Second Look Audit
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Second Look Audit

Independent scores for small online businesses already for sale. We read the fine print so you can decide with a clear head.

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Library

A short shelf for the person doing the buying.

Books we would hand someone before a first acquisition or a first month as owner. The notes are ours. The links go to Amazon.

AllAcquisitionsOperatorsResearch
CardsTable
BookCategoryWhy we picked itPrice
Cover of $100M Offers
$100M Offers (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsAbout the offer itself: who it is for, and why the price is believable. Useful when a listing's profit depends on one promotion that may not repeat.—
Cover of Buy Back Your Time
Buy Back Your Time (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsAbout getting the owner out of the day-to-day tasks that eat the week. Relevant if the business you are looking at depends on one person doing everything, which our score flags as a risk.—
Cover of Clockwork
Clockwork (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsA short book on building a business that runs without constant owner attention, through clear roles and processes. A useful lens for the first months after a purchase.—
Cover of Company of One
Company of One (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsFor buyers who do not want to hire a team just because the listing says the business can scale. It is a check on growth plans that assume headcount.—
Cover of Profit First
Profit First (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsA cash habit, not a valuation method. Helpful after you buy, when marketplace payouts and ad bills arrive on different days. It does not replace the multiple on our score.—
Cover of The E-Myth Revisited
The E-Myth Revisited (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsOld, and still the cleanest warning that a business can be a job with a logo. Pair it with the track-record and hours figures on a listing.—
Cover of The Personal MBA
The Personal MBA (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsA survey of the words sellers use: margin, lifetime value, working capital. Handy if this is your first acquisition and the data room is full of jargon.—
Cover of Traction
Traction (opens in a new tab)
OperatorsAn operating system for a company that has outgrown a single inbox. Relevant once a listing shows a team, a set of contractors, or a process that only the founder remembers.—

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