Most people get stuck in acquisitions because they try to pick the perfect industry before they ever look at real businesses. Clarity does not come from thinking. It comes from reviewing actual deals, pressure testing the numbers, and seeing why something that looks good on paper falls apart up close. That is the skill. On Tuesday, March 10th at 8pm EST, I’m walking through exactly how I evaluate real acquisition deals and decide what is worth pursuing. Learn more here. If you are actively looking or even just thinking about it, this will sharpen how you see opportunities.

Most people think the hard part of buying a business is finding deals. It isn’t. Once you start talking to brokers or owners, you’ll usually get the information. The CIM, the financials, the pitch deck. That part happens faster than most people expect. What stops buyers is what comes next. They open the file and suddenly everything feels heavier. There are too many numbers. Too many assumptions. Too many things that might matter. And no clear way to tell what actually does. So people stall. They reread the financials. They send them to friends. They tell themselves they need to “learn more” before making a move. What’s really happening is they don’t have a filter yet. Experienced buyers aren’t looking for perfect deals. They’re looking for a small number of signals that tell them whether a deal is worth continued attention or not. Without that filter, every deal feels risky. With it, most deals get eliminated quickly and a few move forward. This is the part where momentum usually dies for first-time buyers. Not because the deal is bad, but because the decision process is unclear. That’s normal. It’s not a confidence problem. It’s a reps problem. Once you’ve seen enough deals, you start to recognize patterns. You know what to ignore. You know what questions actually matter. And decisions get lighter. This is where having a process, or other buyers to think alongside, helps a lot. I’ll unpack this more in upcoming posts, including how experienced buyers decide what’s worth digging into and what isn’t once the info shows up. Scott

If you’re new (or just getting oriented), go straight to the Classroom → 10-Day Challenge. It’s a 10-day sequence designed to be done consecutively. Each day includes 1–2 short videos followed by a Key Takeaway you’ll post to lock in the idea. No fluff. No busywork. Just the foundation. Consistency matters. Buying a business isn’t about consuming content. It’s about showing up every day and building the right thinking patterns. Start with Day 0 (it explains how the challenge works), do it 10 days in a row, and keep moving. Everything lives inside the Classroom.

If you’re new here, I usually send a short welcome message to help get people oriented. If you see one from me, no pressure to reply. Just wanted to flag it in case notifications got buried.