Growth Hacking the Smart Way

TLDR: You don’t have to grind your way to growth. Buying a business, even a small one, can instantly boost your revenue, margins, and valuation without hiring, coding, or scaling from scratch. Creative acquisitions let you skip the slow climb and leap straight to scale. Don’t build your next revenue stream. Acquire it. The right deal adds cash flow, customers, and strategic leverage overnight. In today’s market, acquisition isn’t optional, it’s your edge.

Let me hit you with a truth bomb: Scaling your business doesn’t have to take years. You don’t need to grind it out for another 18 months hoping that some new funnel, ad hack, or viral video will finally break you through to the next level.

Instead, you can acquire that growth.

Here’s what most entrepreneurs miss…When you buy a business, you’re buying time. You’re acquiring customers, team, traffic, systems, tech, and maybe most importantly, revenue.

You’re collapsing the time it takes to scale.

I’ve built, grown, or exited 29+ companies over the years, and one thing that’s remained consistent: I never bet on “hope and hustle.” I bet on assets. I bet on cash flow. I bet on buying instead of building. Let me show you how this works.

Why Buying Beats Building

Let’s say you run a digital agency that’s doing $3M/year. Your organic growth this year? Maybe 15% if things go well. Cool.

But what if you bought a smaller agency doing $1.2M, with complementary services, and zero marketing? You bring their ops in-house, plug their services into your funnels, and now you’re a $4.2M business, overnight.

Better yet, your fixed costs barely move, so your margins go up, your valuation multiple expands, and you’re now positioned for a far more attractive exit.

That's not growth. That’s a quantum leap.

Deal Structures That Work (Even If You're Not Sitting On Cash)

Now, a lot of folks get scared here. “But Roland, I don’t have millions sitting in the bank to go buy other companies!” You don’t need it.

Here’s a dirty little secret: Most deals don’t require cash upfront. I’ve bought companies using:

• Seller financing (pay the owner over time)

• Performance-based earnouts

• Asset-based lending

• Equity swaps

• Revenue share deals

• Debt rollovers (even using the company’s own receivables to finance the acquisition)

In other words, you might have heard this before from me….you can buy a business with little to no money out of pocket, if you know how to structure the deal creatively.

Rollups, Bolt-Ons & the Empire Play

Here’s how the really big plays work. You identify fragmented industries where no one player owns more than a small slice of the pie. Think, boutique marketing agencies, local SaaS tools, coaching businesses, DTC brands.

Now you acquire multiple businesses, a roll-up strategy, and consolidate them into a larger, integrated portfolio. You trim the fat, cross-sell services, standardize systems, and suddenly your EBITDA triples… without touching a Facebook ad.

This is how companies get acquired for 8-9 figure exits.

You didn’t build that revenue. You bought it. Then you optimized it. Then you exited.

Why This Works Now More Than Ever

Right now, there are millions of baby boomer-owned businesses heading for transition. Many of these owners have profitable companies but no succession plan.

That means opportunity for dealmakers.

Pair that with high inflation, rising acquisition multiples, and shaky organic channels, and it’s easy to see: buying is safer, faster, and more strategic than ever.

Where to Start?

Start simple. Look for:

• Suppliers you rely on (vertical integration)

• Competitors you could absorb

• Customer lists you can bolt-on

• Tools your team uses that you could buy or license

• Media sites or newsletters in your niche (audience acquisition = leverage)

The path to massive, strategic growth is closer than you think. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to own more wheels.

Want to learn my full process? Join me where I break down my entire, exact system, step-by-step, how deals are sourced, structured, funded, and closed. No theory, just proven strategy. Watch here. 

Thinking About Exiting Your Business?
You’ve built something incredible—now it’s time to make sure you get the most from your exit. We’ve helped countless entrepreneurs maximize their business sales, ensuring they walk away with more than just a deal—they walk away with the best deal possible.

Want to see what’s possible for you? Schedule a complimentary call (click here) today to see how I can help you get the most out of your exit.

Whats Going On

On The Business Lunch Podcast: In this episode, explore how AI is transforming marketing education and business strategies. This episode is perfect for entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners looking to understand how to leverage AI tools to streamline operations, create marketing assets, and stay ahead of technological disruption.— Listen on Apple Podcasts I Spotify 

The secret to building wealth isn’t chasing trends. It’s spotting what others ignore. These businesses aren’t flashy, they aren’t trending, but they’ve been quietly printing profits for decades.

The kicker? Their owners are ready to walk away, retirement, burnout, health, divorce, relocation. That means you can step in and take over a cash-flowing business for a fraction of its true value.

Check out the video here!