2024.11.25 - Online Biz Acquistion Opps

Hey hey peeps, happy Tuesday. I’ve got 3 deals today. None of which I’m really crazy about but I think they include good ‘food for thought’.

The red light therapy business seems ok, but margin is low.

The Conservative newsletter actually seems like a pretty good small business with high scale potential, but I can’t say I am wild about the topic.

And then I included a blog listing… just to really explain why I would never buy a blog (I’ve seen many inexperienced buyers get decimated buying blog businesses over the years).

Red Light Therapy Brand - $1,110,394 SDE - 3.0x

Margin is above 20%. Not quite my ideal 25%. Measured CLTV/CAC ration of 7.48 indicates that are savvy marketers which doesn't leave ideal wins. The product is trendy -- red light therapy has gone from nearly 'nothing' to very popular in the last 3 years (according to Google trends data). Is this the top or is red-light therapy here to stay.

I think this is a good/great business, fair valuation but not for me as I really want higher margins, but could be good for someone experienced with healthcare products.

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Conservative Political Newsletter - $63,768 SDE - 2.4X

This conservative political newsletter, launched in 2018, curates content on topics from national security to local government. With over 1 million subscribers and a strong 60% open rate, the audience is highly engaged. Revenue streams are diversified across sponsored ads (50%), lead sales, display ads, and affiliates.

While the 33% margin is low for a digital business, this may be due to significant writer expenses or other operational costs not detailed in the listing. The two employees manage day-to-day operations, making this an easy business to oversee. Growth opportunities include expanding the subscriber base, attracting more advertisers, and exploring affiliate programs in high-ad-spend verticals. The audience for ‘conservative stuff’ is good.

Asking $154,106, this business seems like a great deal if the 2 employees keep it pretty hands off — but do you want own a conservative newsletter?

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State-Focused Blog - $230,534 SDE - 2.3X

This blog focuses on a single U.S. state, offering travel guides, neighborhood insights, and local festival information. It’s a blog. The business generates 98% of its revenue from display advertising—far from the "diversified" revenue streams it claims. Blogs like this are completely reliant on Google’s algorithm, and can go to zero at the next random ago update.

‘Blogs’ and content businesses I tend to consider ‘great to own’ but ‘shitty to buy’. I spits off a nice cash stream for the owner while it lasts, but I wouldn’t want to pay for the associated with it. The real win for the seller is to create some type of paid product like an app, or digital product to sell on the site that can be scaled with paid ads. As a buyer though, you don’t need to buy this blog if you just want to create a destination based product and try selling it.

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