What Fits

Investment criteria

The full picture, with the reasoning — so a broker can qualify in one read, and an owner can tell whether this is worth a phone call.

These are starting points, not hard walls. A business sitting outside one or two of them is still worth a conversation. The exception is geography: that line I hold, because the commitment to be near family is non-negotiable.

Every threshold below exists because of something I will have to live with for another thirty years — not because a screen said so. Where the reasoning matters, it is written underneath.

Financial profile

Revenue
$1M – $5M annuallyLarge enough to support a full-time operator and a real management layer; small enough that one owner can genuinely know the business.
SDE / EBITDA
$0.4M – $1.0MThe range that services acquisition debt and still leaves room to reinvest. Anything thinner forces short-term decisions.

Revenue quality

Durability of demand
A durable, ongoing need for the good or serviceA thirty-year hold only works if the needs last. I’d rather own something customers will still require in thirty years than something growing quickly today that could shrink as quickly tomorrow.

Company profile

Operating history
10+ years in businessLong enough to have survived at least one bad year, which tells you more than a good one does.
Geography
New England — where my extended family is basedThis is the one line I hold. We intend to live where the business is, because being in the building is not something that can be done from a distance.
Just As Useful

What I am not looking for.

Saying this plainly saves everyone a call. None of these are judgments about the businesses — they are simply outside what one operator with a thirty-year horizon can do well.

01

Turnarounds and distress

A business losing money needs a specialist and a short clock. I am neither. If the last two years were unprofitable, another buyer is better suited to it.

02

Pre-revenue or venture-stage

I am buying something that already works. If the model still needs proving, the risk profile is wrong for permanent ownership and for the people who work there.

03

Passive or absentee ownership

If the seller's hope is that the buyer stays away, this is a poor match. The entire premise here is an owner who is present, in the building, for a long time.

Close enough to talk about?

If a business meets most of this, please reach out.

Start a conversation