Acquisition criteria
What I am looking for, in detail.
A specific buy box respects everyone's time. If a business fits most of what follows, I want to hear about it — and I will give you a clear, prompt answer either way.
These are guidelines, not rigid rules. Exceptional businesses do not always fit neatly into a checklist.
01
Financial profile
The size and quality of earnings matter more than any single metric.
- Target EBITDA
- $750,000 – $2,000,000 EBITDA
- Center of gravity
- Approximately $1,000,000 EBITDA
- Profitability
- Established and consistent — not a turnaround thesis
- Cash generation
- Reliable positive cash flow with reasonable capital expenditure needs
- Revenue
- Predictable, with recurring, repeat, contractual, or otherwise durable characteristics
- Financeability
- A transaction profile that supports responsible acquisition financing
02
Business characteristics
No company has all of these. Strong businesses tend to have several:
- An established operating history — typically ten years or more
- A loyal or repeat customer base with low-to-moderate customer concentration
- A strong local, regional, niche, technical, regulatory, relationship, or service-based position
- An essential, mission-critical, recurring, or difficult-to-replace offering
- A healthy employee base, with capable managers or supervisors worth retaining
- Durable demand that does not depend on a fad or a single economic cycle
- Opportunities for thoughtful operational or commercial improvement
- A business a committed new owner can genuinely learn
- No requirement for speculative hypergrowth to justify the investment
03
Ownership situations
The situations where an individual successor tends to be the right buyer:
- A founder preparing for retirement
- Family succession that is unavailable or undesired
- An owner seeking liquidity after years of building
- An owner who wants to reduce day-to-day involvement
- An entrepreneur moving on to another venture
- An owner who wants a thoughtful successor rather than the highest-volume bidder
- An owner who prefers not to sell to a direct competitor
- Partial or staged transitions, where the structure serves the business
04
Geography
I plan to live where the business is — so geography is about commitment, not preference. Primary focus:
Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Summerville & Daniel Island, SC
Greenville, SC
Wilmington, NC & the surrounding coastal region
Bluffton, Hilton Head & the Savannah, GA orbit
Knoxville & Maryville, TN
Select Central Coast California markets
An exceptional business in another attractive U.S. market is always worth a conversation.
05
Industry preferences
I am reasonably industry-flexible. Durability of demand matters more than the sector label. Recurring interests include:
- B2B services
- Essential services
- Technical services
- Compliance-related services
- Inspection businesses
- Maintenance businesses
- Niche service businesses
- Recurring & repeat-revenue companies
- Select light industrial
- Specialty businesses
These are areas of interest, not an exhaustive list — strong businesses outside these categories are welcome.
06
Generally less attractive
In the interest of candor and saved time — these characteristics usually make a business a poor fit for me:
Speculative or pre-profit businesses
I am looking for proven profitability, not a venture-style bet on future economics.
Extreme customer concentration
A company where one relationship represents most of the revenue carries risks that are hard to underwrite responsibly.
Commodity-dependent economics
Businesses whose results swing primarily with a commodity price are difficult to steward with the consistency I am aiming for.
Owner-dependence without a transition path
If the business is entirely one person and that person is leaving, there must be a realistic plan for transferring what they know and who they know.
Heavy capital intensity relative to cash generation
Constant reinvestment requirements that consume most of the cash flow limit resilience and flexibility.
Fundamentally declining demand
Cyclical softness is workable; a structurally shrinking market is a different matter.
Think it may be a fit?
These are guidelines, not rigid rules. Exceptional businesses do not always fit neatly into a checklist.