00:00 What are some things people need to know

00:01 if they're thinking about selling their

00:02 business? What are the typical things

00:03 you see that people don't know before

00:05 they go to market?

00:06 >> So, the the biggest thing is the

00:09 financial statements. At some point, you

00:11 need to mature and hire somebody that's

00:13 adequately managing these books. How are

00:15 you going to go to market with

00:17 financials that aren't accurate? We had

00:19 a client that had nearly $20 million in

00:22 gross rev and 4 million in Ibita, strong

00:24 margins in manufacturing. Yep.

00:26 >> But 98% of their business was two

00:27 clients.

00:28 >> Yeah. So if that one of them leaves, you

00:29 lost half the business.

00:30 >> The financials, that's the number one

00:32 thing. Uh B2B businesses, the biggest

00:34 thing is customer concentration.

00:36 >> How long do you typically work with a

00:38 company before you take them to market?

00:41 Welcome back to another episode of the

00:42 M19 podcast. Today we're going to be

00:44 talking about mergers and acquisitions.

00:47 We are here at the beautiful Tory Pines

00:50 Lodge. It's absolutely incredible

00:51 overlooking the ocean and the courses

00:53 and everything else. And I got my good

00:55 friend and M19 member, Wes Shelton.

00:57 What's up, man?

00:58 >> Hey, how are you, Ryan? Thanks for

00:59 having me.

01:00 >> Yeah, appreciate you being here. And,

01:01 uh, bro, let's jump into it. Tell me a

01:04 little bit about your business with the

01:06 MN or MNA space. It's a tongue twister.

01:09 >> Yeah. Yeah, it is. Sure. Um, yeah, I'm

01:11 Wes Shelton. We're uh SM2 Advisors.

01:13 We're a boutique M&A advisory firm

01:16 mainly working on the sell side. Okay.

01:18 We're nationwide. We have all of our

01:21 business comes to us through referral

01:22 and word of mouth, you know, mainly

01:24 through financial advisors, attorneys,

01:25 accountants, stuff like that. And so,

01:27 um, I've been with SM2 for 15 years. Um,

01:30 my partner who founded it, um, back in

01:33 the '90s, you know, he's been doing this

01:35 a lot longer as well. So, um, so yeah,

01:38 you know, really we work on the sell

01:40 side, um, with owners, typically private

01:43 owners, bootstrap businesses that are

01:46 um, lower middle market, so 5 million to

01:48 100 million in enterprise value. So, the

01:50 strata we work in is typically above

01:52 what most business brokers are doing,

01:54 but what most investment banks are

01:56 doing. So, we we really serve that niche

01:58 and and um

01:59 >> yeah, it's kind of an underserved niche,

02:00 right? Because, you know, you got the I

02:02 don't know, the the Chases and the JP

02:05 Morgans of the world going after all the

02:07 huge deals and then you've got like kind

02:09 of smaller brokers selling the $1 to5

02:12 million deals and then like nobody's

02:13 kind of serving like you said the $50 to

02:16 $50 million range very well.

02:18 >> Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, we

02:19 actually get calls all the time from

02:21 from Merrills and from Goldman Sachs,

02:23 hey, we got a $20 million car

02:25 dealership. that's too small for us, you

02:26 want it. We're like, not only we want

02:27 it, we'll knock it out of the park for

02:28 them, right? That's that's just the

02:30 niche that we serve. And um

02:32 >> it's really all about like discretion

02:35 and confidentiality because most of the

02:37 owners that we deal with, they're very

02:39 sensitive about that. They don't want

02:40 their employees to know.

02:41 >> Yeah. Yeah.

02:41 >> They don't want their competitors to

02:43 know. And so like it's just a very

02:44 bespoke process.

02:45 >> So your your partner has been doing this

02:47 since the '9s. You've been there for 15

02:49 plus years now, too. I mean, how much

02:51 how many transactions have you guys

02:53 done? Yeah. So, as a boutique firm,

02:55 we're the we have a support staff, but

02:57 we're the only deal maker. So, you know,

02:59 we do three, four deals a year. Like,

03:00 we're killing it. Yeah. And because we

03:02 really don't want to bring on

03:03 >> Yeah.

03:04 >> a bunch of advisers and have to babysit.

