u/SavingsAd6801

Wanted to share how I set up the car washes I’ve bought, in case it helps anyone looking at deals with real estate attached. These are the five tactics I’d start with:

Structure. Three entities: an Opco (the operating company), a Propco (the property), and a Holdco.

Separate the cash flows. The rent from the lease is one thing, what the business operates on is another. Keep them apart.

Control. Put the right lease in place between the Opco and Propco.

Depreciation. There are different advantages between the building and the Opco, and you can’t depreciate land. Talk to your CPA and attorney about how that applies to your situation.

Enterprise value. Get the right mix of equity and debt so you’re set up for a refinance or a sale down the road.

I’m going through all of this on a live webinar October 19th at 5 PM Eastern, including how I bought multiple car washes with these methods. Happy to answer questions here too.

I met one of my senior brokers at a gas station. He wasn’t buying gas, he was the manager. I pulled in one day, we started talking, and I noticed right away that he was hungry. Not “I want more” hungry, but “I’ll figure out how to get there” hungry. He asked questions, followed up, and found ways to get in front of people. Every time I saw him he was trying to get to the next level.

So I told him about business brokering. It didn’t happen overnight, and it took him a few years, but he took the advice, did the work, and changed his life. Today he has over $50 million in closed deals, works fully remote, and has helped me on some big deals with more on the way. He just got back from a month in India. No time clock, no shift schedule, no asking anyone for permission.

I didn’t do it for him. I showed him the door and he walked through it.

My honest take is that you don’t need a fancy degree or a famous last name to do this. You need hunger, a mentor, and the willingness to pick up the phone. He had all three.

Curious whether others here have seen the same thing, hunger mattering more than background. Happy to answer questions about how people get started in brokerage.

After buying multiple car washes and learning every detail of the business, I've come to believe they're the best small business investment out there. My portfolio is going to help me build generational wealth, so I'm starting to show my daughter why. The best thing I can leave her isn't just the business, it's understanding why it works.

Here's what I'm teaching her.

First, they're recession-proof. Car washes will always have a need.

Second, the cash flow. Margins are strong, and if payroll is controlled, a car wash can generate up to 40 percent cash flow.

Third, depreciation. Equipment and fixed furniture can potentially be 100 percent deductible in year one, and the building can be depreciated over time. Talk to your CPA about how this applies to your situation.

Fourth, scalability. With good management there are fewer moving parts than in most businesses, which makes car washes a natural roll-up opportunity.

Fifth, multiples. The exit plan is the goal. On bigger sales, multiples can climb up to 15-20 times EBITDA.

Happy to answer questions if anyone is looking at car wash acquisitions.

-Services include re-roofing and repairs, storm and insurance restoration, low-slope and commercial roofing, roof coatings and restoration, and roof subcontract work

-Services Central Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley

-Vehicles, trailers, tools, and equipment; fixed-asset schedule provided in due diligence

-Owner operated

-The owner is open to a full sale or a partial sale or recapitalization

-Gross: $4.89M

-SDE: $963k

-Asking: $3M

For further information, please TEXT 732-687-6789

#business #buy #roofingcompany #residentialservices #commercialservices #roof #commercialroofing #residentialroofing #arkansas #ar

Long Island packaging company for sale: $1,827,000.

20 years in business, $4,000,000 in revenue, and $522,000 in SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings, the total cash flow available to a single owner-operator). That puts the asking price at 3.5x SDE.

Packaging is one of those businesses every industry depends on. This company has two decades of established customer relationships, repeat orders, state-of-the-art equipment, and strong revenue. It's the kind of operation that has already proven it can run through different market cycles.

Call or text for more information: (516) 591-7291

Listing a fully operational car wash in South Jersey, sale includes the real estate. State-of-the-art equipment, strong and consistent cash flow, good visibility and traffic at the location. Turnkey for the right buyer.

This one's serious-buyer-only: you'll need at least $1 million in cash as proof of funds before we share further details.

Call or text (631) 774-9418 if you want more information.

Nobody grows up dreaming of becoming a business broker, which might be exactly why it's so underrated. I've closed over a thousand deals doing this, and a few reasons I think it's one of the best careers out there:

The commission structure is hard to beat. Brokers typically earn 10% minimum, and some deals go higher. On a seven-figure business sale, that adds up fast, one deal can genuinely change your year financially.

You end up in rooms with serious operators and investors constantly, which is something most careers never offer regardless of how long you stick with them. Being around that level of thinking day to day rubs off over time.

It's also fully remote. No office, no commute, just a laptop and a phone.

The part that surprised me most starting out: once you actually understand how to structure deals, you stop just brokering them and start buying them yourself. The same skill set that earns commissions is what builds real ownership and long-term wealth.

