When I first got into entrepreneurship, I thought starting from scratch was the only way. I built my agency from the ground up, but after learning from people like Walker Deibel, I see that business acquisition often makes way more sense. Imagine taking over a business that already has customers, revenue, and operations. You can scale faster without all the initial growing pains—it’s a smarter, quicker way to grow compared to starting fresh every time.

About Walker Deibel

Walker Deibel is an outstanding entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience buying and scaling businesses, having successfully acquired 7 companies and co-founded several startups along the way. He’s the author of the best-seller Buy Then Build, a must-read for anyone looking to grow through business acquisition. As an M&A advisor with Quiet Light, Walker helps online businesses navigate their exits. Through his program, Acquisition Lab, he shares his personal journey and practical strategies to teach entrepreneurs why buying an existing company can be the smartest path to growth—and how to do it right.

Key Insights:

• Focus on recurring revenue models. When buying a business, prioritize those with recurring revenue, like subscription models. This gives you a reliable income stream and makes the business more stable, allowing you to plan and scale with greater confidence.
• Look for underperforming businesses. Find companies that aren’t doing well because of bad management or outdated systems. After buying them, improve operations, marketing, or customer service to increase profits and grow the business.
• Combine resources. If you buy multiple businesses, find ways for them to share resources, like employees or marketing efforts. This saves money and helps all the businesses grow more efficiently.
• Plan for the future sale. From the start, think about how to make the business more valuable when you want to sell it. Improve profits and streamline operations so you can sell it at a higher price later.
• Modernize traditional businesses. Find older businesses that could benefit from modern updates like better online marketing or e-commerce. You can increase their value by bringing them up to date.

Walker's best advice for entrepreneurs:

Connect with Walker Deibel:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• X
• Buy Then Build
• Acquisition Lab

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When I think about a business roadmap, I see it as the strategy that turns your vision into reality. Looking back, I wish I had one from the start. Entrepreneurs like myself often get lost in the hustle—focused on putting out fires and chasing growth without a real plan. And that’s where things fall apart. After my conversation with Bruce Eckfeldt, I wish I had a well-crafted roadmap that could have saved me from unnecessary stress and reactive decisions. In this episode, he explains the difference between controlled growth and chaos and how it can help your business grow.

About Bruce Eckfeldt

Bruce Eckfeldt is an experienced entrepreneur and business coach who specializes in helping companies grow and prepare for successful exits. Over the years, he has led multiple businesses through big growth phases, building strong leadership teams and creating clear roadmaps for sustainable success. As a 5X Inc. 500 CEO Award Winner, Bruce knows firsthand what it takes to scale a business effectively.

He’s certified in Scaling Up, 3HAG/Metronomics, and Predictive Index, using these proven methods to guide businesses through challenges and unlock their full potential. Bruce is also passionate about personal growth and leadership development, which he incorporates into his coaching.

Whether you're looking to grow, build a high-performing team, or plan for an eventual exit, Bruce offers the experience and strategies needed to make it happen. His focus is on helping entrepreneurs create businesses that are strong, scalable, and ready for whatever comes next.

Key Insights:

• Think like a CEO, not a founder. As your business grows, you need to stop doing everything yourself. Trust your team to handle the day-to-day so you can focus on leading and growing the company.
• Focus on sustainable growth, not hustle. Entrepreneurs often prioritize busy work over structure, but Bruce believes that without the right processes and leadership team, growth can lead to chaos. Set up scalable systems early on for sustainable, controlled growth.
• Reduce business risks. Whenever possible, try to reduce reliance on key clients or single revenue streams. Not only does it make your business vulnerable if something goes wrong, but it also limits your growth potential. Start identifying areas where you can expand, whether by attracting new types of customers, offering additional services, or developing new products.
• Create clear roles and responsibilities. Make sure everyone on your team knows exactly what they are responsible for. This helps avoid confusion and keeps the business running smoothly as you grow.
• Review your strategy. After developing a strategy, expect it to evolve. The initial roadmap will be wrong in many ways, but the important part is identifying gaps and continuously improving the strategy based on new insights.

Bruce's best advice for entrepreneurs:

Connect with Bruce Eckfeldt:

• LinkedIn
• Website
• X
• YouTube
• Inc.com column
• Podcast

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Balancing business growth with family life has been a challenge for me for years. As a husband and father of three wonderful children, everything I do is with my family in mind. I’ve often found myself grinding, trying to scale, but feeling stuck in the day-to-day operations. When I heard Brian Keane, fitness entrepreneur and ultra-endurance athlete, talk about how scalable business models can automate growth, it really struck a chord. He talks about how automating repetitive tasks, delegating what doesn’t need your personal attention, and setting up systems can free up time and energy - and that’s the real win.

About Brian Keane

Brian Keane, a fitness entrepreneur and the CEO of Brian Keane Fitness LLC, has built a thriving business by combining his passion for health with smart, scalable strategies. A former elementary school teacher, Brian transitioned into the fitness world in 2012, becoming a professional fitness model and setting up his own business. He has since become a 3-time bestselling author and the host of one of the top health podcasts globally.

His journey includes incredible endurance feats, like running six back-to-back marathons through the Sahara Desert, 230km through the Arctic Circle, and finishing in the top 10 of the Jackpot 100-mile ultra marathon in 2020. Over the years, Brian has grown his business by offering high-ticket coaching, bestselling books, and evergreen online courses that run on autopilot. His approach has allowed him to create a lifestyle of freedom, where he focuses on his passions while the business grows.

Key Insights:

• Optimize with data and feedback. Regularly review what’s working by using tools like customer feedback, analytics, and automation metrics to continually improve and optimize business processes.
• Develop evergreen products. Create products or courses that you build once and sell repeatedly. Brian’s evergreen fitness courses generate passive income with minimal ongoing work.
• Automate key processes. Identify repetitive tasks in your business like customer onboarding, email marketing, or payments, and use software to automate them. Tools like Zapier, automated emails, or CRMs can help you streamline these tasks efficiently.
• Focus on niche markets. Narrow your target audience to a specific niche where you can offer specialized products or services. This can help you stand out from competitors and better meet the unique needs of your audience.
• Build a strong personal brand. Invest time in building your personal brand through content creation, public speaking, and appearances. Establish yourself as an authority in your field, which will naturally attract more clients and opportunities.

Brian's best advice for entrepreneurs:

Connect with Brian Keane:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

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• X
• Website