Read on Twitter
Firmly believe the most certain path to building a high net worth ($10M plus) is buying a small business at a relatively young age. Here’s a model:
Find a small company to acquire before you turn 40 (ideally way before but honestly way after is fine too...who really cares?).
Key is to look at opportunities under ~$7M in total capitalization. Why? SBA loans are the govt’s gift to individuals that can endure a paperwork decathalon and stomach a few years of a PG. Said loans have a $5M limit but w/ equity and seller paper, $7M deal (or more) is doable.
For argument’s sake, let’s consider a $4M deal (can scale this down to a more comfortable size if desired). Assuming a bargain is foolish so let’s say you pay 5x ebitda for a good business that includes plenty of working capital.
You are the proud new owner of a company earning $800k before debt service.
What does the financing look like? You will borrow 70-90% for your SBA lender, 5-25% from the exiting owner, and kick in 5-10% yourself.
But I don’t have $200-400k to kick in so this isn’t for me? 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😢" title="Weinendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Weinendes Gesicht"> Not true, you can easily raise this from investors and retain majority ownership in the business. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😍" title="Lächelndes Gesicht mit herzförmigen Augen" aria-label="Emoji: Lächelndes Gesicht mit herzförmigen Augen">
Let’s assume you only need $200k (5%). You should be able to part with 15% or less of the equity depending on structure.
To recap, you’re out of pocket $0 and own 85%+ of a pretty legit small company (with lots of leverage...there’s no totally free lunch). Between salary and cash flow, you should pull down $250k+/year in personal earnings depending on terms with your equity investor.
The terms on your SBA note and seller note will be relatively similar on a monthly basis (maturities might vary). Generally, 10 year am at 6%. So, ~$500k in total debt service with $800k in EBITDA.
What does it look like in 10 years? No growth and your 85% is $3.4M, keep up with inflation - $4.5M, double the company - $6.8M. The scenarios here are fairly endless but all good as long as you slog through the 10 years of SBA pay down.
Those 10 years are still at a pretty damn good pay for the record. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💰" title="Geldsack" aria-label="Emoji: Geldsack">
At that point, take the $500k in annual savings and afford yourself a little lifestyle inflation (meaning $500k+ per year for lifestyle) and invest the rest in more conservative things so your business could die and it wouldn’t crush your net worth.
At $300k per year in outside investing, you’ll build a quite significant nest egg beyond your business in 10-15 years.
Start to finish on whole plan? 20+ years. So, best to start before 40 (or as early as possible). However, someone as old as 55 or 60 could do this on an accelerated basis and still have enough time to enjoy the spoils.
I think $10M is actually a pretty low estimate of the net worth one can build through this strategy if pursued relatively young.
I’m practicing what I preach - my wife and I both run small companies we purchased essentially as outlined above (one started a bit smaller and has no investors).
