BSR
BSR
  • Home
  • Distressed Businesses
    • All Distressed Businessess
    • Administrations
    • Liquidations
    • Winding Up
    • Insolvency Advice  New
  • Buy a Business
    • All Businesses for Sale
    • Find a Business for Sale
    • Raising Business Finance
    • Buyer Acquisition Service   New
    • Escrow Service   New
  • Sell a Business
    • Sell Your Business
    • Seller Accounts
    • Need Help Selling?
    • Help With Finance New
    • Business Valuation
    • Business Wanted Adverts
  • Insights & News
    • View All News
    • View All Insights
  • Off-market
    • Source deals
  • Log In
  • Join Now
Join now
11111111

Home / Video / Deal Insight Video Series: What was the first business that you bought?


Deal Insight Series:

What was the first business that you bought?




In this first video of our Deal Insight series, we talk to serial entrepreneur Jonathan Jay about his experience of growing a company through acquisition.

The transcript of the interview follows:

What was the first business that you bought?

Well the first business I bought actually I really bought it by accident because it wasn’t something I set out to do. It was unintentional.

It was a Sunday afternoon - I received a phone call from my fiercest competitor and I thought why is the person I hate the most calling me on a Sunday afternoon? And it wasn’t a mistake, I thought maybe he had phoned me by mistake.

He said “Jonathan, I would like to meet with you, would you come up and see me?” and I was a little suspicious, I thought why does my competitor want me to go and visit? So he said “would you come up tomorrow?” so we made the arrangements and I went up to see him the next day.

Now what I didn’t realise is just because someone has a glossy website, it doesn’t mean that behind the scenes things are all going according to plan and in this particular situation, things weren’t going according to plan. They had actually been running at a loss for a period of time. I didn’t know that, no one really knew that.

They had a turnover of staff that wasn’t great, and things were just starting to fall apart. The owner had had a personal issue, there had been some illness and he just wanted to get out.

So I had this meeting on the Monday afternoon and by Friday of the same week, I owned the business. We did a very very fast deal, I bought the assets rather than the shares, and of course, there is a big distinction between the two, and by the following Monday I was in their office as the new Boss.

And that made a huge difference because it increased the size of my business, because they were doing pretty much the same thing as us and in actual fact when I sold the combined business a little while later, I doubled the sale price because now I had a larger company to sell.

-------

It is often easier and quicker to grow your business through acquisition than organically. Look for companies similar to your own or target businesses you can acquire to grow your business quickly. Also know who your competitors are in the industry, if you have connections within the industry and someone is struggling, they may call you offering a deal, just like Jonathan did.


For more information on growing your business through acquisition, take a look our other articles:

Growth through acquisition: Bunzl - the ultimate case study

Bolt-on acquisitions: can they be successful even if loss-making?

Deal Insight Series


The right approach to valuing a business


How do you find out about distressed business opportunities?


How do you value a potential acquisition?


Sign up to our newsletter

Get news on businesses for sale and companies in administration straight to your inbox



Want access to the latest businesses for sale?

Business Sale Report is your complete solution to finding great acquisition opportunities.

Join today to receive:

  • Comprehensive range of businesses for sale
  • Make direct contact with business sellers or their intermediaries
  • Access to all UK administrations, liquidations and winding-up petitions
  • Daily email alerts for the latest businesses for sale & distressed notifications
  • Business Sale Report publication posted to you every month
  • Advertise your acquisition requirements on our "business wanted" section

All this and much more, including the latest M&A news and exclusive resources

Become a Member

Latest News

 
27
 
Jan
 

Administrators to sell assets as office furniture maker collapses | ADMINISTRATION

Bluespot Furniture, a West Yorkshire-based furniture manufac...

 
26
 
Jan
 

UK M&A down 16 per cent in 2022, but sentiment remains optimistic | BUSINESS NEWS

New analysis from PwC has revealed that UK M&A activity decl...

 
26
 
Jan
 

Private equity-backed law firm targeting further M&A in 2023 | BUSINESS NEWS

Stowe Family Law, a Leeds-headquartered specialist family la...

logo
Our Services Distressed Businesses
  • Businesses for Sale
  • Distressed Companies
  • List a Business
  • Help with Finance
  • Buyer Acquisition Service
  • Small Businesses for Sale
Company Buy a Business
  • About BSR
  • Insights
  • News
  • FAQs
  • Reviews
Get In Touch
020 8875 0200
[email protected]
167 Oakhill Road, London, SW15 2QW
Working hours: Mon-Fri, 9am - 5:30pm
About BSR
Business Sale Report is the UK's leading
independent business for sale & distressed business listing service.
Established in 1995, BSR offers an up-to-the-minute, comprehensive overview of businesses for sale, latest distressed business listings and daily acquisition news.
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive news about the latest businesses for sale.

  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • twitter
© 1995-2023. Business Sale Report Ltd. All rights reserved. www.business-sale.com.