How to Buy a Small Business

9.3

(3 ratings)

2 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Outsmart startup hustle culture. Get the tools & network you need to find and close a small business acquisition.

How to Buy a Small Business

9.3

(3 ratings)

2 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Outsmart startup hustle culture. Get the tools & network you need to find and close a small business acquisition.

Get notified about the next cohort

Hosted by

Colin Keeley

Buying wonderful businesses (5+) and teaching others to do the same

Colin Keeley

Buying wonderful businesses (5+) and teaching others to do the same

Course overview

Learn How to Buy a Small Business

Acquisition offers the ultimate shortcut to business ownership and financial freedom.

Skip the mess and uncertainty of founding a start-up.

You’ll get the tools, techniques, and lifelong network needed to support your acquisition journey - from initial search to final close.

Who I made this course for

Entrepreneurs - Starting companies is hard. 90% fail. Acquisition is the ultimate shortcut to business ownership. Make money on day 1.

Small Business Owners - Grow through acquisitions by adding new markets, services, and products.

Investors - Better returns and more control than the stock market or real estate.

Entrepreneurs - Starting companies is hard. 90% fail. Acquisition is the ultimate shortcut to business ownership. Make money on day 1.

Small Business Owners - Grow through acquisitions by adding new markets, services, and products.

Investors - Better returns and more control than the stock market or real estate.

What you'll leave with

A Concrete Plan

Complete our thorough self-assessment to set up your brand as a buyer, understand your skills, and define your target deal.

Streamlined Search Process

Finding the perfect business to buy is hard. We will start to build top-quality deal flow together. You don't have to settle. By the end, you will have contacted brokers, owners, and marketplaces in your space.

First Deal Analyzed

How do you know if you've found a great deal? We go through how to diligence your deal qualitatively and quantitatively with financial modeling templates and diligence checklists.

Lifelong Community / Network

Searching is more fun with friends. Your acquisition peers will hold you accountable in your search. And our ever-expanding list of trusted service providers will give you the confidence to close a deal.

Creative Finance Options

We go through creative ways to fund and structure your deals for maximum returns and minimum money upfront. You don't need as much money as you think you do. We'll cover raising from investors, seller financing, and government loans and connect you with the best providers.

Confidence to Close

When you find the right business to buy, you will have the resources, tools, service providers, and network needed to close quickly.

9.3

(3 ratings)

See what course alumni are saying

Colin’s course is the highest ROI you’re going to find in your search for a business to acquire. It’s full of real ‘meat and potatoes’ content, actionable, real world advice and is a blueprint for searching for and closing on a micro SaaS or other businesses. Plus the added bonus of plugging in to a community of people with the same goal!

Link Moser

Great course that I would recommend to anyone that is looking make a micro acquisition. There were lots of different parts covered in the course from searching for deals to transition and post-acquisition. There were also lots of templates to help guide anyone through the process.

Hadi Ossaily

The course clearly and concisely covered a wide range of topics at a depth that fast tracked my comfort level in jumping into the Micro-PE world. Colin's ability to cover best practices as well as more complex ideas strikes a balance that I think both beginners & folks more well-versed in the field would find extremely beneficial.

Sam Yazdanseta

Colin brings a lot of value to the Micro-PE industry with this essential course that covers all the basic things you would need to get your foot in the door. His simple and well-organized approach making it easy for you to understand the whole life-cycle of an actual micro acquisition. I recommend this to anyone interested in buying a business.

Amro Shahbari

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How to Buy a Small Business

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Meet your instructor

Colin Keeley

Founder of Verne, a software holding company

I wasted years on countless projects struggling to get off the ground. Some worked. Many didn't.

Until I learned that you can just buy a working company. And creatively structure the acquisition so you don't need much money to do it.

After my first acquisition I was hooked. No more elusive product-market fit. Customers and profits on day 1.

I want to change your life and make you an owner.

‍

We will outsmart the startup hustle culture together. Welcome to the business owner’s lifestyle.

I can't wait to see you on the other side.

Course syllabus

Finding a Business to Buy

Buying a business isn't like anything else. You can't go to the store and just buy one. Let's start with the hardest part and find a business for you to buy.

Diligence & Negotiation

So you found one? Great! Now lets figure out if it is a good one and how to structure the best deal for you.

Financing & Closing

No MBA required. Model out your acquisition financials in simple to understand terms. We'll cover financing options and set you up with the vetted service providers you need.

+ Hours of Pre-Recorded Lessons

9.3

(3 ratings)

100s of happy alumni are now their own boss

The course exceeded my expectations in every respect. It outlines every aspect of the acquisition process, provides in depth templates / models (that I actually use) and has clear training videos.I love the template/model for valuation analysis...very helpful!!! This is a can't miss to anyone looking to do micro acquisitions!

Karl G.

This is an eye-opening course. Building wealth through buying an online business can seem incredibly daunting if you're a first timer like me. Because the course holds your hand every step of the way, you realise it is not only possible to buy a business and start to build wealth, but extremely probable assuming you use the blueprint Colin provides

Ben Clarke

The course was very helpful and well worth the low price. Increasing the price to potentially a price of several thousand dollars would be fair btw. Anyone considering dropping millions or even thousands on deals should pay $2k easy for this to avoid making costly mistakes.

Cameron Garvie

Colin's course has been a huge help in wrapping my head around the business buying process. He breaks it down step by step: how to search for deals, how to evaluate them, and how to close them. But most importantly, Colin's kind and direct demeanor shines through.

Mingwei Gu

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How to Buy a Small Business

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Learning is better with cohorts

Active learning, not passive watching

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I can’t make a live session?

Do I need to be "rich" to buy a business?

Is there a community?

Are you teaching this live?

What tools & resources do I get access to?

Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

How to Buy a Small Business

Get reimbursed by your employer