Stay ConnectedJump into the world of business acquisitions with hosts Bill D’Alessandro, Mills Snell, Heather Endresen, and Michael Girdley.
We review real businesses for sale in each episode, providing expert insights, strategies, and tips to make savvy business moves like the pros. Perfect for entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone interested in buying and selling businesses.
Copyright: © 2024 Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating
Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) is joined by Mehtab Bhogal (LinkedIn link) DTC eCommerce specialist to talk about distressed acquisitions & turnarounds, operations, capital structures, downsizing for quality, finding a business partner on Reddit, why makeup brands suck, and much more.
We discuss a Bankruptcy deal, BH Cosmetics, linked below.
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CloudBookkeeping offers adaptable solutions to businesses that want to focus on growth with a “client service first” approach. They offer a full suite of accounting services, including sophisticated reporting, QuickBooks software solutions, and full-service payroll options.
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Acquisitions Anonymous Episode 89
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:00) Cloudbookkeeping.com
(2:09) Mehtab's introduction
(4:23) Why do you buy a business to downsize it? [Episode clip for wednesday]
(6:14) What is your general path after acquiring a business?
(7:21) What does the cap structure look like pre vs. post-close?
(10:23) How do you handle the Equity?
(15:39) Let's jump to the Deal: BH Cosmetics.
(18:14) Revenue trajectory
(21:19) What is a 363 auction?
(23:16) What does the process look like?
(24:17) What do you think about this deal from a diligence and structure perspective?
(26:52) How well do you know the business at the bidding stage?
(28:26) Let's say you give it a go, how do you decide what the proposal is going to be for lenders and equity holders?
32:00 DIP loan: Debtor in possession financing [Clip]
(32:43) What is the downside risk here? How does Karta add a layer of coverage?
(34:46) Let's take about the operation side: How do you start a turnaround?
(40:02) What are specifics about diligence for your company? Why are product teams so important?
(44:05) BH got purchased at $4Mio. Was it expensive?
(48:35) Tell us about the Return Profile, & how does it relate to equity value?
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Links:
* BH Cosmetics Deal Link
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#87 Yelp is not evil! Building a business using digital CAC | with Johnny Robinson
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros | with Mark Brooks
#88 Sellers Lie about the numbers?! | with Elliot Holland
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For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Elliot Holland (@ElliottEHolland) to dig into Quality of Earnings, why you need it, what you pay for, what to expect, Due Diligence processes, how to budget it and more.
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* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
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Show Notes:
0:00 Intro
1:57 What is Quality of Earnings (QoE) and what do you do at Guardian Due Diligence?
3:12 I’m a buyer: What does Quality of Earnings do to prove the truthfulness of the seller’s numbers?
5:23 Which are the added values and services that can be expected by a buyer?
7:50 How much do you need to budget for a QoE? Does deal size matter?
12:02 As a buyer, when do you need to expect to pay for the Diligence?
17:20 What are other uses of a QoE report? Does it help with Banks, and potential LPs?
20:21 How do you handle the seller to avoid deal fatigue?
22:20 What do you request from a seller when performing a QoE? How do you cross-check that information?
25:14 Have you caught a seller lying/misrepresenting stuff when performing an audit?
28:14 How does a firm like yours organize structurally?
30:29 What advice should you give a buyer looking for a QoE?
33:14 What would you advise buyers, outside of your sphere of expertise?
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks
#48 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Botkin of Benchmark Group
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Johnny Robinson (@SqueegeeGod) in this episode. We talked about getting inspired to launch a business, building an online presence while differentiating from your competitors, W2 employees vs. 1099 workers, entrepreneurship learnings, maintaining successful business relationships, subcontracting as a growth medium, and much more!
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Thanks to our sponsors!
MicroAcquire is the #1 startup acquisition marketplace. It is simply the most efficient way to buy and sell startups when you’re ready to make your next move.
