- Obsessed Acquisitions · Build Your Wealth
Learn to find, fund and acquire businesses.
The Acquisitions Academy is a twelve-month programme covering how to find businesses, value them, fund the deal, negotiate terms, carry out due diligence and complete the acquisition.
The Academy is built to help you complete an acquisition and become the new owner.
- FREE • 45 MINUTES
Entrepreneurs trained
Reviews & Results
Across Nine Areas
In-Person Academy Days
Coaching & Accountability
- What we can help with
Acquisitions is one part of Obsessed.
01
Know Your Numbers.
- ACCOUNTING
Accounts, tax, bookkeeping and management information.
02
Grow Your Business.
- Advisory
Help to build a more profitable, more valuable business.
- YOU ARE HERE
03
Build Your Wealth.
- Acquisitions
Learn how to find, fund and buy other businesses.
You get faster access to clients, income, staff and systems.
Growing all of that yourself takes time.
You can buy a business that has already spent years building it.
You need to know what to buy, what to pay, how to fund the deal and exactly what you’re taking on before you become the owner.
What the twelve months includes.
The Acquisitions Academy includes 44 modules, monthly in-person Academy Days, bi-weekly group coaching, bi-weekly 1:1 accountability and a community of other business owners.
The curriculum takes you from finding businesses and speaking to sellers through valuation, funding, deal structure, negotiation, due diligence and completion.
When you’re speaking to a seller or looking at a deal, you can bring it into the Academy and talk it through with us.
01
The Acquisitions Curriculum
44 modules across nine areas of the acquisition process.
Work through the curriculum at your own pace across the year, from finding businesses and speaking to sellers through valuation, funding, deal structure, negotiation, due diligence and completion.
02
Monthly Academy Days
One full day, in person, every month.
Each month, everyone comes together in person to learn, ask questions, talk through deals and spend time with other business owners who are looking to buy businesses too.
03
Bi-Weekly Group Coaching
Ask questions, talk through deals and get input from the group.
Every two weeks, the group gets together for questions, discussion and feedback on the acquisition opportunities members are working on at the time.
04
Bi-Weekly 1:1 Accountability
A short one-to-one conversation every two weeks.
Your Client Success Manager goes through what you said you would do, what you’ve done and what you’re going to do before the next call.
05
The Obsessed Community
Spend the year around other business owners who want to buy businesses too.
You’ll see them at Academy Days, on the group coaching calls and in the community between sessions – asking questions, sharing deals and learning from what other people are working on.
44 modules across nine areas of the acquisition process.
The curriculum starts with finding businesses and speaking to sellers, then moves through valuation, funding, deal structure, negotiation, due diligence and completion.
You work through it at your own pace across the twelve months and go back to the relevant parts as deals develop.
Modules
Areas
01
SOURCING & OUTREACH
Find businesses you’d be interested in buying and start conversations with the owners.
01 – Building Your Target List
Decide what sort of business you want to buy and build a list of companies that match it.
02 – Outreach That Gets Responses
Contact owners and start conversations about whether they would consider selling.
03 – Managing The Acquisition Pipeline
Keep track of who you’ve contacted, the conversations you’ve had and who needs following up.
04 – Preparing For Seller Meetings
Know what you want to find out before you speak to the seller.
05 – Information To Request Before You Meet
Ask for enough information to understand the business before the first meeting.
02
THE FIRST CONVERSATION
Use the first conversation to understand the business, the seller and why they’re considering a sale.
06 – The Twelve-Question Seller Conversation
Use twelve questions to cover the business, why they’re selling and what they want from a deal.
07 – Interpreting What You Hear
Work out what needs checking further after the first conversation.
08 – Understanding Seller Motivation
Understand why the owner is selling and how that could affect the deal.
09 – Understanding Seller Objectives & Constraints
Find out what the seller wants from the deal and anything that could affect how it is structured.
10 – Ending The First Conversation Well
Finish the conversation knowing what happens next and what information you need from them.
11 – Assessing Seller Seriousness
Work out whether the owner is genuinely considering a sale or is just curious about what the business might be worth.
12 – Walking Away Early
Know when to stop pursuing a deal before you spend more time or money on it.
03
VALUATION & DEAL ECONOMICS
Learn how to value a business, understand the earnings and decide what price you can pay.