03:06 That's, you know, maybe the model for

03:08 other firms or what have you. But, so

03:10 we're I mean, we've done in 15 years um

03:14 we've

03:14 >> I mean, hundreds of millions, Ryan.

03:16 Yeah.

03:16 >> You know, but we've done deals as small

03:18 as 3 million and we've done deals as

03:19 large as 180 million.

03:21 >> Yeah. you know, but most of them are

03:22 1020 million. Like that's because

03:24 there's more of those, right?

03:25 >> Yeah. And what are what are the typical

03:27 businesses that you're seeing in those

03:28 range that you're selling?

03:29 >> Yeah, we've done quite a few

03:31 dealerships. So, um yeah, car

03:34 dealerships. We've done farm and tractor

03:35 dealerships. We've done boat

03:36 dealerships. We've done multiple deals

03:38 like that, iconic, you know, shipyards

03:40 and things of that nature. And I'm I

03:42 live in South Florida, so we see more

03:44 deals in South Florida just because

03:45 we're there.

03:46 >> Cuz it's like transient or what? people

03:48 want to move and sell or just because

03:50 you get deal flow there.

03:51 >> It's just because I know more I'm third

03:53 generation businessman that down there

03:54 and so but like it's a huge marine um

03:58 you know hub there. Fort Lauderdale is

03:59 the Venice of America they call it. So

04:01 we've done you know quite a few

04:02 businesses in that space.

04:04 >> Cool. So with that being said, what are

04:06 some things people need to know if

04:07 they're thinking about selling their

04:08 business? Because we've got a lot of

04:10 guys in here at M19 that are running

04:12 great businesses, seven, eight figures,

04:14 nine figures in revenue. And so clearly

04:16 they've got some enterprise value. What

04:19 are the typical things you see that

04:20 people don't know before they go to

04:22 market?

04:23 >> Yeah, it's really really simple. You've

04:25 got to plan and it's never too soon to

04:28 plan, but you got to get your financials

04:29 in order. You got to make sure your key

04:31 talent is locked up and tied to the

04:33 business. Um you've got to make sure

04:35 that your legal documents in order, your

04:39 bylaws, your articles of incorporation,

04:40 all of these things. But if you don't

04:42 plan ahead, you know, 80% of businesses

04:44 that go to market don't sell. You know,

04:45 if you went on bis by sell right now and

04:47 you took a screenshot of all the

04:48 businesses for sale and you went back a

04:50 year from now, most of them are still

04:52 going to be there because it's garbage.

04:54 You know, they might be making lots of

04:55 money and they might have a history of

04:57 revenue and and track record and all

04:59 that, but if they haven't planned

05:00 properly and a buyer's going into

05:02 diligence, they're just going to get

05:03 destroyed.

05:04 >> Like what are some examples of planning?

05:05 Let's say their Ibidas are good and all

05:07 this stuff like so what's not being

05:08 planned properly? So the the biggest

05:10 thing is the financial statements, you

05:13 know, because you think about it, most

05:14 businesses that are started from

05:16 scratch, the owner's doing the books,

05:17 right? You don't you may or may not have

05:19 an accounting background, maybe you got

05:21 a partner in the business that's doing

05:22 it

05:23 >> and they're just not clean. And then as

05:25 you get more mature and you grow and

05:26 you're making more money at some point,

05:28 you need to mature and hire somebody

05:30 that's adequately managing these books

05:32 and what you think you're making is an

05:34 accurate representation of what you're

05:36 making. But how are you going to go to

05:38 market with financials that aren't

05:40 accurate?

05:41 >> You know, so you if you think about it,

05:43 right, like you're really only hurting

05:45 yourself. So if you're actually making

05:47 less money than you think you are, the

05:49 buyers are always going to find out.

05:50 >> Yeah.

05:51 >> And you're already going to be down the

05:52 road at that point, having spent lots of

05:54 money and, you know, attorneys fees and

05:56 what have you. If you're actually making

05:58 more money than you're representing,

05:59 then you're hurting yourself because the

06:01 buyer's never going to tell you, "Hey,

06:02 Ryan, congratulations. I just got done

06:03 with diligence and you're making you

06:05 know 20% more you've done than we

06:06 thought.

06:07 >> So you the financials that's the number

06:09 one thing. Uh B2B businesses the biggest

06:12 thing is customer concentration.

