Hello friend,
Why you're getting this: this is my Friends Newsletter; the place where I debrief real lessons from running, buying, and selling dozens of boring-but-beautiful businesses.
If you’re building something unsexy but profitable, this one’s for you.
A few months ago, a friend texted me:
“We just hit $2M in profit. I think I want to sell... but I have no idea how. I don’t want bankers. I don’t want headlines. I just want out. Clean.”
He built a weird B2B SaaS in a niche I won’t name (but it rhymes with “enterprise pest tracking”).
No deck.
No hype.
Just deep margin and no competition.
My favorite kind of business.
But he was stuck.
He thought selling meant Shark Tank.
Or long weekends with McKinsey analysts in your inbox.
Or pretending you’re excited to “explore strategic options.”
Nope.
Selling a boring business doesn’t need to be a circus.
So I sent him the checklist I’ve used for years.
Now I’m giving it to you.
If you’re not profitable, stop reading.
This playbook is for businesses doing:
Buyers like Tiny don’t want your upside fantasy.
They want earnings.
Now.
Need a gut check? Start here → Thinking of Selling? 7 Signs Your Business Is Ready for a Quiet Acquisition
No pitch decks.
No teasers.
One doc, max two pages.
Include:
This does 90% of the work.
For bonus points, send it with your first cold email.
Or better yet, share it with someone like me.
Need help telling the story? → Never Tell, Always Storytell
The best exits start with a DM, not a banker.
You don’t need a mass-market process.
You need 3–5 smart operators who understand your category.
Send this exact message:
“Hey; I own [Business Name]. ~$X EBITDA, runs without me, high margin. Wondering if this might fit your wheelhouse. Let me know if you're open to a quick chat.”
If it’s a fit, they’ll know fast.
And if they’re buyers like Tiny, you’ll skip months of nonsense.
Still not sure how this works?
Read this: How to Sell Your Business to Tiny Capital
Before any call, make sure you’ve got:
Think of it like showing your house before an open house.
The more honest and organized you are, the less annoying the process becomes.
Want to know what they’ll care about?
👉 What Buyers Like Tiny.com Look For
Most boring businesses sell for 3–5x profit.
But the real multiple depends on:
Don’t inflate.
Don’t pitch your “AI roadmap.”
Do show the buyer why your business is a cash machine they don’t need to fix.
A $5M deal with bad terms is worse than a $3M deal wired clean.
Here’s what you want:
If the deal sounds good but smells fishy, walk.
Clean beats clever.
If the business doesn’t run without you, you’re selling a job, not an asset.
That’s fine; just price accordingly.
If you want top dollar?
Make it easy to hand off.
No one wants to buy your inbox.
You might want to be done.
But don’t blow it up on the way out.
Make sure the buyer plans to:
It’s not about being nice.
It’s about preserving continuity.
You built this with real humans.
Make sure they’re treated like it.
If someone wants to “explore a partnership” first… run.
If they say, “let’s do a pilot project together first”… run faster.
If they need to bring it to the board 6 times? You get the idea.
Buyers who want to buy will make it clear within 2 calls.
If they won’t commit by week 2, they’re fishing.
Selling a boring business should feel like an exhale, not a TED Talk.
There won’t be confetti.
You won’t go viral.
You won’t get a 10-part documentary on how you “disrupted” fax machines.
You’ll just:
That’s the dream.
If you need more comfort food, revisit → Bootstrapped, Not Broken
Profitable business
One-pager that tells the truth
Off-market intro to real buyers
Clean numbers
Transparent risks
Fair price and clean terms
Team continuity
No theatrics
Exit with grace
Your business doesn’t need to be flashy to be valuable.
Your exit doesn’t need to be loud to be meaningful.
Some of the best deals I’ve ever done didn’t make a single headline.
No bankers.
No LinkedIn posts.
Just one founder saying, “I’m ready,” and another saying, “I’ll take care of it.”
That’s how boring businesses get sold.
And honestly?
That’s how I think it should be.
Get Your Copy of Never Enough at https://www.neverenough.com
Or… don’t.
Just go raise your margin instead.
– Andrew
