I bought the business

Back in late December, 2021, I came across a listing on FE International that caught my eye. Right off the bat, it checked a few boxes:

The business offered homeschooling educational resources. I had been homeschooled as a kid, and my wife are in-progress with our five children. It seemed good to have some overlap between that important part of our life and a potential side hustle.

Development of life skills is an aspect of education I find very compelling. Years ago, I had partnered with a blogger to develop a life skills community for adults. A lot of those ideas (some realized, some not) could potentially flow into this new effort.

Additionally, the total number of customers and the revenue was at a scale that seemed plausible to grow as a side hustle. I could learn the specifics of the business without a huge amount of customer support.

Lastly, after many discussions with the creators, I reached the conclusion that I could probably add value. To put it more bluntly, not everything about the website and the product was perfect. And there were a number of areas where effort and expertise could be applied. I wanted to make sure I wasn't hanging too many hopes on a single factor of the business.

Long story short, we closed on the deal at the beginning of February, and I'm excited to carry this business forward. The previous owners have been fantastic throughout this whole process. I've had a few side projects over the years, but this is the first time to build upon someone else's work. It's really nice to have fresh eyes and fresh energy that won't have to fight the battle for basic viability. The founders were successful proving the demand could be serviced by their solution. Now it's up to me to build from there.