Cassie (Nekamp/Ristic), Morley (Marvin) Desai, Ann (last name not stated)·February 6, 2023

Women Entrepreneurs and Their Experience Buying Businesses | Chelsea Wood Interview

This is a panel episode hosted by Chelsea Wood (managing director of Acquisition Lab and M&A advisor), not a one-on-one buyer interview. Three female acquisition entrepreneurs share their stories. Cassie bought a 40-year-old fencing company (~$700k revenue) that came with real estate and inventory, using SBA financing; she nearly walked away a month before close when a valuation gap emerged, was talked through it by her attorney, and has spent 1.5 years navigating change management, team trust-building, and the departure of a longtime family employee. Morley (Marvin) Desai bought Amira Natural Skin Care, an e-commerce skincare business, also via SBA, closing just days before Christmas after a white-knuckle race to satisfy bank checklists within her exclusivity window; she had previously pivoted from broker outreach to proprietary search in Atlanta after finding brokers less receptive to female searchers. Ann, a 30-year law firm veteran, bought a business to re-apply her operational growth skills in a new context, citing network relationships and the book 'Buy Then Build' as key demystifiers. The episode's central theme is encouraging women to enter the ETA space by normalizing the process, building community, and recognizing that perceived qualification gaps are not disqualifying.

Deal facts

revenue: ~$700k (Cassie's fencing company); not stated for others
financing structure: SBA loan (Cassie and Morley both used SBA financing); seller financing not mentioned
notes: Cassie bought a 40-year-old fencing company including ~2 acres of real estate and an inventory component; valuation came back $200k less than asking for land/inventory. Morley bought Amira Natural Skin Care (e-commerce skincare). Ann bought a business after 30+ years at a law firm (Stegman Elliott); deal details not disclosed.

Why this business

Cassie: saw a fencing company for sale, came from a family of construction workers, spotted low-hanging fruit and felt it was a good opportunity despite knowing nothing about fencing. Morley: motivated by the book '4,000 Weeks' after turning 40 during the pandemic, quit corporate to search full-time, focused on the Greater Atlanta area and ultimately found an e-commerce skincare business. Ann: sought a platform for organic operational growth after plateauing in her law firm management role; a colleague demystified the acquisition process and she realized her skills translated.

What's working

Cassie: Slowing down to speed up during transition; listening to the team; hosting a casual retirement party for the outgoing owner helped her observe team dynamics before the formal Monday meeting
Cassie: Formed a peer group with top operators from the American Fence Association, meeting monthly to share best practices — found it mutually beneficial for newer and experienced operators alike
Cassie: Hired a personal business coach which she credits with keeping her grounded through a very hard first 18 months
Morley: Pivoted from broker outreach to proprietary search in Greater Atlanta, leveraging her network; after joining Acquisition Lab refined her criteria and found her business within a couple of months
Morley: Stayed on top of the SBA closing checklist and drove the process to close just before Christmas, avoiding losing the deal to year-end bank cutoffs
Ann: Collaborative and consultative leadership style, which she views as effective for team empowerment and organic growth even if it is sometimes misread as lacking authority

What's hard

Cassie: Nearly walked away from the deal one month before closing when the land/inventory valuation came back $200k below asking; her attorney talked her off the ledge
Cassie: Change management described as the most difficult thing she has ever done in 1.5 years of ownership
Cassie: The former field superintendent (owner's nephew, 35-year tenure) was only told of the sale two weeks before close and arrived at the transition soured; he stayed ~3 months but the relationship did not work long-term
Morley: Broker outreach was challenging as a woman — brokers (typically older white males) were more comfortable with male searchers; pivoted to proprietary search
Morley: Exclusivity period was 75 days; around day 60 the bank still hadn't returned from underwriting; gathered all closing checklist items (life insurance, business insurance, Delaware tax clearance letter only sent by mail) under extreme time pressure with the bank warning the deal would die if not closed by year-end
Ann: As a woman with a collaborative leadership style, she was sometimes perceived as less authoritative or experienced; had to earn respect over time
General: Search is a lonely process, especially for women who are underrepresented in the ETA community

Notable quotes

I make a call to our attorney and I'm practicing my speech ahead of time of how I'm going to get out of this deal and I'm talking to him and I'm saying the words clear as day I want out and he's basically not accepting my language he's like I hear you but you don't and here's why.

Change management is the most difficult thing I've ever done.

I turned 40 in 2021 and I was like well wow I only have 2,000 weeks left like I need to like get on this vision that I had created.

If you want to be a badass boss lady surround yourself with other badass boss ladies and it's like not only do you then start to see the vision when you're seeing other women and other entrepreneurs doing it but there's just this like osmosis right when you're around that energy and it becomes normalized.

Don't be intimidated by the fact that you don't have all the skills to do all the phases of all the things in the search acquisition growth operational phase.