Track two · Small business
I bought two small businesses and run them today — payroll, leases, pricing, hiring, and all. For owners who want a real thinking partner, and for buyers and sellers who want an advisor who has actually sat at the closing table.
Services
A standing partner for the decisions that land on your desk alone: pricing, hiring, marketing that actually books work, working capital and cash flow analysis, and the systems that let you take a vacation. Grounded in running two Houston businesses day to day.
From thesis to keys: evaluating listings, reading seller financials skeptically, structuring offers and seller financing, running diligence, and negotiating without losing the deal — or overpaying to win it.
Making your business legible to a buyer: clean books, documented operations, a defensible asking price, and steady hands through diligence. Preparation done early is worth real money at close.
The most dangerous season of a deal is right after it closes. Team communication, customer retention, seller handoff, quick wins, and the operating cadence that keeps the business you just bought worth what you paid.
Not a transformation roadmap — a working setup. I use AI every week in my own companies to close books faster, draft contracts and quotes, follow up with customers, and document how the business runs. We will do the same for yours — and because every business and every owner is different, we start with the one task that annoys you most each week, prove it works, and expand from there. Real tasks, measured hours saved, tools your team will actually use.
Why an owner-operator
Most small business advice comes from people who have never signed the front of a paycheck, sweated a lease renewal, or priced a job they might lose. I do those things every week. When we talk about your business, I'm not reasoning from a framework — I'm reasoning from last Tuesday.
Engagements run as an advisory retainer or a project sprint — a deal evaluation, a diligence review, an operations reset — scoped in a first conversation that costs you nothing.
Common questions
Owner-operated companies — service businesses, studios, clinics, specialty retail, and light B2B — typically with two to twenty-five employees. The pattern matters more than the industry: an owner wearing every hat, a business that works but could work better, and decisions with no one to pressure-test them.
I work alongside you from search through close: sharpening your thesis, evaluating listings, reading the financials with a skeptic’s eye, structuring the offer, running diligence, and planning the transition. I bought two businesses myself in under two years, so we skip the theory and use what actually happens at the table.
Yes — sell-side preparation: cleaning up the books and operations so the business is legible to a buyer, thinking through valuation and deal structure, and supporting you through diligence. The best exits are prepared a year or more before the listing.
No. If you can write an email, you can use these tools. There is also no one-size-fits-all playbook: every industry is different, every business within an industry is different, and what is practical depends on your specific challenges and pain points. So we start with one task that annoys you weekly — invoice follow-ups, drafting quotes, monthly bookkeeping review — get it working, and expand from there. I run my own two companies this way; nothing I recommend is theoretical.
No. Houston owners get the option of in-person working sessions, but advisory and acquisition work runs well remotely — most of a deal happens in spreadsheets, documents, and honest phone calls anyway.
Contact
Tell me where your business is and what's in the way. I read every note myself and reply within two business days — usually sooner.