06:14 >> You know we were working on a deal last

06:16 year

06:16 >> where we had a client that had nearly

06:20 $20 million in gross rev and 4 million

06:22 in Ibida. Strong margins in

06:24 manufacturing y but 98% of their

06:26 business was two clients.

06:27 >> Yeah. So if that one of them leaves, you

06:28 lost half the business.

06:29 >> And and it's hard, you know? I mean,

06:31 it's you can't just go out tomorrow and

06:33 pick up new clients and you diversify

06:34 your customers. So that takes time.

06:36 >> Yeah. So with that being said, how long

06:40 do you typically work with a company

06:42 before you take them to market? Because

06:43 I got to imagine somebody's watching

06:45 this, they come to you, they're like,

06:47 "Hey, I'm thinking about selling my

06:48 business." And it's like most aren't

06:50 going to be prepped the right way. Like

06:52 like, "Oh, dude, we can go list it

06:54 tomorrow."

06:55 >> Yeah. Most. So you know the answer to

06:57 that is we we do an assessment called an

06:59 exit ready assessment which essentially

07:02 that is a opinion of value plus a

07:04 comprehensive scorecard an exit ready

07:06 scorecard and with that we provide it to

07:09 them and say here's an action item of

07:11 things that you can do over time. We

07:13 don't do that work. So we have a number

07:15 of consultants we know we can refer you

07:16 to that are exit planners.

07:17 >> Yeah.

07:18 >> Um but I mean it can be yours.

07:19 >> Yeah

07:20 >> for sure. But we say come talk to us

07:22 first. Like we don't need a check. We

07:24 don't need money. come talk to us. We'll

07:25 take a look at your business and we'll

07:26 help get you on the right path so that

07:29 when you are ready, you know, we can

07:30 come back to the table and we can we can

07:32 hit the road.

07:33 >> What are some expenses that people need

07:34 to factor in? Let's say you're running

07:37 this $20 million business, 4 million

07:39 IBIDA, how much are they going to spend

07:41 going to market?

07:43 >> Well, if it's if it's ready to go or if

07:45 they need, you know, some,

07:47 >> let's assume they need some stuff done.

07:48 the average person,

07:50 >> you know, for a $10 million business,

07:52 let's just say, I mean, you could easily

07:53 spend $100,000 in exit planning.

07:55 >> Yeah. Just get your financials in order,

07:58 audits,

07:59 >> all that. And and these are people if

08:01 you find the right one, they're very

08:02 good at talking to you have to think

08:04 sometimes if you got you got family

08:06 members in the business, you got kids or

08:08 you got spouses or you got, you know,

08:10 siblings in the business, and you got

08:11 key employees, you want to keep them

08:13 around. These people are very good at

08:14 talking to those people and making sure

08:15 that everybody's on board with the

08:17 mission is which is we've got to have a

08:19 succession plan and we all have to be on

08:21 board with it.

08:22 >> But that can easily be 100 to $150,000,

08:24 >> right?

08:25 >> If you need a lot of work done.

08:26 >> Got it. So with that, what's the current

08:29 climate today for selling businesses?

08:33 It's challenging because what's

08:34 happening in the private equity

08:36 environment which is basically driving

08:38 most buyer M&A behavior market is

08:41 private equity or private equity backed

08:42 businesses

08:44 >> they are having a harder and harder time

08:46 exiting their portfolio companies their

08:48 hold times are increasing more outside

08:50 of their investment window right so

08:52 where it used to be four or five years

08:53 average hold now it's six seven years so

08:56 what's happening is as a reaction to

08:58 that they're scrutinizing more in the

08:59 front end on diligence

09:00 >> yeah because they don't have the

09:01 liquidity to go buy the next one.

09:03 >> That's right. 100% true. And so they

09:07 that's outside of their investment

09:08 criteria to hold businesses for 6 7 8 10

09:10 years. So they're going and saying,

09:12 "Hey, we got to look even deeper and

09:15 more into the minutia to make sure that

09:18 we're buying the right companies." So as

09:19 a result, you know, more and more

09:22 companies that go to market aren't

09:23 selling.

09:23 >> What What What are some hot markets

09:25 right now? I mean, clearly AI is getting

09:27 a ton of funding and acquisitions are

09:29 happening. What are some other ones?

