the man that turned $200K into $4M by buying a bag business

In partnership with

learn from my pain

There is a LOT of internet people trying to sell you courses on buying a business, with a LOT being a money grab for $5,000 (or more).

But what if I told you there was a guy who bought a BAG business (no he wasn’t working Canal Street) only putting $200,000 of his money into the deal and turning it into $4M?

If it barks like a dog… but seriously, Dan's story is legit and he doesn't have a course to sell you!

He wasn't some nepo-baby with daddy's money. He was a tech exec who twice thought he'd hit the jackpot — first at Facebook, then as a startup CTO — only to walk away with participation trophies instead of life-changing money.

At his crossroads, Dan didn't just buy a course on how to buy businesses. He actually did it.

What he bought was Fleet Packaging — about as unsexy as businesses get: 15 years old, $8-11M revenue, ~$800K profit. The seller? A baby boomer ready for retirement. The asking price for the deal was $3.4M.

Being scrappy, Dan put together the equity (down payment) required for the deal: $200,000. $150,000 was from savings and $50,000 from his wife's 401k — to get the deal done they had put their house on the line. The rest came from an SBA loan ($1.8M) and seller financing ($1.4M) that he cleverly structured to be forgivable if the business went south.

This wasn't some clean "walk into cash flow" fantasy. Dan had to complete a financial colonoscopy of the business (aka due diligence). His biggest concern? Customer concentration. Overpowering his worries, however, was the opportunity to grow the business as the tired owner had stopped chasing growth many years ago.

Fast forward 18 months: profits doubled to $1.7M. At the same 4.25x multiple, Fleet was suddenly worth about $7.2M. After subtracting debt, Dan's equity hit $4M — a 20x return on his original $200K.

This isn't a passive income fairy tale. Dan works 50-60 hours weekly. He pays himself modestly, plowing profits back into growth. That SBA loan is still tied to his home. But he's building wealth on a scale no paycheck could ever match.

What should you take away from this?

• Many small businesses hide more potential than their owners realize. A buyer with fresh energy can unlock millions in value.

• Structure is everything. SBA leverage + seller financing made a $3.4M acquisition possible with less than 10% down.

• Don't buy a job. Many small deals look affordable but trap you in low pay and long hours. Fleet Packaging was a large enough base to build off (past the 'buying a job' scale).

• This path isn't for everyone. Detail-obsession, risk tolerance, and persistence matter more than a fancy spreadsheet forecast (cause let's face it — anyone can make those look good).

Stories like Dan's aren't like rainbow-striped unicorns; I've seen more than one first-hand with clients we've worked with. But the story asks a tough question to aspiring entrepreneurs - should you buy or build a business?

Want to know my take? You can watch me answer that question below 👇️ 

Watch my full breakdown of Dan's deal HERE.

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idea of the week 💡

Credit: Idea Browser

• problem: Sales reps waste hours typing up client meetings when they should be selling more. Manual CRM updates create inefficiency and often result in lost insights and incomplete data.

• idea: Field Intel - an app that turns voice notes into actionable sales data. Reps simply record thoughts while driving between meetings, and the app transcribes, analyzes, and pushes structured data directly into existing CRMs with follow-up flags and sentiment analysis.

• how it makes money: $49-99 per user monthly subscription, targeting 5-50 person sales teams. Potential for $1M-$10M ARR by solving a critical pain point for field teams currently stuck with manual data entry.

• why it might succeed: Seamless integration with major CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive transforms dead time between meetings into productive work. Every conversation captured strengthens sales intelligence and forecasting ability.

• why it might fail: Might face adoption challenges with less tech-savvy sales teams and competition from existing CRM add-ons that offer partial solutions to the same problem.

workouts of the week

Three workouts for this weekend:

at-home workout:

Complete this HIIT circuit 3 times:

• 30 seconds of high knees

• 12 push-up to side planks (alternate sides)

• 45-second plank with shoulder taps

• 20 bodyweight squats with 3-second pause at bottom

Challenge: Add a 30-second burpee finisher after the final round

gym workout:

• 4x8 barbell back squats at 75% of your max

• 3x10 dumbbell rows (each arm)

• 4x12 overhead tricep extensions

• Finisher: 4-minute AMRAP of 10 battle ropes + 5 box jumps

outdoor workout:

Complete at your local park:

• 15-minute fartlek run (alternate 1 min fast, 1 min slow)

• Find stairs: 4 sets of stair runs with 60-second rest

• At open space: 3 rounds of 20 walking lunges + 15 jump squats

tweet of the week

video of the week

For those wondering, here’s a bit more about my new company, Breakwater M&A 🌊

my plugs

• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

• Download a FREE copy of my Million Dollar Business Exit Guide

• Schedule a discovery call to discuss buying or selling your business.

• Subscribe to Main Street Memo for the best tips on buying small businesses.

• Follow me on socials - X + insta + linkedin

every second counts