Past the money, the part I actually track most is the people side of it, watching someone with zero background close their first deal and build something real from it over a few years.

Curious if anyone else here got into brokering from a completely unrelated background, and how that transition went for you.

I've failed more times than I can count, and I'd do every one of them again. I never saw them as failures exactly, more like lessons I'd already paid for. Everything I actually know came from living through it, not from reading about it somewhere.

A few things those failures taught me:

Small daily improvement compounds more than people give it credit for. Even 2-3% better each day adds up to a completely different person by the end of a year.

Staying humble matters more the further you get. None of this happens in a vacuum, and it's easy to forget that once things start going well.

Ego is probably the most damaging thing in business. It stops you from learning, from listening, and ultimately from closing deals, because you stop being able to hear what the other side is actually telling you.

Listening more than you talk sounds obvious, but the loudest person in a room is usually the one with the least to offer.

Finding the right mentor can save years. Learning something in a year from someone who already figured it out beats spending a decade figuring it out alone.

The way I'd sum it up: stop being afraid to fail, start being afraid of standing still.

Curious what lessons other people here would add to this list from their own experience.

I'm Michael Steinberg, founder of HedgeStone and the person behind this program. This is a paid-program announcement for members interested in learning the brokerage side of the transactions discussed here.

The Broker Mentorship Program is a six-month training academy. I teach you to structure, broker and advise on business transactions, identify good deals and execute on them. We also have our own custom AI CRM.

The program costs $5,000. In month seven, you get hired at HedgeStone as an advisor; completing a deal within six months provides the early-onboarding route.

An optional $1,997 upgrade ($6,997 total) includes access to 45 minutes of private group training with me and Tony Robbins on December 16, 2026.

I'm opening enrollment for 100 participants. If you're interested, email michael.steinberg@hedgestone.com with MENTORSHIP in the subject. Questions about the curriculum are welcome here.

-Owner +1 virtual assistant

-Serves small owner operated service business (mostly construction, contractors, and home-services firms)

-$300k SBA pre-approval in place

-13 year operating history

-Can be run remotely

-Gross: $183k

-SDE: $145k

-Asking: $500k

For further information, please TEXT 917-648-7321

#business #buy #marketingagency #marketing #marketingbusiness #remotebusiness #philadelphia #pa #pennsylvania

-2,451 active subscribers

-Product gross margin is %81

-17,500 customers

-Fully remote operation

-No warehouse or office required

-Gross: $1.46M

-SDE: $250k

-Asking: $695k

For further information, please TEXT 347-388-3553

#business #buy #wellnessbrand #wellness #brand #product #wellnessproduct #remote #remotebusiness

Before my first closing I was broke, living at home, and still delivering pizza. I took a picture in my mom's living room that morning because I was so nervous and excited. I drove to the closing in a 1996 Grand Marquis.

The deal was a small pizzeria and my fee was $20K. It felt like the biggest thing in the world, and it was the point where I decided to go all in.

Since then I've sold over 750 businesses: pizzerias, car washes, laundromats, liquor stores, restaurants, hotels, home service companies, logistics, manufacturing. The variety is a big part of why I still enjoy it.

If you're considering brokering, I'd say the timing is good. A lot of owners from the baby boomer generation are retiring, and many of their businesses have no succession plan.

Happy to answer questions about what the first few deals look like.

-Founded in 2020

-500+ projects delivered

-Residential and commercial services

-4 service vehicles

-Owner-led quality control and a flexible crew model

-Services also include cabinet refinishing, prep & repair, decks & fences, and specialty details

-Gross: $951k

-Asking: $699k

For further information, please TEXT 313-348-7139

#business #buy #paintingservices #painting #residential #commercial #homeservices #michigan #MI

Over 10 years ago I got into business brokering with basically nothing. I was working three jobs, living in a studio apartment with my then-girlfriend (now wife), and working out of Starbucks because I didn't have an office.

Nobody gave me leads. What worked was pretty unglamorous:

Putting myself out there constantly, even when it was uncomfortable.

Responding immediately. Speed wins more deals than people realize.

Actually picking up the phone instead of hiding behind email.

Being personable and trying to add value before asking for anything.

Creating urgency without being pushy about it.

Accepting that a lot of deals won't go your way and not taking it personally.

None of it is secret, but doing all of it every day for years is what made the difference for me.

Happy to answer questions from anyone thinking about getting into brokering or commission sales.

-4,300 sq ft building

-~0.60 acres

-Owner/Pharmacist currently involved

-Operating for 15+ years

-Strong focus on peptide, hormone, and

specialty-compounding medications

-Gross: $995k

-SDE: $145k

-Asking: $1.2M

For further information, please TEXT 646-257-0643

#business #buy #pharmacy #property #pharmacist #texas #tx #dallasfortworth #real estate