09:30 >> The trades. Yeah,

09:31 >> the trades, HVAC, plumbing, pest

09:34 control, um, electrical contracting,

09:37 these are businesses where because if

09:39 you think about it too, they're not

09:40 going anywhere. Like your toilet

09:41 explodes, like it needs to be fixed. You

09:43 know, your you lose your electricity's

09:45 out, your AC's out, everybody is

09:47 basically

09:48 >> sweating now nationwide. These things

09:50 have to be fixed. And the younger

09:51 generations are less and less

09:53 technically mechanically capable fixing

09:56 things on their own. Like my

09:57 father-in-law could fix anything now at

09:59 70s something years old, but my dad I

10:01 mean my generation, I mean I can hang a

10:04 picture frame and you know patch of

10:06 drywall. That's about it.

10:06 >> I can look at financial statements. I

10:08 can

10:09 >> Yeah. help you find a buyer.

10:10 >> Yeah. That doesn't help the uh the leaky

10:12 toilet for sure.

10:13 >> Yeah. How do you guys go about finding

10:14 buyers? Right. So you're going on the

10:16 sell side. You're you're marketing this

10:18 thing. Like what do you do?

10:19 >> It's all basically research. Yeah. You

10:22 know, we subscribe to a number of

10:23 databases that help us identify. You

10:25 really want to go after the buyers that

10:27 are actually active in the market

10:28 because those are the ones that are

10:30 acquisitive minded where they know the

10:34 value that is added by making

10:36 acquisitions. I mean they say I've read

10:38 in places like the stock market the Dow

10:40 Jones growth over the last 60 or 70

10:42 years is almost exclusively through

10:43 acquisition and not organic growth.

10:45 >> Wow.

10:45 >> So they're the ones that know hey I can

10:48 afford to pay five six seven eight nine

10:50 sometimes double digit earnings in Utah

10:53 >> to acquire companies. So, those are the

10:55 one like people, you know, you could go

10:56 to your competitor and say, "Hey, do you

10:58 want to buy Ryan's business?" And if

10:59 they're not equition-minded, like

11:01 they're not going to be thinking, "Hey,

11:02 I'm going to pay a big number because

11:03 this is going to make me a lot more

11:04 valuable."

11:05 >> Right. 100%. So, let's transition a

11:08 little bit. You know, we're out here at

11:09 Tory Pines, uh, playing golf and

11:11 everything else. Uh, tell me about your

11:14 golf game and, uh, you know, why you

11:16 like it. Yeah. I mean, what a an amazing

11:20 like organization you put together

11:21 because, you know, I've been playing

11:24 golf. I'm I'm 49 years old, so I'm

11:26 dating myself here, but I've been

11:27 playing golf for 40 years.

11:28 >> Wow.

11:29 >> And

11:30 >> you wouldn't necessarily know it by my

11:31 my uh my scorecard, but I can I can I

11:34 can hit the ball now. You just don't

11:35 always know where it's going to go. But

11:37 golf for me is is just an amazing game

11:39 in so many ways. And I suspect that's

11:41 why M19 exists in part because you can

11:44 go out with three total strangers and by

11:46 the end of the round,

11:47 >> you know, you're sharing a beer and

11:48 stories and, you know, all that stuff.

11:50 And um there's no pressure around it.

11:53 It's unpretentious to me. Um every golf

11:55 course is different. I mean, the weather

11:57 here is unbelievable. 71 degrees this

11:58 morning.

11:59 >> Yeah.

11:59 >> But um yeah, I mean, golf was my way of

12:02 bonding with my father, you know, when I

12:04 was growing up. My my father is a

12:05 professional race car driver and um I

12:08 was six year I'm six years younger than

12:10 my brother. So when my dad was racing my

12:12 brother was able to work in the pits and

12:14 you know work on the car and I was still

12:15 a little kid. I wasn't allowed to be I

12:16 had to be in the stands and I I didn't

12:18 really get to connect with my dad in

12:20 that way and then when I started playing

12:22 golf he was bas literally pulled his

12:25 clubs out of the attic

12:26 >> to play with me and dust him off and

12:28 that was our way of bonding and

12:30 >> 40 years later we're still playing

12:32 together and take we took a trip to

12:33 Ireland two years ago with my son came

12:35 with us too who was 17 at the time and

12:37 it's just an it's a it's such an amazing

12:40 sport in that way. Um it was only

12:43 natural to, you know, join M19 and do

12:45 this and get to see places like Tory

12:47 Pines that I've never been. I've been a

12:48 lot of places, but I haven't been here.

