18 Apr Built to Sell: How a Middleman Built and Sold a $19M Distribution Business
Sean McAuliffe didn’t invent anything. He was a distributor.
If you lost your car keys and went to a locksmith to cut a new set, chances are your locksmith got the replacement key from Sean’s business. He bought cheap keys from Asia and sold them to locksmiths. Nothing fancy. Like so many businesses, Sean was a middleman. He’d never really thought about selling—didn’t think anyone would want to buy it—but when a private equity group offered him millions, Sean realized he was sitting on a potential goldmine.
In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, you discover how to:
Build a moat in a distribution business
Avoid running out of cash as inventory grows
Price SKUs based on margin and velocity
Handle working capital negotiations during diligence
Avoid getting spooked when an acquirer stops responding
Sell a non-technical business for 4–6× EBITDA
Decide how much equity to roll into a PE-backed platform