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* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
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Show Notes:
0:00 Intro
1:03 Microacquire
2:58 Johnny’s LLC and background
5:11 How is the operation of your business currently?
7:12 What did you study in school, and how did you find your way into entrepreneurship?
9:47 How did you manage to go from operating your business to passive ownership?
13:53 What have you learned by hiring W-2 employees and subcontracting through 1099s? What did you choose to scale up?
18:38 Do your subcontractors represent your Brand?
20:41 How is your customer acquisition funnel built? Can you walk us through your operation stack?
21:47 How did you build a brand and differentiate yourself online? What’s your take on Yelp?
28:00 What is your formula for home services businesses?
33:41 How big can window cleaning businesses get? Which additional complementary services can you stack together?
37:29 What’s the story after the Covid bump you suffered back in 2020?
42:27 Tell us about your crazy hiring stories
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks
#48 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Botkin of Benchmark Group
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) is joined by JK Molina (@OneJKMolina) for this Twitter masterclass episode. We talk about how SMB owners & Founders can leverage the platform, Twitter best practices, keys to writing a good thread, how to build a network, visible vs invisible scorecards, and much more.
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* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Thanks to our sponsors!
MoreNow.co: We help owners build a high functioning, experienced team by leveraging the top manager/director talent in the Phillippines. Go to morenow.co and fill out the form. Or email hire@morenow.co. Mention this pod for 20% of your first hire.
Beyond8Figures.com - A podcast where entrepreneurs and experts speak up on topics related to business and life in general! Make sure you check them out ;).
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Show Notes:
0:00 Intro
00:35 Morenow.co
2:24 Who is JK and why is he addicted to Twitter?
4:55 When is Twitter useful? Where’s the potential?
7:34 Visible vs invisible scoreboards
11:44 How do you make it work?
14:30 What is a humbleflex strategy?!?
15:53 How do you acquire clients through the platform?
19:32 What makes a good thread?
24:40 Beyond8figures Podcast
25:29 How should we understand the world of Ghostwriters on Twitter? What is their added value?
28:57 How to hack Twitter? Where does Tweethunter enter? What do you need to avoid?
32:44 What does Twitter have in common with High School?
38:08 How do you handle Twitter hate?
41:38 Is there advice for Founders & SMB owners to use the platform?
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Links:
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
-----
Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks
#48 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Botkin of Benchmark Group
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) are joined by David Rontal (@davidrontal) to talk about the Oil & Gas Industry, its value chain, industry trends & opportunities, covid effects & labor issues.
We discuss an Oil & Gas services Deal, and a Cannabis farm Deal based in Colorado, which surprisingly have many parallels.
-----
* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Thanks to our sponsor!
MicroAcquire is the #1 startup acquisition marketplace. It is simply the most efficient way to buy and sell startups when you’re ready to make your next move.
-----
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(2:15) What is the value chain of Oil & Gas companies? What does each player do? What are the stages?
(8:08) Why is the business so tough from a legal perspective? How is the mineral owner mindset?
(11:05) Exit strategy? How does the Oil & Gas interest marketplace work?
(16:32) Deal 1: South Texas Well Cementing & Acidizing Company
(18:03) What does the company do? How do they operate? Where are the costs?
(23:58) Services business in Oil & Gas: Is it lucrative? What should you look out for? Where is the value?
(27:28) Why do they have more trucks than employees? What’s happening with labor?
(31:37) What would you recommend to investors looking to enter the industry?
(37:01) Microacquire
(38:58) Deal 2: Cannabis farm based in Colorado
(41:27) What does the Marihuana retail market look like? What does the location tell us?
(45:32) Is there information missing on the listing? What hidden costs should you ask for? Is there a permitting process to be considered?
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Links:
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
-----
Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks
#80 How One Tweet Led to One SMB Acquisition!
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Michael Girdley (@Girdley), Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA), and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Brad Smart (@DrBradSmart) to talk about the Topgrading hiring process, issues in standard hiring practices, solutions, the importance of job descriptions and how to do them right, and much more.
