How To Buy Your Next Job
Boring brick and mortar, cashflow positive businesses are back in style.
My day job finds me surrounded by twenty-somethings most of the time. I am in my forties. Bright-eyed and internet savvy (addicted?), Gen Z has an eagerness to learn that was missing from my generation. They devour trends and move on quickly, and most importantly, they value their time and money better than any generation before.
Last year, something strange started happening: They started asking for financial advice. Maybe it’s the slight grey in my beard or the progressive lenses (both recent developments since the Pandemic), but not a single week has gone by this year without someone in their twenties asking me if I “do stocks.”
“Yes, I do, and no, you shouldn’t. Not yet anyway.” is my typical reply.
“You need to make more money first.”
While I am no financial expert — I have made plenty of mistakes to ensure that I’ve earned that credential — I have somehow managed to save a not insignificant sum of money over the years. I sold my real estate positions, invested in boring couch potato ETF portfolios, cashed out a well-timed startup investment, and occasionally had some fun with crypto.
However, I never took a financial risk without first ensuring that I had a well-paying job that could cover my basic monthly expenses and allow me to have some fun. No investment trumps monthly cash flow and investment advice that assumes a secure salaried job first, need only to look back on the past 24 months as evidence of a shaky foundation.
In a world where Robin Hood trading apps, Game Stop short sells, crypto gurus, NFT artists, and countless other quasi-legit investment opportunities abound, it’s easy to see how young people can be confused by saving and investing.
Personally, I’ve only ever been self-employed and a business owner. That’s why it was nice to see that boring, cash flow positive businesses are making a huge comeback. You may have missed it, but there is currently a renewed interest in purchasing small to medium-sized businesses that are already making a profit.
While everyone else is looking for a quick score, whether it’s flipping houses or NFT’s, smart Gen Z’ers are revisiting profitable brick and mortar businesses as investments, thanks to people like Codie Sanchez from ContrarianThinking.co.
Codie has purchased and invested in over 60 businesses and has developed a course on buying an existing business. So also runs her Contrarian Cashflow group that explores unique business opportunities and deals.
Codie and her network encourage young people to take a second look at “boring” businesses such as laundromats, AirBnB rentals, vending machines, ice makers, and franchise opportunities. She is re-champing the cause of buying cash flow positive companies, modernizing them with the owner’s money or bank financing, hiring a manager to operate and grow the business for an eventual sale.
Everyone forgets that it’s not about how much you can save during your working years; it’s about how much income you can produce every month, even after you’ve stopped working. Just ask your Boomer parents.
Currently, 10,000 boomers are retiring per day, and 19% of them have businesses to sell. This is a massive opportunity for someone in their 20s, with a good work ethic and the ability to get a small business loan, to take over and modernize an existing business. They can multiply the cash flow using modern marketing, streamline operations, and eventually sell the company for a considerable profit in a few years.
After all, who wants to take out $200K in student loans only to go work a 9–5 for less than $60K a year, hoping to eventually and save towards a retirement that seems, well, more uncertain than ever? Twenty-somethings want excitement, balance, and an income that rewards their hard work.
Hey, it’s me, Chris. Like what you see? Get my subjectively awesome newsletter here.