12:49 And yeah, you look at the the schedule

12:51 next year and there's a lot of places

12:52 I'm like, how do I even pick?

12:54 >> Yeah. How what do you think of just the

12:56 views from this lodge right now?

12:57 >> You know, it's I love how in California

13:00 they seem to like build things that sort

13:03 of blend in with like the

13:06 >> the environment, right? It just it seems

13:08 like this hotel was just like born here

13:10 or built into the side of the hill and

13:11 the ocean views are amazing. I I'm I

13:13 live three blocks from the Atlantic in

13:14 Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But

13:16 >> yeah,

13:16 >> California views are they're hard to

13:18 beat, man.

13:18 >> Yeah, they are. And the weather the

13:20 weather's tough. So, what do you think

13:22 is uh your first because this is your

13:24 first trip? Yeah. So, what's been your

13:26 impression of uh you know, hanging out

13:28 with guys? I know we haven't played

13:29 around yet. We're getting out to to play

13:30 our first one today, but how's it been

13:32 going?

13:32 >> Yeah, it's great so far. I actually

13:34 brought my wife on this trip. Um, you

13:36 know, she just doesn't go on me with

13:37 business trips, but never been here and

13:39 I thought

13:40 >> we're about to be empty nesters. Ryan,

13:41 Sarah, we're trying to uh figure out

13:44 that that whole new life. But, you know,

13:46 I think it's so far we got we went to

13:48 the, you know, cocktails after dinner

13:50 last night and I love that

13:52 >> you everybody here is pretty down to

13:54 earth so far and um, you know, but

13:56 everybody's like-minded. You know, we're

13:58 all family people and we're very driven

14:00 by our business and motivated and we

14:01 want to make the best use of our time.

14:03 And I think when you join something like

14:05 mastermind, it's an admission that like,

14:06 hey, I don't know everything. Yeah.

14:08 >> But I want to be around other

14:09 entrepreneurs and like-minded people and

14:11 try to learn and grow and um blending

14:14 that all together with golf is just, you

14:15 know, it's a great place to be. I think

14:17 >> what do you what would you say to

14:18 somebody who's been thinking about

14:19 joining, they've seen the ads and

14:21 whatever else and maybe they're on the

14:22 fence.

14:23 I think pull the trigger because um it's

14:26 a great way to spend your time and if

14:27 you're you're already a golfer um I mean

14:30 the destinations you pick are amazing

14:32 and some of these courses you can't

14:33 necessarily get on Tori. Yes. But um you

14:36 know everything's very well organized

14:38 and you know Tiffany gets a lot of that

14:40 credit I'm sure. I mean just there's no

14:42 questions unanswered and um I mean I

14:45 think it's a great use of time and money

14:46 and um absolutely would pull the

14:48 trigger. Yeah, you guys know I love the

14:50 game of golf and that is why I started

14:52 M19. It is a golf mastermind for

14:54 entrepreneurs who are doing over seven

14:56 figures in their business and who want

14:58 to go on bucket list golf trips

14:59 together. We already have hundreds of

15:01 members all across the country and we've

15:03 been to some of the best courses in the

15:04 world, places like Pebble Beach,

15:06 Pinehurst, Bandon Dunes, and many

15:08 others. The course is the best place to

15:10 do deals, make great relationships, and

15:12 have fun. So go to mastermind.com today.

15:15 So, as we start to wrap up here, what

15:18 are the plans for you? You know, what's

15:19 the future look like for the business,

15:21 for your family? You said you're about

15:22 to be empty nesters. How do you think

15:24 the next five years are going to go?

15:26 >> Yeah. So, one of my big goals is to be

15:29 able to travel more. Yeah. And my

15:30 business gives me the freedom to be able

15:32 to do that. Do it from anywhere, which

15:33 is neat. And I think yours is probably

15:35 somewhat similar.

