The short answer
Jonathan Jay shares how he completed 48 acquisitions in 2.5 years, including the strategic discipline, PE exit planning, and recurring revenue focus that makes rapid acquisition-led growth sustainable.
Key takeaways
- How to make the most money in business: Hint, it’s not by running one
- A process for overhauling a distressed business
- Knowing when to get out before your business diminishes
- Core principles for integrating acquired businesses
Listen to the podcast
57 minWatch the full interview
About this episode
Buying a business for £1 seems a bit far-fetched. So does acquiring 48 in just a two and a half year span. However, both these stories are true and belong to Jonathan Jay.
A classic, serial entrepreneur, Jonathan started buying, growing, and selling businesses when he was 19. However, his approach to business changed when he realised that selling businesses was how you made money. This kickstarted a long, successful career of strategically buying businesses and selling them off to strategic acquirers in turn.
Learn the various structures and techniques Jonathan has used to grow and acquire his portfolio of businesses.
Chapters
- 4:45Jonathan’s real eye opener was when a strategic acquirer approached him and wanted to buy his magazine business. This deal meant he made more money the day he sold the business than in the previous 2.5 years of owning and running it
- 16:24Imagine buying a business for £1. That’s exactly what Jonathan did, taking on all the liability from a business doing £5M a year. It took him only six months to turn it around and another six months to sell it to a strategic acquirer
- 27:00Here’s how Jonathan defines and finds strategic acquirers for his businesses
- 32:28Jonathan bought 48 business over the course of 30 months on top of the five businesses he already owned. As you could imagine, this was a highly stressful time for Jonathan and ended up in the hospital
- 41:11Integrations are the hardest part of acquisitions. They can go very badly, very easily. Jonathan shares his experience on what went wrong and what you can do to learn from his mistakes
The Newscast
How to value, grow and exit your company
Get two useful emails each month: founder stories and lessons in the Buy Grow Sell Newscast, plus the latest small and mid-market M&A insights in The Wire.
Related episodes
About Jonathan Jay
Jonathan Jay has been an entrepreneur since dropping out of university at age 19. Now 50 years old, he has built businesses in publishing, digital marketing, adult education and coaching, and preschool education and sold each of them.
During the pandemic, Jonathan made 48 business acquisitions to create the 4th largest group in his sector in under three years.
One notable deal was buying a £5m annual revenue digital marketing company from its Private Equity owner for just £1 and selling it for £1.3m just eleven months later.
Jonathan is an advocate of a healthy work-life balance, suffering mental and physical burnout, and believes you can achieve success without business taking over your life. He now helps other people buy businesses and helps them avoid the expensive mistakes – as he says he has made them all.
Connect with Jonathan Jay
About the show
Buy Grow Sell is hosted by Simon Bedard, founder and managing director of Exit Advisory Group, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps Australian business owners value, prepare for and navigate a sale. Every conversation draws on real deals and the patterns behind them.
