This week on The EnTRUEpreneurship Podcast, Wes speaks with Carl Allen, Co-founder at Dealmaker Wealth Society. Allen’s company, formerly Ninja Acquisitions, was born in 2012 to teach the ins and outs of buying businesses — and doing so with no money down, using some smart financial engineering. There are currently over 5,000 entrepreneurs using his acquisition model. Throughout his three-decades long career, Carl has enabled over 300 deals, exceeding $47 billion in total value. He has expertise acquiring businesses — both big and small — and even acquires some businesses of his own through his private equity firm, PROX Capital Group.

Carl is passionate about educating entrepreneurs on the financial resources available to them, as many aspiring business owners assume acquisition is out of reach. But, as he learned in one notable life experience, sometimes acquisition is as easy as signing your name on the dotted line. On the podcast, Carl shares some key events that drove him into and, ultimately, away from large corporations, and how his passion now involves helping others find — and acquire — their own passions.

The EnTRUEpreneurship Takeaway:

“When you’re on Wall Street and you’re doing billion dollar deals, it’s all about financial engineering. When you’re buying a small family business, it’s more about psychology than numbers. Instead of money, most want a trusted, safe pair of hands that will protect their business, safeguard their employees, and take it to the next level."

"Do something that you’re truly passionate about. Once you’ve got that real purpose, it gives you all the fuel you’ll ever need to follow through. That passion pulls you towards that goal."

“Your mindset is like a muscle. The more you work it, the stronger it gets."

“For virtually all of my life, every time I’ve gone into anxious situations, I think to myself, ‘Well, I’m never going to feel as scared as I did when [my father passed]. That’s the bar. Nothing’s ever frightened me as badly as that did."

“I believe that problems are gifts that make you grow."

Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed:

3:43: Carl reflects on how his journey into entrepreneurship was paved with birth and death.

6:56: Carl shares the funny story of how he found his way into mergers and acquisitions.

11:05: Allen explains how his father’s unexpected death gave him the drive that led to his lasting success.

13:44: Carl describes the importance of a strong and determined mindset — something that his father’s death gifted him when he was 15.

15:30: Allen further reflects on the birth of his first child and how that event gave him a hunger for something smaller than a large corporate career.

18:01: Allen shares the story of how his first deal as a solo business broker didn’t turn out as he had expected.

25:20: Carl reflects on some of the lessons he learned in his private equity firm’s earliest deals and how he’s now sharing this knowledge with thousands of other entrepreneurs.

29:46: Carl shares the motivations behind establishing his acquisition-training company.

36:19: Allen looks towards the future and casts a grand vision for making the business-buying process unbelievably simple for interested parties.

38:33: Carl encourages listeners to find and fight for their passions because life is too short to do otherwise.

Bulleted List of Resources —

Carl Allen

-     LinkedIn

-     Zero-Down Business Buying Secrets on Amazon

Dealmaker Wealth Society

-     Company Website

-     YouTube

-     LinkedIn

-     Twitter

-     Facebook

-     Instagram

Dealmaker Insiders

-     Facebook