15:36 >> Um, just to travel and see the world and

15:39 and um I want to get my go. I I was at

15:41 one point a six handicap and now I'm a

15:43 13. So there's really no excuse. Yeah. I

15:46 mean it's like

15:47 >> there's no excuse for that and I hit the

15:49 ball probably farther than ever you

15:50 know. So um you know link's not an issue

15:53 but you know travel see the world

15:55 continue to grow my business and really

15:57 as as my role at my firm SM2 is to

16:01 become more relationship management and

16:03 rain maker and less bogged down in

16:06 individual deals and due diligence and

16:08 I'm I'm better at that anyway. just

16:10 relationships and managing processes and

16:13 managing deals and not, you know, the

16:16 minutiae of, you know, due diligence and

16:18 and all that, you know.

16:20 >> Yeah. You want to get a deal done in

16:21 place and then let the team handle the

16:23 transaction thereafter.

16:24 >> Yeah. 100%. So, we've done a great job

16:26 of adding some people on our team that

16:28 do really good. We have one guy that's

16:30 an X advertising guy that builds all our

16:31 pitch decks and they're phenomenal.

16:33 >> I used to do it.

16:35 >> Yeah. He's way better than me. So, it's

16:37 like it's all about how to how to scale

16:38 properly. Really? Yeah. I know.

16:40 >> How's AI impacted you guys' business? I

16:42 think about pitch decks and everything

16:43 else. It's like, man, dude, AI can crank

16:45 them out real fast.

16:47 >> Yeah, it it's, you know, AI has been uh

16:49 a big help for us. And also for me, you

16:52 know, I built some custom AI tools and

16:54 just having a tool to bounce ideas and

16:56 thoughts off and filter. Yeah.

16:58 >> Uh has been great. I mean, I it's almost

17:01 like having a clone, right? they can

17:03 help do perform tasks but also, you

17:05 know, kind of keep you honest and make

17:07 sure that, you know, you're sending a

17:09 letter or you're writing an article that

17:10 everything's proper and in line and

17:12 there's no contradictory sort of

17:13 statements. And so, it's been a big

17:14 help. The annoyance is you have clients

17:17 and prospects sometimes use it and these

17:19 they send you these long lists of

17:20 questions that are clearly AI.

17:22 >> Yeah.

17:22 >> And that can be annoying because clients

17:25 and people like they'll take it as

17:26 gospel.

17:27 >> AI is definitely not perfect at least

17:29 yet.

17:29 >> No.

17:30 >> So, that's it's a good and a bad, right?

17:32 >> Right. Right. So, what do you think

17:35 since the your your space is so heavily

17:37 dependent on the economy and what

17:39 markets are doing? What's your

17:42 prediction on where things are headed

17:43 here in the next year, you know, and

17:46 then it's hard to say 5 years from now,

17:48 but I mean, we're in a not even a high

17:50 interest rate environment, but a very

17:51 like just stale environment where things

17:54 really haven't changed. We push for

17:56 lower rates. They're not happening. Yet,

17:58 the stock market keeps crushing. you

18:00 know, real estate is very stagnant or

18:02 down. Like what do you think?

18:04 >> Yeah, I think M&A is going to still be

18:07 robust because the demographic is

18:09 driving that. You know, boomers are

18:10 retiring in droves. I think it's 12,000

18:12 people turn 65 in this country every

18:14 day. So, while the boomers may work

18:16 longer than they have historically,

18:18 they're going to have to do something

18:19 with their businesses and they can't

18:20 always give them to their kids or

18:23 >> Yeah. Most of these kids don't want to

18:24 do it

18:24 >> most of the time.

18:25 >> Yeah.

18:26 >> Most of the time. So I think that M&A is

18:28 going to continue to be robust. How

18:30 robust? Like it's definitely going to be

18:32 I think more and more of these

18:36 businesses are going to fail to transact

18:38 because they're just not ready. Um

18:40 >> yeah,

18:41 >> you see more planning out there and the

18:42 statistics show that there there's it's

18:44 still got a long way to go where sellers

18:46 are just not thinking about getting

18:48 things in order in order to sell. And if

18:50 you think about it, there's competition

18:52 when they go to market. this PE firm. I

18:54 just interviewed a guy on my podcast

18:55 who's a private equity managing

18:57 director. He says they look at 1300

18:59 deals a year and they close on two,

19:01 >> right?

19:02 >> So, if your business isn't high and

19:04 tight, there's 1,299 behind them to look

19:07 at. Yeah.

