A Career In Tagging (And The Beauty Of The Unexpected Acquisition)

Netflix has a market cap of $263 Billion and has approximately 12,800 employees.  It is a huge company which means it has some pretty unusual positions to fill.  You can search for everything that they are hiring for at Netflix Jobs.  One option is called an Editorial Insights Content Analysis position.

Sounds fancy.  Like it wouldn’t look bad on the old resume right?  The first responsibility listed is to “objectively analyze, tag, research and write about movies and series with attention to detail, while also understanding the underlying creative intent.” Put another way, you get to watch TV all day and make sure it is categorized correctly so users can use tags to find things they like.  

Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anyone who said they wanted to watch TV for a living.  I am willing to bet, however, that the people who have that job love it even though they never planned to do something like that.  In life, sometimes abandoning “the plan” is the best move you can make.

Beware Of Preconceived Notions

Acquisition Aces has been going strong for a while now so I am starting to be able to identify patterns among my students.  One of them is that it is very common for people to have very strong feelings about the type of business they want to buy for their first acquisition.  Usually, these preconceptions are based on something they heard from a trusted advisor or some content they consumed on the internet (other than mine of course).  

Now I am not saying that this is bad.  The desire to acquire a business is a great thing.  We just want to make sure that it is the right business for you, instead of the one you think you should buy.  Those are two completely different things.  The key is being able to pivot.  With that in mind, let us talk about ice cream for a bit (I promise it will make sense).

It Is Impossible To Know What You Want Until You Get There

Everyone has a basic flavor of ice cream that they usually get.  On the way to the local sweet shop they are 100% sure that is what they are going to get.  Then, when they arrive there are 30 flavors to choose from along with some new seasonal options.  Instead of the usual mint chip, they end up getting something totally unplanned and loving it.  This does not mean that they had a bad plan.  It just means they were willing to pivot given the conditions on the ground.

Now take this exact same philosophy and apply it to your first business acquisition.  Yes, you may find yourself owning a completely different company than you ever thought you would but that fact is overshadowed by the new cash flow in your finances because you were able to be flexible.

I Was Told There Was No Math Today

Do you know what is recession resistant, has a high barrier to entry so there are not a lot of competitors, and is used by every economic class?  Accountants.  Math might be the most boring thing in the world to most people, but there are a ton of baby boomers right now who are trying to sell their firms and there aren’t enough buyers.  How do I know this?  Because accounting firms are one of the most popular acquisitions among my students. I have them in my portfolio as well. 

Very wealthy people are always going to pay money for tax strategies that protect their wealth and regular people with decent incomes need help as well.  This means that whatever is happening in the economy, people are going to find ways to pay their accountants.  They save money on their taxes, the accounting team feeds their families, and you get predictable cash flow.  It is a win/win/win for everybody.  Even better, because the demand for these businesses is lower than other boring businesses like laundromats or car washes, the deals are typically smaller in size.  Sometimes as little as a 1x to 1.5x multiple.

OK, so I also know that some of you are so math-averse that you would never consider buying an accounting firm.  No problem.  I made a video going through some other possibilities as well.  You can watch it here:

The only thing you have to know for sure is that you want to buy a business.  Once that decision is made, you may find yourself in a situation where you are presented with an unexpected acquisition that could be a perfect fit.  You won’t be paid to watch Netflix for a living, but you could start a portfolio of acquired businesses that could change your financial picture forever.  Open your mind to the possibilities and you will be well on your way to becoming an Acquisition Ace.

As always, if you want to compress time frames and have me coach you on every part of the process, book a time to chat with me here: Calendar 

Ben, I Want to learn more…

If you feel that you are constantly working "in" the business instead of "on" the business and feel that your goal of financial freedom has led you to a prison of your own design.

You are not alone, I used to be there as well.

I have 6 companies and counting and work less than 20 hours a week on them - COMBINED.

It is not rocket science and I can help you do the same for your business.

Choose a time on my Calendar and we will get to it.

Onward,

Ben

PS - Coaching compresses timeframes. If you want help on finding the perfect deal for you, book a time on my calendar here to explore becoming an Acquisition Ace: Calendar

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