13 – The Fourteen Factors That Drive Value
Understand the fourteen factors we look at when deciding what can increase or reduce the value of a business.
14 – Choosing The Right Valuation Method
Know the main ways a business can be valued and which one to use.
15 – Understanding The Earnings
Work out what the reported profit really means and which earnings figure you should be looking at.
16 – Non-Recurring Adjustments
Identify one-off income and costs that can make the profits look better or worse than normal.
17 – Owner & Discretionary Adjustments
Understand how the owner’s pay and discretionary spending affect the earnings you’re looking at.
18 – Valuation vs Affordability
Understand the difference between what a business may be worth and what the deal can afford to pay for.
04
FINANCING THE ACQUISITION
Understand the different ways an acquisition can be funded and what each one means for the buyer.
19 – Asset Finance
Understand when the assets in a business can be used to help fund the acquisition.
20 – Invoice Finance
Understand how money owed by customers can be used to provide working capital.
21 – Acquisition Loans & Cashflow Finance
Understand how lenders look at an acquisition and whether the business can support the borrowing afterwards.
22 – Investor & Equity Capital
Understand when an investor could help fund the deal and what they may expect in return.
23 – Vendor Finance
Understand how part of the price can be paid to the seller over time and what that means for both sides.
05
DEAL STRUCTURING
Learn how the price, timing of payments and funding can be put together in a deal.
24 – Earn-Outs
Understand how part of the price can depend on what the business does after completion.
25 – Building The Funding Stack
See how different sources of money can be combined to fund the acquisition.
26 – Guarantees, Security & Personal Risk
Understand what a lender may ask you to secure against the borrowing and where you could be personally liable.
06
NEGOTIATION
Know what you want from the deal before you start negotiating with the seller.
27 – Setting Your Negotiation Position
Decide your preferred terms, how far you’re prepared to move and where your limits are.
28 – Negotiating Price & Terms
Negotiate the whole deal, including price, payment terms and the other conditions that matter.
29 – Managing Concessions & Deadlock
Know when to give ground, what to ask for in return and when to stop negotiating.
07
HEADS OF TERMS
Put the main points of the deal in writing before the legal work and due diligence begin.
30 – What Heads Of Terms Actually Do
Understand what Heads of Terms are for and what they should record.
31 – Key Commercial Terms & Conditions
Agree the main commercial points before you start spending heavily on lawyers and due diligence.
32 – Moving From Agreement To Heads Of Terms
Turn what you’ve agreed with the seller into a written document both sides can work from.
33 – Exclusivity, Timetables & Process
Understand how exclusivity, deadlines and responsibilities are usually dealt with while the deal moves towards completion.
08
DUE DILIGENCE
Understand what needs checking before you commit to buying the business.
34 – Asset Purchase vs Share Purchase
Understand the difference between buying the company and buying selected assets from it.
35 – Financial, Legal & Commercial Due Diligence
Know the main areas that need checking and what each one is looking for.
36 – Managing Your Professional Advisers
Know what your lawyers, accountants and other advisers need from you and what decisions still sit with you as the buyer.
37 – Managing The Due Diligence Process
Keep track of the questions, documents and findings that come out of due diligence.
38 – Responding To Due Diligence Findings
Decide whether something you find should change the price, the terms or whether you continue with the deal at all.
39 – Distressed & Insolvency Acquisitions
Understand how buying a distressed or insolvent business can be different and where specialist advice becomes more important.
09
CONTRACTS & COMPLETION
Understand what happens between agreeing the deal and becoming the new owner.
40 – Understanding The Purchase Agreement
Understand what the main purchase agreement covers and the decisions your solicitor may need from you.
41 – Warranties, Indemnities & Disclosure
Understand the protections in the agreement and how risk is divided between buyer and seller.
42 – Property & Leases In The Deal
Understand how freehold property, leases, landlord consent and occupancy can affect the acquisition.
43 – Completion Accounts & Working Capital
Understand how the financial position at completion can change the final amount paid.
44 – Managing The Route To Completion
Keep track of the remaining decisions, documents, advisers and conditions needed to complete the acquisition.
The Acquisitions Curriculum changes over time. Module titles, order and content may change.
- Client result