6 of the Best Targets To Start Acquiring In 2024
Over the years, I’ve taught thousands of individuals how to build, grow, and scale their businesses and wealth by leveraging zero-dollar out-of-pocket acquisitions. Once someone understands the significant advantages of growth via acquisition, the question becomes, “Which type of business should I acquire?”
I’ve always emphasized the importance of clearly defining your acquisition criteria so the ideal acquisition can differ from one individual to the next. After being involved with more deals than I could count, I want to share with you the six categories of acquisitions that I believe are easiest for most people to start with and what you should target in 2024.
#1 Media Acquisitions
If you want more leads and customers, there’s no better way than to acquire a business that has already captured the attention of your ideal customer. The simplest method to identify these targets is to ask, “Who already has the type of customers I want?”. This can result in acquiring a company that’s done the hard work of branding and winning over the customers you’re after, but more often, this will result in acquiring an asset, like a Podcast.
Another acquisition in this category would be a Facebook group. We buy a lot of Facebook groups for niche and real estate companies. Essentially, we’re looking for a business or asset that brings us our perfect customers, whether it’s through Podcasts, Facebook groups, YouTube Channels, social media platforms, high-ranking websites, trade shows, and so on. These acquisitions are among the easiest to locate, and their advantages can be substantial.
#2. Team + Resources
The next best (and easiest) target on our list to pursue is a business or asset that provides us with a team or resources. It’s hard to do things from scratch, so this type of acquisition is incredibly valuable. For instance, if you need an inside sales team and don’t know the first thing about recruiting, training, organizing, qualifying reps, compensation, or any other aspects of establishing a sales team, you don’t have to figure it all out. There are so many companies that have already tackled these challenges, refined their processes, and have the exact sales force that you need.
For example, when we were looking to launch software development, none of us had ever done any software development team management. We had no idea how to gauge production speeds, quality coding, or anything that comes with software development team management. So, instead of trying to start a software dev team from scratch, we decided to acquire a company that we were already paying for their software product. Not only did this provide us with an entire dev team to push out software products, but it also turned an existing expense into a revenue stream.
So, if you need a development team, a sales team, standard operating procedures (SOPs), processes, or any other resource, consider acquiring it.
#3. Products Vendors & #4. Service Vendors
One of the biggest reasons you should acquire products and service vendors is to increase your average order value (AOV). AOV represents the average amount your customers spend during a transaction with you. A clear example of increasing AOV is in fast-food restaurants offering extras, add-ons, or upsells. When customers are asked, “Would you like to upsize your meal?” or “Would you like fries and a drink with that?” these additions increase the average order value.
One of the easiest ways to identify the products and services you can acquire to increase your AOV is to think about what your current customers are already buying before, during, or after they buy your product. If you can identify what your customers are already buying, you don’t have to work hard to sell it. That’s one of the factors that makes acquiring other products and services easy to identify and a valuable acquisition.
#5. Vertical Integrations
Most business schools teach that there are two types of acquisitions you can make: horizontal integrations and vertical integrations. Horizontal integrations generally refer to acquiring companies that sell similar products and services, or they might be your competitors. Vertical integration, on the other hand, involves moving up or down your supply chain. If you’re selling physical products, identifying your supply chain is relatively straightforward. These could include your parts providers, ingredient suppliers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and so on.
If you operate a service-oriented business, such as a digital marketing agency, your supply chain may include services you outsource, such as SEO ranking, content creation, or paid ad services.
You can also explore opportunities further down the supply chain by identifying any company, service provider, or vendor that stands between you and the end consumer. Acquiring any entities up or down your supply chain can yield immediate positive effects on your profits.
#6. Intellectual Property
One of the easiest acquisitions to pursue is Intellectual Property (IP). The genuine advantage of obtaining IP lies in its potential for innovation. This includes businesses that are based on IP or assets like software, algorithms, recipes, formulas, copyrights, trademarks, patents, brand names, URLs, logos, and so many other things that you can bring into your business to breathe new life into the products and services that you offer.
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