these entrepreneurs\u2019 stories interesting.<\/p>\n I find Ken Massey\u2019s acquisition of Autumnwood Designs inspiring. Massey learned about entrepreneurship through acquisition after chatting with friends and reading Walker Diebel\u2019s book, Buy Then Build.<\/em><\/p>\n Using what he learned, he researched merger and acquisition companies before partnering with Vikings Mergers and Acquisitions. Their insights helped Massey purchase an available business that matched his expertise.<\/p>\n Massey found acquiring a business a successful path to entrepreneurial success for multiple reasons. Massey<\/a> says, \u201cThere are a lot of things to celebrate, and the business is doing well. But it\u2019s not just about generating revenue. The fact that I love what I do \u2014 and I work hard, and I work a lot \u2014 but I don\u2019t feel worn out at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s helpful to understand that when you work with a merger and acquisition business like Massey did, you can work with experts to help you find the type of business that fits within your business goals and career aspirations.<\/p>\n However, sometimes, opportunities present themselves to you when you least expect them, just as they did for Carlos Rodriquez Laconi when he acquired Boston Tree Preservation.<\/p>\n Laconi\u2019s background and experience weren\u2019t an exact match for Boston Tree Preservation\u2019s niche, but they were pretty close. After talking with the owner, he realized running the company was something he would enjoy doing.<\/p>\n When I read Laconi\u2019s acquisition story, something stuck out to me. Remember how Roddy told me it\u2019s best to acquire a well-established business? This played into Laconi\u2019s decision to purchase the company.<\/p>\n Laconi<\/a> says, \u201cEveryone knew the company. If you are in the area, you knew this company forever.\u201d Because Boston Tree Preservation has been in business since 1977, Laconi was confident the business would continue to succeed.<\/p>\n As a small business owner, I think it\u2019s important to recognize there are plenty of reasons entrepreneurial acquisitions are an attractive path to business ownership. Sure, generating recurring revenue is one reason. However, there are other reasons entrepreneurs turn to acquisitions, too.<\/p>\n Life after the 2020 pandemic left Martin Bispels rethinking his choices. Ultimately, this led him to acquire Upper Park Disc Golf.<\/p>\n Bispels not only enjoys playing disc golf but loves running his own company. He says<\/a>, \u201cI get to work in this great space here in the barn, in a creative space, my commute is short, and I work with really talented people all over the world to grow this business.\u201d<\/p>\n For Bispels, success isn\u2019t just recurring revenue \u2014 although it is a good indicator of success. His ETA journey allows him to spend time doing what he loves.<\/p>\n![\"Download](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/1a0a4e5a-b3ce-4c8b-bc42-4e24cde930ae.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
What is an entrepreneurial acquisition?<\/h2>\n
Who are becoming business owners and why?<\/h3>\n
\n
The Pros of Entrepreneurial Acquisitions<\/h2>\n
1. No need to create something new.<\/h3>\n
2. You can purchase a business that aligns with your experience.<\/h3>\n
3. Buying a business comes with lower risks.<\/h3>\n
The Cons of Entrepreneurial Acquisitions<\/h2>\n
1. Changing business terminology can be challenging.<\/h3>\n
2. Implementing new technology can be a challenge.<\/h3>\n
3. Upfront costs can be expensive.<\/h3>\n
\n
When Entrepreneurial Acquisitions Work Best<\/h2>\n
Examples of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition<\/h2>\n
1. Autumnwood Designs<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"entrepreneurship](\"https:\/\/grivento.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Entrepreneurship-Through-Acquisition-2-20250507-8683610.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n2. Boston Tree Preservation<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"eta](\"https:\/\/grivento.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Entrepreneurship-Through-Acquisition-3-20250507-1236047.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n3. Upper Park Disc Golf<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"acquisition](\"https:\/\/grivento.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Entrepreneurship-Through-Acquisition-4-20250507-181766.webp\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/track.hubspot.com\/__ptq.gif?a=53&k=14&r=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hubspot.com%2Fsales%2Fentrepreneurship-through-acquisition&bu=https%253A%252F%252Fblog.hubspot.com%252Fsales&bvt=rss\")
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