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* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(2:34) Why are hiring processes broken? What are common mistakes?
(4:57) What are the solutions? What is the TORC technique?
(8:50) How can people apply Topgrading ideas in the current context where employees have the leverage and lack time for extended interviews?
(12:40) How do you go beyond the resumes? What is essential in a person’s history?
(15:24) What are standard practices to upgrade your hirings?
(16:41) How can the Topgrading method be used in an acquisition?
(19:02) Job descriptions are usually low appealing. How could SMB owners improve them?
(22:41) What is the impact on the hiring process of having virtual interviews?
(25:56) How do you think about optimizing Topgrading for the younger generations and their needs?
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
-----
Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#83 Can you grow a business in a shrinking market? Featuring baller @WilsonCompanies as a special guest!
#82 How Great Operators Win! How PE does it like pros with Mark Brooks
#48 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Botkin of Benchmark Group
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
This is an encore episode of our original episode 24.
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by John Wilson (@WilsonCompanies) as a special guest! We talk about the septic service business & pool services: Barriers of entry, payroll exposure, growth potentials, synergies, and much more!
Deals:
-$5mm pool services and lifeguard staffing co
-$2mm septic services business
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:20) John's current businesses
(5:05) A lifeguard Staffing Co
(8:03) Are those 2 businesses together?
(9:55) Why are they selling?
(10:58) What are the risks from the buyer's side?
(14:59) The advantage of the staffing company & growth potential
(21:28) A septic company for sale
(23:47) What do we like? Growth opportunities?
(25:41) How did you find this deal? What do you find valuable?
(30:46) How are you structuring this deal?
(31:53) How does the depreciation work with trucks?
(32:49) What are your next steps when thinking about integration and synergies?
(35:44) How do you consolidate a business when growth is flat?
(37:33) Why are usually plumbing and septic companies bound together?
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Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
If you liked this episode, subscribe to our weekly newsletter and receive new episodes, offers and learnings directly to your inbox every week:
https://landing-newsletter.acquanon.com/
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Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) is joined by Mark Brooks (@markbrooks), Managing Director at Permanent Equity, to talk about investor-operator relationships, integrations, pre-close involvement and post-close dynamics, cultural fits, empowering leadership teams, handling tough conversations, and much more.
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Thanks to our sponsors!
MoreNow.co: We help owners build a high functioning, experienced team by leveraging the top manager/director talent in the Phillippines. Go to morenow.co and fill out the form. Or email hire@morenow.co. Mention this pod for 20% of your first hire.
-----
* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(2:33) How do you interact with Portfolio companies?
(3:48) How do you alternate between remote and on-site work?
(5:00) What do you think of passive ownership of a business?
(7:08) How do you prepare pre & post-close for a deal to be successful?
(11:07) You talk about integrating yourself into the operational workflow; have you experienced pushback on that?
(14:05) How do you recognize success in the first phase of integration?
(16:33) What is your thought process of discovery when assessing a new business?
(20:55) Morenow.co
(22:46) How does the investor-operator relationship begin?
(27:15) How do you structure KPIs & metrics?
(30:39) When and how would you escalate into operating one of the portfolio companies?
(32:58) What are the early signs of a leadership issue?
(35:34) How do you handle tough conversations?
(42:31) What do you think about industry expertise? Is it necessary to run a business?
(45:40) How do you handle cultural fits, team chemistry, and leadership anomalies?
(50:11) What is the influence of incentives on behavior?
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#64 How to find the expected benchmarks and KPIs for your industry?
#67 I bought a business. Now what? Learn with us from an expert - Dzmitry Miranovich joins us once more
#42 $900k Moving and Storage Company / $500k Rural Mini-Storage
#61 Two Manufacturing Businesses for Sale - Brent Beshore - Founder and CEO at Permanent Equity--- Support this podcast:
https://anchor.fm/dealtalk/support
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) and Mills Snell (@thegeneralmills) are joined by Mark Fleming Jr. (@MarkFlemingJr) to discuss 2 Title insurance companies for sale. We talk about the notary business, margins, risk & risk ownership, software investment impact, revenue sources, insurance premiums, and more.
