Why MBAs are snubbing six-figure jobs to buy small businesses

A year or two back, Bloomberg ran a story titled:

“MBAs Are Spurning McKinsey to Buy Small Companies.”

(The article is paywalled, but if that doesn’t deter you, you can check it out here.)

The gist being, grads from business schools like Harvard and Wharton are starting to turn down six-figure consulting and finance jobs to pursue “entrepreneurship through acquisition.”

That’s a fancy way of saying: they’re buying small businesses instead.

And it’s no wonder why.

People are waking up to the fact that the American Dream we were sold is long gone.

There used to be an implicit promise that anyone — if they worked hard enough — could get filthy rich. All you had to do was climb the corporate ladder, and you too could have a shiny title, fancy lunches, and maybe even get a Rolex to flex on your coworkers.

Now, the real flex is having enough passive income to spend time raising your family.

To be able to show up to your kid’s soccer game in the middle of the day.

To take a vacation without begging for time off.

A lot of business school grads are starting to realize that this kind of freedom comes from owning a small business, not working at a big one.

And I can back this up from experience — because I am one of those grads!

After leaving the Army, I went back to school and got an MBA. But once I started buying businesses, I realized how little my degree actually taught me.

Sure, I learned the language of the boardroom. But when it came to real-world acquisitions (reading P&Ls, doing valuations, navigating negotiations, etc.), I might as well have been starting from scratch.

All that’s to say:

If you’re in your 30s or 40s (or 50s), and just now finding out that buying a small business is a viable path to entrepreneurship...

You’re not behind the curve.

You’re just as qualified as anyone else, with the added bonus that you didn’t waste years chasing credentials that don’t matter.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

Over the next 10 years, around 75 million baby boomers will retire. They own almost half of all small businesses in the U.S.

$10 trillion worth of business assets are changing hands from the old generation to the new.

But most people still aren’t aware this is happening... so if nobody steps in, many of these businesses will quietly disappear or get scooped up by private equity.

That’s the bad news.

The good news?

There’s nothing stopping you from stepping in and owning one of these small, boring, profitable businesses yourself.

If you’re interested in buying your first small business (or passively investing as a silent partner) tell me more about your goals and budget in the link below.

If I come across deals that are a match, I’ll send them your way.

👉 I want to buy (or invest in) a business

Or, if you already own a business and you’re thinking of selling, tell me the details here:

👉 I want to sell my business

Until next week’s issue!

Onward,

— Ben Kelly