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How Kevin McArdle Quit His Job and Bought 28 Businesses in Two Years

Episode #031

Most aspiring entrepreneurs assume they have to start from scratch. But when Kevin McArdle left his job at 38 with a wife, a mortgage, and 4 kids, he wanted to get a head start. Learn how Kevin and his partners at SureSwift Capital bought almost 30 companies in two years, and how they're helping to change founders' lives through 6- and 7-figure exits.

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    Kevin is no longer with Sureswift Capital. I would be cautious about doing business with them and would look elsewhere if selling my company as it isn't what it once was.

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    It would be like joining the fourth episode of Game of Thrones without having watched the third and having to make political decisions, you know, you'd probably end up dead very quickly.

    This is my favorite simile of any episode of the podcast. Not just because it's a GoT reference, but because it's a very apt comparison.

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    I also sold my SAAS business into SureSwift "family" in 2016 and have remained involved since. SureSwift FTW!

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      That's awesome! What's the business?

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        HelpTeaching.com in Ed Tech space. It's a SAAS but there is a significant content component to compliment the software as well.

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          I'd love to interview you for the site and/or podcast some time if you're up for it! Your business looks very different than most of the ones I've featured, and I think a lot of people could learn from it.

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            Smart move, Courtland. Webbie is wicked smart and will serve up some great content for the IH community.

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            I am up for it and submitted the initial form. Talk to you soon.

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    Great Episode, @KevinSureSwift ! I have been listening/reading IH for over 2 years, but somehow I missed this until now.
    I have been interested in buying a SaaS myself for quite some time, but unlike you I never had the guts to just do it. I even had a look at BigContacts when it was on sale by a broker, but wasn't sure it was a legit business (It obviously was, overwise you wouldn't have bought it ... ;-) .
    But whenever I tell my wife I am thinking about buying a SaaS for 6 digits she goes like "I think it is all scam, the numbers are all fake and the customer will vanish right after the transaction" - and somehow this is my own fear, too. Suppose, we are just too german ;-)
    Another thing thats stopping me are the crazy multiples (4-6x annual profit seems usual these days). When I'd buy a company that grosses 20k per year for 100k, it will take me ages (8+ years) to just get my money back (due to tax rules in germany). Unless I can significantly grow the business, that is.
    Anyway, great advice. I think the future is bright for SureSwift. Let me know if there are any investment opportunites with your company.

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      Thanks for the comment, @flourish90 .

      There are some scams out there, and I have made some mistakes. My advice would be to 'start small' if you think that acquiring a business is something you want to do. Small moves mean small mistakes and you can go/learn from there.

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    My Main Takeaways:

    • Instead of starting companies from scratch, Kevin buys companies (small to medium internet businesses).

    • Some enterprising person, young or old, could start a company, and work their tail off for 3,4,5,8 years, and sell it for what would be a life changing amount of money to many people.

    • We don't hear much about the MANY companies that sell for "medium" amounts of money (100k's to $1M's), instead we mainly hear about the FEW that sell for billions (Which isn't so good).

    • Some of the businesses Kevin has bought were "passive income" businesses that he bough with the philosophy of "gain some cashflow, gain some knowledge, and start stair-stepping his way up".

    • Courtland says that getting acquired is typically associated with high-growth startups. These are companies that care less about revenue and solid business fundamentals, but instead use their funding to prioritise growth than anything else. Or hiring a bunch of talented engineers to appeal to companies who only hire talented engineers, like Google or Salesforce etc.

    • While indie hackers focus on being profitable from day 1.

    • Prior to Kevin's endeavours, he had been working in the corporate world for about 15 years, and had built up a very successful career. He had overachieved most of his financial goals, had fancy titles. He got bored of the corporate lifestyle, and wanted something new.

    • Make that sure your goals are actually YOUR goals, and not copied from someone else's - Before you try and find what type of venture you want to start, figure out the life you want to live, and WHY you want it.

    • Surround yourself with like-minded people - Kevin had entrepreneurial friends around him, who knew Kevin's entrepreneurial spirit, and motivated Kevin to embark on his entrepreneurial journey, rather than stay in his corporate career.

    • Kevin and his family lived below their means, and saved. This eventually worked in Kevin's favour, because he was able to leave his job and work on his business for 2 years without paying himself.

    • Kevin worked at his career and saved money, and built enough runway to start his own business.

    • Kevin's skills are completely non-technical.

    • Kevin got an MBA during his evenings, because he spent a lot of time working with lawyers, and accountants and finance people etc, and they used a lot of terms that he didn't know.

    • Business school gave him an itch to own or start his own business. He believed that if he found an amazingly technical person with a great idea, he could certainly help that person help to grow that business.

    • The business Kevin is in now, is a perfect fit for his skillset because he doesn't have to have that great idea. There are ten's of thousands of great ideas being developed right now. And he can acquire something that has already gone through the tough initial stages of developing the first product, finding product market fit, getting the first few customers, discovering how to retain customers, and all the hard early lessons. All he has to do is not screw up what was working, and apply his knowledge from his experience with business in his career, and take lessons from other businesses in his portfolio of businesses.

    • Kevin was surprised with how many people had amazing businesses, and probably only worked around 10 hours per week on it, but were willing to sell their business so that they themselves could move onto something else.

    • If you are passionate and dedicated, and willing to endure what will innevitably be some hard times to get to where you want to get to, then there is likely a path for you to get there.

    • You must have some level of interest in the businesses you either buy or start.

    • Buying businesses can be tricky, because the seller can hide the bad sides of the business, and only show the good.

    • Treat the acquisition process as if it were a full-time job (thoroughly research and evaluate the businesses). The same way as you should treat starting a serious business as a full-time job.

    • Get as much detail on each business that you plan to acquire.

    • Kevin got his start because he discussed potential career paths with a friend who was a successful serial entrepreneur. And the friend told Kevin his idea to start SureSwift Capital, and asked Kevin to run it. They both pooled their money, started acquiring businesses and proved the idea. They never took in external funding. (Networking is key)

    • SureSwift Captial got more and more aggressive while stair-stepping and acquring bigger and bigger companies.

    • Kevin says that there is no secret formula to keeping customers coming to his door and selling him their businesses for him to grow their business and generate even more money. All he says is that it requires Disicpline, recording all the key metrics, keeping customers happy, and doing the right thing as many times as possble, never making the same mistake twice.

    • Home runs don't happen often enough to be a worthy daily goal. Instead focus on throwing the most good pitches out of a 100 daily pitches, every day.

    • SureSwift is a buy-and-hold company. They don't buy and flip companies. They invest long-term.

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      Blast from the past! It's been almost two years since I got to chat with @csallen on the pod (though we've chatted personally since). Great summary, @Matthcw but you make this Kevin guy seem smarter than he really is. :)

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        Hehe, thanks!

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    What about to improve a bit the quality of the audio next time? There must be some software to do that automatically.