Royce Yudkoff

We generally say our students are of a generation that they can't get home without checking their phone about how to drive there. It hadn't occurred to them that they could just go the same way they went yesterday. They can't just go to a restaurant. They need to do whatever they do on their phone before they go. Anyway, it's a generational thing.

We generally say our students are of a generation that they can't get home without checking their phone about how to drive there. It hadn't occurred to them that they could just go the same way they went yesterday. They can't just go to a restaurant. They need to do whatever they do on their phone before they go. Anyway, it's a generational thing.

But what we think is that many of our students want to go in a business, particularly if it's being sold by somebody who's in their 60s or 70s. It's probably technologically light. And our students always have this great desire to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars on a CRM. And we have two answers to that. One is a couple hundred thousand dollars is a lot of your free cash flow.

But what we think is that many of our students want to go in a business, particularly if it's being sold by somebody who's in their 60s or 70s. It's probably technologically light. And our students always have this great desire to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars on a CRM. And we have two answers to that. One is a couple hundred thousand dollars is a lot of your free cash flow.

You got to be thoughtful about that. Certainly your early years, if you're SBA, you don't have debt covenants, but a lot of them are conventionally financed and they do have covenants and they need to be mindful of those. So one is it's pretty expensive. And two, you don't really know what the business should be like in your first year. You got to really wait.

You got to be thoughtful about that. Certainly your early years, if you're SBA, you don't have debt covenants, but a lot of them are conventionally financed and they do have covenants and they need to be mindful of those. So one is it's pretty expensive. And two, you don't really know what the business should be like in your first year. You got to really wait.

And so if the old owner managed it by sticky notes, buy some sticky notes, go to Staples. They're not very expensive. You could buy a lot of sticky notes for a new Salesforce application. Yeah. Try that for a year and see what you really need. Because you'll be a better manager at the end of year one and you'll know exactly what you need then. That's a part of this.

And so if the old owner managed it by sticky notes, buy some sticky notes, go to Staples. They're not very expensive. You could buy a lot of sticky notes for a new Salesforce application. Yeah. Try that for a year and see what you really need. Because you'll be a better manager at the end of year one and you'll know exactly what you need then. That's a part of this.

That is one form of capital investment. By the way, our students routinely ignore our advice on this, but we feel good giving it.

That is one form of capital investment. By the way, our students routinely ignore our advice on this, but we feel good giving it.

It's not pole vaulting. I always wonder how people actually do the first pole vaulting. How do they do that? Or a ski jump. Put somebody on this thing that's tall, the Empire State Building. Just don't turn. Go straight.

It's not pole vaulting. I always wonder how people actually do the first pole vaulting. How do they do that? Or a ski jump. Put somebody on this thing that's tall, the Empire State Building. Just don't turn. Go straight.

It'll be okay. I don't know how that actually works. Here's a stick. Stick it in the ground when you get close.

It'll be okay. I don't know how that actually works. Here's a stick. Stick it in the ground when you get close.

When you land, it'll be fine. I don't know how that happens. This is a mystery to me. But searching is not. You just commit to it. There's this thing, Google, you can find brokers, you talk to brokers, get on their lists, you do some search, you look at some databases, you try to find what companies are out there. It's like so many things in life. Just do it.

When you land, it'll be fine. I don't know how that happens. This is a mystery to me. But searching is not. You just commit to it. There's this thing, Google, you can find brokers, you talk to brokers, get on their lists, you do some search, you look at some databases, you try to find what companies are out there. It's like so many things in life. Just do it.

Just decide you're going to do it and then just... do it. Royce and I describe it step by step in our book. I think those steps can still be followed. But it is the case that most people discover that it's a highly personal activity, that they're going to do a geographic search that's a small geography.

Just decide you're going to do it and then just... do it. Royce and I describe it step by step in our book. I think those steps can still be followed. But it is the case that most people discover that it's a highly personal activity, that they're going to do a geographic search that's a small geography.

They're going to go move to that geography and they're going to go to every chamber of commerce event they can find. They're never going to have breakfast or lunch by themselves. They're going to meet people, meet people, meet people and find the business. They're going to go door to door if they need to, but they're going to meet every business owner in the locale.

They're going to go move to that geography and they're going to go to every chamber of commerce event they can find. They're never going to have breakfast or lunch by themselves. They're going to meet people, meet people, meet people and find the business. They're going to go door to door if they need to, but they're going to meet every business owner in the locale.