Chris Williams
@CTW_SMB
Lucky to be CEO @Systemsixbooks. Finance & accounting for SMBs. Acquired via ETA; doubled in 3 years. BHAG=$50M rev by 2030. Ex PE & MBA. Golf when I can. 0.3
The convo about whether ETA is risky etc etc has gotten too general Not all business acquisitions are created equal. Even ones with a lot of leverage, PG, and limited operator experience can be very different We need to focus more on the TYPE of biz. Obviously, this hugely…
Done two acquisitions, working on our 3rd now In service biz, the people are the product But this is one part of the deal you have a hard time truly doing DD on You don't get to go "interview" the team that's coming on board You need to make sure you are getting a team where…
4 year anniversary of being lucky enough to step into ownership at @systemsixbooks As biz owner, always thinking about what's next, what could be better. Never satisfied. But important to make sure to step back, celebrate wins, learn from Ls. Quick reflection on 4 years…
"I don't place much emphasis on winning tournaments... It's mostly about putting in the proper work and coming out here and competing" Same holds true in SMB If you're doing this just for the destination - wealth, "freedom", you'll FAIL. 1000% This is not a spreadsheet fast…
Golf champion, Scottie Scheffler’s focus is on winning THIS day, not the outcomes. Find joy in what you are doing and work to be your very best in all that you do! Process over outcome!
Sure @OpenAI just dropped another awesome roll out. Agents look 🔥 But don’t sleep on old fashioned hand written notes and thoughtful personal things when building customer relationships Humans still care Modernize your biz as much as you can But don’t fully remove the…
Even better to partner with an accounting team that GETS your journey We're on our own entrepreneurial journey. Several of our team members have businesses outside work which we SUPPORT We've got SBA loans Partner with the team that speaks your language @systemsixbooks
Things every entrepreneur needs: 1. Good accountant 2. Business/life coach 3. Trusted attorney 4. CEO support network 5. Insurance expert 6. Financial advisor 7. Fitness/nutrition regime 8. Supportive spouse What else?
Some days I get pretty nervous about what AI is going to do to accounting And then I had a call with someone at a big bank who asked me “what’s this notetaker in our call and what’s it for” Remember, AI won’t take jobs first Professionals using will take the first jobs……
Running a remote and growing organization is amazing until you realize you are registered in 29 states (revenue nexus or employees) and need to file paperwork in all for a legal name change Should we just get to all 50? Sundays are for compliance
Y'all. The goal is to buy a QUALITY business at a fair price. Like some guy named buffett said. You get what you pay for. I'd rather own less of something quality I had to pay 5.5x for than pay 3x for something that "yields" in a spreadsheet 99% of the time, it ain't These…
Thanks for having me on @BuySellSMB and @mainshares Was fun to do a pod where we spent way less time on the biz buying story and more on the actual run the biz thing. You know, the "passive ownership" part ;) Couple learnings from me 1. Work the phones. Wish I had gotten in…
When @ctw_smb bought System Six, it had 18 employees. He did 200+ sales calls a year. Built a 3-person pod model for every client. Tracked profitability monthly at the account level. And didn’t touch M&A until four years in - first deal closed last December. Chris isn’t chasing…
This is spot on and something I tell folks leaving PE (like I did) into the land of buying small biz on your own I was trained in PE to say no. Tear apart CIMs. Downside test downside test downside test. Valuable skills, for sure But it made searching v hard for me at first I…
“Compare this to most PE firms where an ultra risk averse mindset is beaten into you as you grind up the ladder.” Lots of truth in this. I’ve interviewed dozens and dozens of folks in the last year for firm positions and most of them struggle to answer “how are you going to help…
Pretty jarring chart I saw in my morning readings today Can’t pretend to know the causes, or relative to other leading economies, but stark reminder to be thankful and that even though we are by FAR the greatest country, we’ve still got work to do
Remember, don't be afraid to ask for RELEVANT things in your deal process. Worst thing that can happen is someone says no Example, we now ask to meet all key members of a firm we're trying to buy quickly after LOI. Working on one now where we have now met over 50% of team ~4…
Big day at @systemsixbooks We're thrilled to officially launch System Six Enterprise, a new mid-market service offering including CFO services focused on larger, more complicated enterprises than we've previously been able to serve. We can now serve clients on @NetSuite and…
Yup, it’s called motivation 😉
Is there a term for the way ongoing social media exposure to people in the top 99.999999th percentile (one in 100M individuals) leads to distorted baselines for human performance and unrealistic self-expectations? For example: pullups. If you’re a guy with good upper body…
Best way to start every weekend with the best gym view in 🇺🇸 IMO How do you fire up you your weekends? What’s one thing you try to do for yourself to recharge? @thecavemarin
I bought my first business (@systemsixbooks) with a cold email. No broker. Our 1st add on, and our 2nd that we’re currently under LOI on came from warm intros / industry relationships It will absolutely be slower. You will waste time with folks who decide last min not to sell…
As the broker channel continues to become more competitive (partially because of deal-sourcing platforms), we've had more inquiries about how to effectively run a proprietary search at scale Obviously this takes more time and has to be very targeted, but it can be helpful for…
I think it’s taken me years to realize, but one of the things I love most about “doing my own thing” is the extreme accountability Yes, your biz doesn’t win without your team, but you put that team together Ultimately, every win and loss comes back to you It’s incredibly…
Alright that’s it Time to sell Got an offer I can’t refuse Been nice knowing you al! This is how you source, too, right @ClintFiore
