It’s Monday, January 30th, 2023. I started the week thinking big.
I drew a diagram of “Girdleyworld” and sent it to Robyn, my Chief of Staff.
We started building. And now, three years later, it’s still surprisingly accurate.
And most importantly:
It’s how I’m launching my next business, while getting paid to find customers.
TL;DR: I’m launching a new Quality of Earnings (QoE) company called Bedrock. QoE is a key part of due diligence when you’re buying a business. If you’re interested in working with us, hit reply and I’ll connect you with the CEO.
The diagram that came to life
Here’s the plan I drew up three years ago for building an audience and what to do with it.
Looking back, I’m surprised at how much of this hasn’t changed. A few things have, though:
YouTube became an income stream on its own
I stopped selling courses (I learned they are never win-wins and while I love the teaching part, I hate that)
Things are way more interconnected and less linear
Finally, the “blog” and “drip campaign” didn’t need to be separate pieces.
Now, when you give me your email, I try to send free, valuable stuff 90% of the time, and offer my services 10% of the time. Hopefully, that’s a good deal for everyone.
And overall, the model works!
So I’m putting a new box at the bottom of this chart: Bedrock Quality of Earnings.
What is “Quality of Earnings”?
A quality of earnings report is one of the most important steps in the process of buying a business.
It’s how you verify how much money the business is making.
A good QoE firm will dig into the financials and ask the hard questions.
Is that revenue recurring or one-time?
Are the owner's personal expenses buried in the P&L?
Did earnings spike last year for a reason that won't repeat?
In short, are you buying what you think you’re buying?
A lot of buyers skip it or cheap out on it. But it means you’re rolling the dice on what’s likely the biggest purchase you’ll ever make.
Why me?
I’ve had my eye on this niche for a long time now.
We see sketchy or unbelievable business listings all the time on Acquisitions Anonymous, and we’ve built an audience of people just as nerdy as I am about business buying.
Plus, Heather has a ton of horror stories about buyers who show up without a real QoE and get nasty surprises.
The only problem: I’m not an accountant. We needed a rockstar to be CEO and lead this company. And after a long search, we found him: Will McCurdy.
Why choose Bedrock?
This new firm has a combination of 3 unique features that nobody else has:
A CEO who has Big 4 Quality of Earnings experience
Backed by people you know and trust (me, Mitchell Baldridge)
That uses the latest tech to provide the best results
We’re excited about it.
How you can help
My ask of you:
If you’ve got a deal in the works and need QoE services right now, book a time with Will right now.
If you’re searching (or just thinking of buying soon), drop your email here and I’ll keep you in the loop.
If you know someone who’s looking to buy a business, forward them this email so they can call us when they’re ready.
Thanks!
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3 things from this week
On Acquisitions Anonymous, we looked at a listing with the most enthusiastic broker’s note we’ve ever seen. This guy is going to the mat for this business. Could it really be that good? Give the episode a watch right here.
I’ve been looking forward to this one. Finally my “Rise and Fall of Papa John’s” video is out. I’d love to hear what you think.
I guess I could have just sent you this tweet instead of this whole newsletter. Oh well!
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That’s all for today. Thanks for reading!
Michael
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