13 million businesses are changing hands this decade

Happy Wednesday!

There’s a shift happening in the small business world right now that most people aren’t paying attention to.

Here’s what's going on. 👇

Avi and Jay bought a $1.3M cleaning company from another ACE member, and are now building a portfolio of cleaning businesses.

Their first deal came directly from networking inside the group, and now they're acquiring their second and third companies.

👉 Want to join a community where members share deals and partner together? Book a call with our team here.

The setup

Baby boomers own close to half of all small businesses in the United States.

And right now, they’re retiring at a rate that’s creating a supply of available businesses unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Businesses like plumbing companies, accounting firms, HVAC operations, commercial cleaning companies, that have been running profitably for 20, 30, sometimes 40 years.

These businesses have existing customers, trained employees, established systems, and consistent cash flow.

The owners are tired, want to hand them off, and move on with their lives.

And their kids?

Most of them aren’t interested in taking over a “boring” business. They have their own paths.

These businesses are also typically too small to attract private equity attention, which means the pool of realistic buyers is much narrower than most people realize.

And 13 million businesses are expected to change hands over the next decade as a result of this demographic shift, with many of the business owners having no clear succession plan.

Why this matters

Most of these sellers are motivated.

They’re looking for the right person to hand their life’s work to, on a timeline that works for them.

That dynamic creates something rare in investing: a buyer’s market where the sellers often have more flexibility on price, terms, and structure than they would in a competitive environment.

And because these businesses are established - often with decades of operating history and customer relationships built over time - you’re stepping into something that already works.

(Inside Acquisition Ace, members learn how to find and evaluate these businesses before they get snapped up. To learn more about our community and how it can help you successfully acquire your first business, book a call with our team here.)

What makes this different from other investments

Real estate, which used to be the go-to path for building wealth outside of a W2, has become significantly harder to access.

Median home prices have climbed to levels that require enormous down payments just to get in the door, and the cash flow on a rental property often barely covers the mortgage.

Business acquisition works on different math.

Through the SBA 7(a) loan program, you can buy a business generating real cash flow with a very small-% down payment.

The business’s own earnings service the debt, and everything above that goes to you.

This path is available to regular people right now, backed by a government loan program specifically designed to make it possible.

The opportunity is real, and the window won't stay open forever.

If you’d like help figuring out how to position yourself to take advantage of it, the Acquisition Ace community could be a great fit for you.

👉 Book a call with my team here and let’s talk to see if we can help you acquire your first business.