Helen Guo’s a circling vulture with her newsletter, ready to feast on that rotting carcass you call a Gmail.
Then she wants your phone number, financial situation, and a quick DNA swab before blasting you with a sales pitch for her SMB Deal Hunter Pro course, which costs $12,000.
A Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and investor, Helen previously founded and grew Schoolyard Snacks to $30 million in sales with nationwide retail distribution before getting acquired.
She now runs D&H, a company that buys and grows great businesses, alongside her spammy newsletter.
Keep reading for my SMB Deal Hunter review.
This program offers a white-glove service where Helen and her team help you find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar, cash-flowing business within the next 6-12 months.
Helen and her husband Dylan, who is also her business partner, have found success buying established businesses from baby boomers who don’t have kids to take over.
In just the past 60 days, they’ve acquired:
- A roofing repair and sheet metal manufacturing business in North Texas, with nearly $3 million in EBITDA and an 80-year history. They paid $12 million for it using a combination of a bank loan, SBA loan, and some outside investor capital.
- An acoustics and audiovisual technology consulting business based in DC with about $1 million in EBITDA and 65 years of history. Helen doesn’t mention the purchase details.
In both cases, they brought on operators to run the day-to-day.
Helen and her hubby are killing it. Meanwhile, I’m over here turning tricks for Snack Packs.
After analyzing thousands of deals and making plenty of six-figure mistakes, Helen’s excited to share her insights with first-time business buyers to accelerate their journey.
This is for you if you have at least $25,000 to invest, and:
- You’re ready to buy a cash-flowing business ASAP.
- You want help dialing in your search critiera.
- You want to take advantage of off-market opportunities.
- You want to save time scouring deal flow.
- You want assistance evaluating and performing due diligence to avoid red flags.
- You want to learn creative deal structuring.
- You want guidance on negotiating with sellers.
- You want to find lenders and investors to fund your deal so you can put little to no money down.
- You want to maximize your chances of finding and closing your dream business.
If that sounds like you, keep reading.
With 10,000 baby boomers retiring daily and 8-10% of them owning small businesses, it’s no surprise there are over 2 million businesses for sale right now.
Small businesses are the beating heart of America, nourishing the economy and creating countless jobs.
It’s critical that these businesses transfer to the next generation of owners, which is why the Small Business Administration offers financing through the 7(a) program.
- Last year, the SBA backed nearly 60,000 7(a) loans worth $27.5 billion.
- These loans allow buyers to finance up to 90% of an acquisition, up to $5 million, requiring only a 10% down payment – if that.
- As a result, even after servicing the debt, you’ll out-earn most salaries, creating a lower-risk path to entrepreneurship compared to starting a business from scratch.
This is why Helen believes this is the wealth-building opportunity of the decade.
Huh, and here I thought it was stepsibling porn.
Helen claims it takes the average business buyer 23 long months to finalize their first deal.
- Where do you even look?
- What software or websites to use?
- Can you trust those business brokers?
- How do you know if it’s a good deal?
- How do you put an offer out?
- What happens after that?
- What if you need more money to close a deal?
Oh look, I just developed a nervous tic!
Luckily, you don’t have to.
SMB Deal Hunter Pro provides deal sourcing, mentorship, access to vendors like lawyers and accountants, investors, capital partners, and support via a private Slack community and weekly mastermind calls.
Reddit reports the cost for all that is $12k, which, of course, nearly had them dying of laughter.
Call me crazy, but I don’t exactly feel qualified to do M&A.
My only real skill in life is using Pretzel Crisps to shovel hummus into my mouth.