19:08 >> Goodbye. On to the next,

19:10 >> right? Yeah. It makes me think like, do

19:12 you plan, you said your kid was 17 when

19:14 you guys went, you know, do you plan to

19:15 put him in the business or he wants to

19:17 do his own thing?

19:18 >> My son?

19:18 >> Yeah.

19:19 >> Uh, he's very curious about it. you

19:21 know, he helped me out this summer, and

19:22 I'll be honest with you, like he's much

19:24 smarter than me.

19:24 >> Yeah.

19:25 >> Um, not just from like a book smart

19:27 standpoint, but he's very street smart.

19:29 >> He's formed his own car detailing

19:31 business at 14, and he's got a whole

19:33 rolodex of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. He

19:35 does. And like,

19:36 >> you know, we all think highly of our

19:37 kids. It's part of our job. Yeah, he's

19:39 like, but I I think that um I I I would

19:44 be surprised if he went into it, but I

19:46 think getting an internship or at least

19:47 starting and getting some deal making

19:49 activity and experience would be, you

19:51 know, hugely valuable for him. Whether

19:53 he wants to be an M&A guy like me, you

19:55 know, that remains to be seen, but you

19:57 know,

19:57 >> Well, it it just makes me think like

19:58 even with your business, it it used to

20:00 be 30 years ago it's like expected that

20:04 your kids

20:05 >> Yeah. you know, are are going to take

20:06 over the family business. And now today,

20:08 it's like even I have four kids and you

20:11 know, they're young, but still my

20:13 current mindset is no, I'm not what they

20:16 want to do is like what I'm going to

20:17 support, you know, and if they happen to

20:19 want to do things that I do

20:21 business-wise, great. And maybe they'll,

20:22 but even then, I think about it from my

20:24 own perspective. I'm like, but I'm still

20:27 putting the best person in charge,

20:30 >> you know? So, like I think that way for

20:32 myself right now. I'm like, if I'm not

20:34 the best person to run this business, I

20:36 will get the best person to do it. I

20:38 have no ego about it.

20:39 >> Right.

20:39 >> Whereas I think 30 years ago it, you

20:42 know, it's like no, like Johnny boy is

20:44 going to be the CEO.

20:46 >> Yeah.

20:46 >> Even though he's an idiot.

20:47 >> Yeah. I think I think it's it's the

20:49 thought is like my dad and uncle were

20:51 the same way. Like, hey, we'll always

20:52 give you an opportunity here.

20:53 >> Yeah. You got to earn it.

20:54 >> You have to earn it though. And one of

20:56 the guys I interviewed um with one of my

20:58 clients at home, City Furniture, uh he's

21:00 now the CEO of Second Gen, but like he

21:02 worked on the loading docks on the

21:04 midnight shift loading furniture for

21:05 over a year. Like he earned his stripes,

21:07 right?

21:08 >> And I respect the heck out of that, you

21:10 know? And like the guys around us all

21:11 like, "Hey, this isn't just the boss's

21:13 kid like with his feet up on the desk.

21:15 Like he's his ass off and like putting

21:17 in shifts, you know?" So I'll always

21:19 give my son and my kids opportunities

21:21 and it would be, you know, but I'm the

21:23 same. Like I just want to see them to be

21:25 the best versions of themselves and and

21:27 nothing short of that.

21:28 >> Right. So if somebody wants to work with

21:31 you guys, where do they go?

21:32 >> Yeah, our website sm2advisors.com,

21:35 send us an email. Um I'm on Instagram,

21:38 uh Wes Shelton Acquisitions, and uh we

21:40 have a podcast called Like a Champion.

21:42 We interview people just like you,

21:43 entrepreneurs, buyers, sellers, and all

21:44 that stuff. And I'm pretty easy to find,

21:46 I think.

21:47 >> Sweet. Well, guys, we will link to all

21:49 of that down below in the description.

21:51 And so go connect with Wes if you're

21:52 thinking about selling your business, if

21:54 you want to just get more information on

21:55 the planning side of things where, you

21:58 know, you're just, you know, you're

21:59 making money, you're thinking about an

22:00 exit, it could be a few years from now.

22:02 I mean, now's the time to start planning

22:03 for it so you can get all your ducks in

22:05 a, you know, order. So anyways, we will

22:07 link to that down below. And if you like

22:09 this episode, make sure you're

22:10 subscribed and we'll catch you on the

22:12 next one. Peace.