Buying a $5m+ Business that Collapses | John Ikalowych Interview

After a professional life filled with success, John Ikalowych decided to try entrepreneurship by acquiring a business. He found an automotive hail-repair business with $2m in earnings and jumped at it. The next two years would see John pounded by crisis after crisis, culminating in the decision to shutter the business. And yes, John had a personal guarantee, the dreaded condition of an SBA loan that says the bank will come after your personal assets if you fail to pay it off. This trial forced John to confront his sense of self-worth and, while excruciating, he emerged stronger, wiser, and eager to help others avoid or survive a similar fate. ❤️ Enjoy this interview? SUBSCRIBE for more: https://bit.ly/42hLnN0 00:00. John’s background 02:10. John finds a business partner 09:17. John chooses a car hail repair business 11:45. HailCo’s business model 18:45. Acquiring during the off-season 19:45. Half his staff leave 26.40. John pivots the business to B2B 30:48. John shuts down the business 34:00. John’s perspective on entrepreneurship 40:18. How the business failure changed him 45:37. Closing a business with a personal guarantee 49:55. Telling the staff the business is closing 52:19. John’s advice to searchers 57:44. Mismatch in cultural values 1:00:33. The importance of a company’s age 1:05:57. John’s advice about early red flags 1:10:16. Identifying deal breakers in a business 1:17:31. Importance of peer support 1:24:06. End CONNECT with the Acquiring Minds podcast, socials, etc. 🎧 Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vZrl0u... 🎧 Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 👉 Get notified of new interviews: https://acquiringminds.co 👉 Follow host Will Smith on Twitter:   / whentheresawill   👉 Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn:   / willsmithsf   ABOUT Acquiring Minds Acquiring Minds is a podcast about buying businesses. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs, and host Will Smith talks to the people who do it. New episodes 2x per week. #sbaloans #sbaloan