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Thanks to our sponsors!
CloudBookkeeping offers adaptable solutions to businesses that want to focus on growth with a “client service first” approach. They offer a full suite of accounting services, including sophisticated reporting, QuickBooks software solutions, and full-service payroll options.
-----
* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:49) 1st Deal: Maryland Based Title Company
(3:58) What stands out from the notary's point of view?
(5:52) Is the owner currently receiving a salary? How would that impact margins?
(7:05) What is a Title company?
(8:42) Is the reported revenue insurance premium income? How does that work?
(10:52) Who carries the risk for the insurance?
(11:59) What is the title search industry? When do they operate?
(13:36) Who is acting as a referral source? Lenders? Attorneys?
(16:58) What is the durability of the referral sources? Is there a risk to bear?
(20:55) What are the barriers to entry into the business? Where can you find opportunities?
(22:50) Cloudbookkeeping.com - Focus on your business instead of your books.
(24:00) Deal 2: Title Insurance Business for Sale
(26:23) First thoughts & valuation
(28:43) Is technology relevant in this business? How does software impacts process management?
(31:51) Residential vs. Commercial, what are the main differences?
(33:58) What is one of the main advantages of a larger business?
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#62 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Loftus, CEO of Connor's Landscaping
#66 Analyzing Software Businesses for Sale with Steve Divitkos, an experienced industry CEO
#42 $900k Moving and Storage Company / $500k Rural Mini-Storage
#61 Two Manufacturing Businesses for Sale - Brent Beshore - Founder and CEO at Permanent Equity
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dealtalk/supportSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
If you liked this episode, subscribe to our weekly newsletter and receive new episodes, offers and learnings directly to your inbox every week:
https://landing-newsletter.acquanon.com/
----
Michael Girdley (@Girdley) and Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA) are joined by Joe Cassandra (@JoeCassandra) to hear his lessons learned in SMB ownership, running a children's retail store, owner-employee relationships, building a HoldCo, hidden expenses, and more.
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Thanks to our sponsors!
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Questions? Call us at 1-800-975-5304 or email hello@fleetio.com
—--
* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!
* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.
-----
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(2:09) What is the story on buying a Business for the first time?
(4:39) Why did you think this was a good deal?
(8:08) How did you evaluate the business on ROI and mitigating risks?
(9:56) The business was cheap, it was an asymmetric bet.
(13:05) How did you evaluate Location potential and value in the deal?
(14:41) You bought the business. What happened next?
(16:45) Offline & online marketing strategies
(18:00) Owner-employee relationship management and incentive plans to build salesperson loyalty
(21:21) What size does the business have? Which are the business numbers?
(23:32) Who is the CEO of the business? How much time do you spend weekly?
(25:02) What advice would you have on someone trying to replicate your story?
(27:36) Fleetio sponsor - Fleet management service - Check them out!
(30:49) How does the retail store fit into the HoldCo strategy?
(35:45) How do you consolidate your income streams?
(37:23) What is your vision as a growth?
(38:19) What is it like to own a retailer?
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Links:
* www.Fleetio.com - Fleet Management Solutions - Questions? Call us at 1-800-975-5304 or email hello@fleetio.com
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Past guests on Acquanon include Nick Huber, Brent Beshore, Aaron Rubin, Mike Botkin, Ari Ozick, Mitchell Baldridge, Xavier Helgelsen, Mike Loftus, Steve Divitkos, Dzmitry Miranovich, Morgan Tate and more.
-----
Additional episodes you might enjoy:
#62 Two Landscaping Businesses for Sale - Mike Loftus CEO of Connor's Landscaping
Subscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inbox
Advertise with us by clicking here
For inquiries or suggestions, email us at contact@acquanon.com
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