I’ve had an interesting realization lately.
There are an unbelievable number of businesses for sale.
Before I started seriously looking, I assumed finding a profitable business would be the hardest part.
I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.
The hardest part turned out to be something else entirely.
Every week I see manufacturers, staffing firms, medical billing companies, software companies, financial services businesses — and dozens of others I didn’t even know existed.
Some are listed publicly. Some aren’t listed anywhere — you’d never know they were available unless somebody asked.
Some make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Some make more than a million.
To be fair, plenty don’t make much at all. Some are even losing money every month.
The point is — there are a lot of good businesses out there for sale.
And not because something’s wrong with them.
Years ago, when we’d go tour houses, I’d get stuck on the same question.
Why would they want to sell? This house is so nice. Something must be wrong.
But no. They just wanted a change.
It’s the same with businesses. Sometimes the owner is simply ready for something else.
And there’s something freeing about realizing you don’t always have to invent the next great company.
Sometimes somebody spent 20 or 30 years building one, and they’re ready to hand the keys to someone else.
The most surprising part hasn’t been the businesses
It’s been the people who built them.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked with several owners who have built companies that generate millions in revenue, employ teams of people, and have been operating for decades.
And what stood out to me is how wonderfully normal they are.
They have kids. Grandkids. Hobbies.
They talk about their weekend.
They aren’t some different species of person.
They’re not all ultra-intense, Type-A personalities fasting until noon, doing cold plunges at 4am, working out four times a day, and stepping off a superyacht.
Although I’m sure a few are.
Most of the owners I’ve met just seem like normal people who, at some point, saw an opportunity.
They took a chance.
They figured things out as they went.
And then they kept showing up.
The invisible gate
I spent years unconsciously believing there was some invisible gate between people who owned substantial businesses and everybody else.
Like it was a superpower. As if the people in the big house on the hill got there because they’d been bitten by a radioactive spider.
None of that is true.
They’re just like us.
That was the hard part all along. Not finding a business. Believing I could be one of the people who owned one.
Now I’m sitting across the table from them.
And I keep thinking about a restaurant in LA.
If you walked down that street, you’d have no idea it was there. The whole wall was covered in ivy. Just a wall of green.
Then there was a door.
And when it opened, there was an entire world inside. A full restaurant, built right along the hillside.
The door had been there the whole time.
That’s what this has felt like.
Once you find the door — or somebody shows you where it is — you’re through.
And some of these owners are actively looking for the next person to walk through it.
And here’s the part I love most
A few have made it clear that they don’t simply want to sell to whoever writes the biggest check.
They’ve spent decades building something they’re proud of.
They know the employees.
They know their families.
They know the customers who have been with them for years.
They care about what happens next.
They want someone who will take care of what they built.
Someone who will look after their people.
Someone who will keep building.
They’re looking for a good steward.
That changes the way I think about buying a business.
It’s not just about acquiring cash flow.
Sometimes it’s about being entrusted with someone else’s life’s work.
So if you’ve ever thought about owning a business — even quietly, even if it still feels unrealistic —
keep dreaming.
The people on the other side of the table aren’t superheroes.
And the door may be much closer than you think.
If any of this sounds like something you’ve been circling, that’s what The Next Chapter is. A few of us meet every other Thursday to think out loud about what we’re building next.
You’d be welcome in the room.
Just hit reply and I’ll tell you more.
— Tony
The Next Chapter — a small group of people building, buying, and investing. We meet every other Thursday at 4 PM PT for 60–90 minutes on Zoom.