What Sailing Around The World Can Teach Us About Business Acquisition

Sailing around the world by yourself is a thing.  It is dangerous, takes a long time, and requires incredible mental toughness.  If I did not have a wife and kids you could probably talk me into it.  It is a goal that is a good fit for people who don’t have a lot of responsibilities.  In 2010, a Dutch sailor named Laura Decker set out from Portugal to circumnavigate the globe.  She became the youngest person ever to do it at 16 years of age.  It took her 518 days.

During her journey of 27,000 miles, she encountered bad weather, equipment failures, and had to sail through areas infested with pirates.  But most of all, she had to handle being by herself.  Many people have given up similar attempts due to sheer loneliness.  It is worth observing that at the extremes, our weaknesses are exposed.  Acquiring a business can seem like a long journey and there is a valuable lesson we can learn from Laura’s success.

People Downshift To Their Strengths During Times Of Stress

One of the reasons that there is so much emphasis on training in the Army is that when the bullets start to fly, everything that is not ingrained into your habits goes out the window.  However, if you have enough reps on something, you can perform in life-and-death situations without thinking about it.  Acquiring a business is not an existential crisis, but it can be extremely stressful.  There are a lot of ups and downs.  When things don’t go according to plan (and they won’t), some people give up and don’t achieve their dream of owning a business.

Since we know in advance that there will be adversity, we want to ask the question:  How can we put ourselves in the best situation to succeed?  Some would argue that you want to level up your skills as fast as possible.  Yes, getting better is always a good idea.  The danger is getting into a learning loop where you theoretically get better but don’t take action.  A better approach is to pick deals that play to the natural strengths and learned skills you already have.

There Is A Deal For Every Personality Type

I’m not going to say there are an infinite amount of deals, but there might as well be.  There are businesses that require a lot of communication and people skills.  Others need an ability to handle standard operating procedures, with a grasp of finance.  Instead of trying to say what’s the best deal out there right now, the better approach is what’s the best deal for me out there right now.  

If you are a numbers person you might gravitate toward accounting firms.  Don’t like people?  Look at automated car washes.  Like talking to whoever will listen?  Pick a  hands-on nail salon deal.  These are just meant to be examples, not answers.  You already have a set of skills and talents that will help you when you buy a business.  Instead of trying to shore up a weakness and then make a move, play to your strengths.  Don’t know what your strengths are?  I got you covered with a very simple process.

Identify Your Strengths In Two Easy Steps

It can be hard sometimes to know what we are good at.  We either take for granted things that are easy for us, or don’t give value to them.  For example, if you can draw you may think that it’s not really a big deal.  I promise you there are people out there who wish they had that skill.  

Since it can be hard to identify these things ourselves, the first thing I want you to do is pick 3-5 people and send them an email asking them what you think your strengths are.  Give it a time limit for a reply, three days is a good choice, and let them know you are looking into buying a business.  You might be surprised by the replies.  

Once that email is out, I want you to sit down and really think about when you felt you really crushed something.  Was it a talk you gave?  Maybe there was an event you helped organize.  Whatever it was, go a little deeper and ask yourself “What skill or trait that I have was required to make this experience a success?”  If you can answer that question, chances are you have identified a strength you have.  Now do this exercise at least two more times to see if you can find additional strengths.

Playing to your strengths can have fast returns.  With this approach, one of my students was able to buy an accounting firm in just six months.  Watch this video to see how he handled the deal from a place of strength:

If you take the time to figure out your core strengths, you will be in a great position to evaluate deals that are a good fit.  Instead of feeling like you are adrift on the ocean all alone you will know what it is like to be an Acquisition Ace!

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

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 5 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

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