The Exchanges

Q skeletons in the closet or this thing turns out to have been built on some quicksand, then we're going to forgive the rest of that seller's note. Right. And he was able to structure it accordingly. So, so it's a, it's a good mechanism for, for any buyer, um, That's doing it. I, I don't know. Did you do that, or did you just do a seller's note as is?

A I did it as is. There is something called an earn out, which is similar to what you're saying, and it's based on the performance of the business, and you choose, am I going to do it on revenue or profits? For me, I tried to keep this extremely simple, because the devil really is in the details here, and these sellers, a lot of them don't even have high school degrees, but they're very good at business. They've been very successful, so I'm trying to do a deal here where these terms are extremely straightforward, and when you start doing terms like that, the seller freaks out. Because then it's, wait, I may not get this money. I don't even know you. All of a sudden, he's skeptical of you. So I'm not a big fan of those.

AI assessment note: “I did it as is. There is something called an earn out”

Q And why do you, uh, what do you think, what do they say to you? Where, where, how are they finding you, and what do they say to you?

A Some people beg me to talk to them for 15 minutes. They'll offer, someone specifically offered me 500 dollars for five minutes of my time, and it's crazy because I'm so irrelevant most days. I'm out in Sutton, Massachusetts, so there's not much happening here. I'm kind of under the radar, and so all of a sudden, I've now gotten a ton of inquiries from people, and a lot of people want specific information. A lot of people are emailing to say, hey, I'm doing this exact thing. How do you get financing? Or, can I get your opinion on this business deal? Or, I'm about to close. How did you get a bank to actually do your deal without putting much or any money down?

AI assessment note: “A lot of people are emailing to say, hey, I'm doing this exact thing.”

Q And you told me, by the way, you said one of your things is like, you think industry is overrated. You think people over index on, ah, I'm looking in this space. This is the niche. This is the industry I'm looking in. You don't believe in that and you didn't do that. Uh, why do you think that's the case?

A So initially, here's why I think that from experience, initially I did what I think most people do, what investors actually require you to do. You sit there and you have a thesis about the kind of industries that would be great businesses. And usually those industries have characteristics that make them stable, which is what you're looking for when you're buying a business with a lot of debt. And what I found is that the industries were absolutely irrelevant. What matters is that you find a business that is established and has been consistently profitable for a number of years. Everything else, garbage. There are so many businesses in amazing industries, like let's talk pest control, right? Great industry. You've got people that I've passed, they're not gonna say, you know what, not a great year for me this year. I'm just gonna let my house be infested. Like, that's not really a thing. Right. It almost gives you, I think, industries a false sense of security, because you think, just because I'm in this pest control business, I'm good. When you're really not, there's way more to it than that. And so what I found is, find a business that's established and consistently profitable, Forget the industry. Because people could say I'm in e-commerce.

AI assessment note: “It almost gives you, I think, industries a false sense of security”

Q could be anything. This is, we're talking cups. We're talking whatever you want. So you, um. Truly. And so are you, like, reaching out, by the way? Because, like, you, your website's still eggcartons.com, and I'm not trying to Sean Parker you, but, like, drop the eggs. Just cartons.com, that's the way to go here. If you're making 40% off of non-egg stuff, why don't you kind of rebrand it?

A So it's funny, we are actually in the process of doing a little bit of that, and I've continued to buy a bunch of domain names, so things like machine shop trays or bath bomb cartons, Any variations of that. I'm just buying domains left and right. Who knows whether they'll stick? But that's, that's a huge portion of it. But it's, it's very challenging to figure out how to do that without compromising other important variables, other important revenue drivers. It's a lot more challenging than you'd think. But we are, to your point, looking into that. I'm always like, stop with the eggs. And everyone at the company's like, we sell egg cartons. It's taken me years to really get people to understand This is bigger than eggs. We're not abandoning the farms. We're not abandoning the chickens, you guys. It's just way bigger than that, so, like, stop talking about the chickens and the ducks and whatever. The geese.

AI assessment note: “we are actually in the process of doing a little bit of that”

Q Have you done that? Do you feel like you've been able to do that?

A Do I feel like I've been able to do that? That, I do actually, and that's truly one of the most rewarding things about my job now, and why I try and keep my circle very small. I'm really big on doing what these families did for me as much as possible, which is a lot of one-on-one mentorship, because I can only do so much on a mass scale, but one-on-one I can really Bring people to the next level, whatever that level is, and I'm huge on, and I have no tolerance for people's self-doubting. I'll say, nope, you can do it. Like, do it again. We're doing this again, and I will sit there, and everyone in the business I used to say, I will come any day, any time. I will sit with you for as long as it takes. If you try, and you're honest with me, I'm not gonna give up on you. And I, I really mean that. If somebody tries, and they're honest with me, I'm not giving up on them.

AI assessment note: “That, I do actually, and that's truly one of the most rewarding things”

Q could find out maybe the profits of your business, I'd be happy to join you for a coffee. Uh, let's, let's do this. Um, that's so, so funny. Yeah. And if you could leave, uh, Any listeners of this with one, I don't know, message or takeaway? What's, what's your kind of, what's your message? What's your, what's the last thing you want us to leave in people's minds here?

A So, my biggest value is freedom. This country was not founded on equality despite how things seem now with the culture. It was founded on freedom, and part of freedom is using everything at your disposal, so gender, sex, age, whatever makes you, you. You can use any of those things to literally pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make your life what you want it. This industry, I can promise you, is one of those industries You don't have to have Harvard MBA. What made me successful at this, I really think was largely my upbringing. Those things weren't taught to me at Harvard to get a business. The things I do day to day were not taught to me at Harvard. They were taught at the cliche school of hard knocks. So if you want to be free, Pursue this route. Freedom is not free. It's gonna cost you time. It's gonna cost you, like, a lot of effort, but I can promise you that anyone that wants to do this can do this if they really put their all into it.

AI assessment note: “So, my biggest value is freedom.”