In the first episode of Leaders Who Scale, John Bazyk is sharing his tips to succeed at scaling companies and how to do it through acquisitions. John explains the massive importance that needs to be placed on developing a culture that’s excited to grow, finding the right business to acquire, and how to tell if you’re buying from the right kind of person. You’ll also learn the benefits of certain ways of buying a business and why acquisitions are a great way to scale your company

Takeaways:

• The most important aspect of scaling is having the right people in the right positions. This is because the culture of the company has to be such that the employees are excited about scaling. It takes time to develop that culture.
• When merging companies, you have to remember that every company has a different culture and processes for doing things. Before the acquisition, talk to the employees that will be coming over and make sure they are a good fit with the culture.
• When acquiring a company, the people are much more important than the financials. With owner-operator companies, many times the financials are directly tied to the owner/operator and are lost once that person sells the company.
• Some businesses may not have the strongest financials but there may be a really good manager, technician, sales team, admin team, etc. You can use that great team and grow the business.
• Using a “Profit First” system helps you see where the money’s coming from and where it’s going. This is useful in identifying ways to reduce costs without negatively impacting the business and the quality of services you deliver.
• Don’t limit yourself to only acquiring local businesses. If you put in the time, in the beginning, to go and be physically present for a little while and learn the business inside and out, the employees will appreciate it and a great manager can then take over.
• The ideal way to buy a business is by using a Seller’s Note, not borrowing from a bank or paying everything upfront in cash, both of which are risky. Owners who are selling a good company will accept using a Seller’s Note because they want their business to succeed.

Quote of the Show:

• “I Basically sell them on selling to me” - John Bazyk

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbazyk/
• Company Website: https://www.commandco.com/
• Company Website: https://advancedlockandalarm.com/

Ways to Tune In

• Amazon Music
• Apple Podcast
• Spotify
• Google Podcast
• Stitcher
• YouTube