From College to Four International Offices with Thomas Smale

<p>Jeff interviews Thomas Smale of FE International, a M&A firm (M&A stands for Mergers and Acquisitions). Thomas took a college side hustle and turned it into an international business. </p> <p>Thomas and Jeff discuss:</p> <ol><li style="font-weight:400;">Graduated college in 2010. Tried multiple different strategies. Learned how to buy websites in 2008. When he graduated in 2010 he wrote a book about how to buy websites. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">He was able to make about $5000 per month selling his books. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">People who read his book reached out to him for help selling their businesses. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Today he owns an M&A firm that helps tech and e-commerce companies sell their businesses. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">He has 130 people that work for him with four offices internationally. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">The start of their process is to see if the company is a good fit for their business. The first step in the process is a free business valuation. They have a set process that they have developed over the time. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">They consider themselves very direct. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">One of the most important things is to get your financials correct before going to market. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Establish what you want to achieve. </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">In the future they are developing a process for working with people that want to buy businesses. </li> </ol><p>Fast Five Questions:</p> <ol><li style="font-weight:400;">If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? “Start another service business. I would present it as a business instead of a freelancer.”</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? “Early on it was a lack of focus. The business has grown immensely since we focused.”</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">What is a book that you would recom