February 7, 2024

Take Five #092: Two ways to pivot after a QoE setback, and more

Take Five #092: Two ways to pivot after a QoE setback, and more

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Take Five #092: Two ways to pivot after a QoE setback, and more

1. Boring business of the week: Sign and lighting maintenance

2. Hierarchy of business bookkeeping priorities

3. Two ways to pivot after a QoE setback

4. Acquisition Interview: Searcher finally lands deal 3 years in, rocky transition ensues, gains some solid SMB insights

Ryan sourced & bought a high-end pool maintenance business in a tiny coastal enclave off the Georgia coast.

Not to say that it was smooth sailing after he closed this business.

Imagine during your transition, the de facto GM who is also the bookkeeper, ghosts you, without leaving so much as the login information to your books.

Only in SMB.

Some other topics covered in this interview:

-Ryan's recognition of the value of $1m in SDE. Something he well knew but only really felt once he became an owner.

-Serving high-end vs. low-end customers

-The pool servicing business overall

Listen to the Acquiring Minds interview here.

5. What your business does and what your customers actually want from it might be two different things…

At that moment I realized that we didn’t sell information, but confidence, and my mind was blown.

Leaving aside the specific implications of that epiphany for that business model, the broader point is that if you operate a business and you’re not regularly talking to your customers, there can be a material difference between what you think you do for them and what you actually do for them. And if there is, that’s a massive barrier to growth because you will never double down on the value proposition that’s making your business go.

Read the rest of Permanent Equity’s post here.

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