This Innovative Founder Acquired A Marketplace Making $20,000 A Month

With a journey that began in 2008, Mushfiq has carved a niche for himself in the competitive arena of SEO and growth marketing. His strategy revolves around acquiring underperforming businesses and transforming them into profitable ventures through targeted SEO strategies and comprehensive growth marketing tactics, including paid ads and newsletters.

Mushfiq's latest venture, Vettted.com, exemplifies his expertise and entrepreneurial spirit. Acquired in December 2023, Vettted.com is a specialized marketplace that connects business owners with top-tier SEO experts.

This platform is not just another digital marketplace; it's a testament to Mushfiq's commitment to quality and his deep understanding of the pain points in the SEO industry.

The acquisition story of Vettted.com is a classic example of Mushfiq's strategic approach to business growth and his dedication to bringing genuine value to the digital marketing space.

In this article, you'll learn Mushfiq's story and his strategy for acquiring Vettted.

Who are you and what does the business do?

My name is Mushfiq Sarker. I have been buying, growing, and selling online businesses since 2008. My expertise is acquiring and growing businesses through SEO and all-around growth marketing (paid ads, newsletters, etc).

My team and I acquired Vettted.com in December 2023. Vettted is a dedicated marketplace to find vetted SEO specialists to help grow your business.

We curate the best SEO experts and allow them to list their productized services on the platform. Services include content production, backlinks, technical audits, local SEO services, and much more.

What inspired you to acquire this business?

Over the years in the SEO industry, I’ve realized there are many people selling low-quality or scam SEO services to unknowing business owners. Vettted.com is a dedicated marketplace that gives business owners access to experts.

The previous owners reached out to me asking if I would like to acquire the marketplace. I was intrigued because of my background in the industry and my knowledge of the pain points of business owners in finding truly quality services.

Furthermore, I have a strong following via my newsletter (The Website Flip) and Twitter (@thewebsiteflip) which I could leverage to grow the marketplace.

What were the steps in acquiring the business?

These were the steps we took to acquire the business:

• Founders reached out via direct message on Twitter
• I expressed interest
• They shared data such as P&L, a document with a list of assets, and what they did from inception to date on growing the brand
• I shared an idea of what I am willing to pay for the brand
• The founders took some time to think about the offer
• They countered and we had a few back-and-forths until a final price was decided upon
• The asset purchase agreement was created and signed
• An escrow transaction was opened to initiate the transfer process
• Due diligence kicked off. My team and I are going through every data point to catch any red flags
• The transfer was complete and my team and I became the new owners!

This process can be daunting but it’s not that bad once you know the steps. We’ve done this hundreds of times, so we've build expertise around the process which over time has made it simple for us.

How did you value the business?

Online business valuations are based on a simple equation:

Valuation = Annual Average Profits x Annual Multiple

After the seller shares the P&L, you can calculate the annual average profits. The profits are usually taken over 12 months on a stable business. The multiple depends on the specific type of business. Small Software as a service (SaaS) businesses can range anywhere from 3X to 6X annual multiple

Due to confidentially, we cannot disclose the price we paid for the business, but given that formula you can probably figure it out.

What were your biggest challenges in the early stages of taking over the business?

Good question! We faced many challenges. Here’s a list of the biggest ones:

• Custom software: the platform was all custom-coded. This meant a lot of code needed to be “fixed up”. Some features were irrelevant so needed to be removed. This is currently in the works and taking up most of my time.
• Marketplace integrity: we are trying to ensure every SEO expert on the platform is being re-vetted. I have different criteria than the previous founders on who is a proper SEO expert; in short, I am much more strict. We are going through this process in batches ensuring everyone is legit on the platform
• Customer service: this is something we are having issues with. Both buyers and sellers have questions and we are sometimes slow to respond. My team and I are handling answers now but need to hire quickly for a customer service team.

We’ve only owned the business for 2 months and are working out all of the kinks. Once the marketplace is “steady” we will begin adding new features, improving the SEO, and tapping into my network to bring on more top-notch SEO experts.

The concept of the business is not unique; it’s just a marketplace. The challenge was building a unique platform that caters to SEO services.

Our marketplace is similar to Fiverr, which is well-known in this space, but the unique aspect is the vetting process which is behind the scenes.

In the vetting process, we test each SEO expert's services, we check their prior work, and we check their social media to see how active they are. We do not want SEO experts who come and go; they must be dedicated to the craft.

Being in the industry for so long, my team and I know about all the “scams” out there so it’s easy for us to weed through the low-quality experts.

How did your background and experiences influence the acquisition of this business?

I’ve been doing SEO and building businesses since 2008.

It was a natural progression to acquire a software platform because I knew what the industry needed.

How did you validate the market for your acquisition and assess its potential success?

I have a dedicated newsletter with 15,000+ subscribers over at The Website Flip. This is a personal brand I’ve built up.

That audience requires various SEO services. However, before acquiring Vettted, I would send subscribers to other expert services (as I did not sell my own SEO services). This gave me enough validation that the market is hungry for quality SEO services.

Vettted is a good fit because I can promote the marketplace through my newsletter and in turn generate more sales. We will execute on this plan in Q2 2024.

How did you obtain funding to acquire the business?

We are a bootstrapped private equity company. We self-fund deals. We have cash-flowing businesses and we use the cash from those businesses to continue acquiring synergistic businesses.

Vettted was a perfectly synergistic business for our other companies.

What’s next with Vettted?

Here’s the outlook:

• Q1 2024: The goal is to improve marketplace functionality, integrity, and useability. Improve communication times between buyers and sellers. Provide more transparency to buyers on the status of their orders. Introduce new vetted experts to the marketplace.
• Q2 2024: kick-off growth marketing by improving SEO, integrating with our other business such as our newsletter, sponsoring other newsletters that are related to SEO, and more.

We conservatively think we can double the revenues of the business from around $20,000 to $40,000 by the end of Q2 2024.

Do you have any advice for newcomers on acquiring businesses?

I highly recommend “starting small”. If you’ve never built a business from scratch, do that first. Build a SaaS or a content site. Something that you can get your feet wet with. This will help you better understand marketing, growth, and monetization.

The worst thing I see newcomers do is acquire a business by putting significant life savings into it. They have no game plan.

You don’t know what you don’t know. Make sure to understand that acquiring is the easy part, running the business is 10X harder.

Take it slow.

Conclusion

Mushfiq Sarker's acquisition and revitalization of Vettted.com is a prime example of entrepreneurial spirit and strategic foresight.

For anyone looking to make their mark in the digital world, Mushfiq’s story is a motivating reminder that with the right approach, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to quality, transforming ambitious visions into tangible success is extremely possible.

For more info, or to get in touch with Mushfiq, check out the links below.

Website: Vettted.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWebsiteFlip

FAQ Section

Q1: What is Vettted.com and what services does it offer?

• A: Vettted.com is a unique marketplace specializing in SEO services. It offers a range of productized services such as content production, backlinks, technical audits, and local SEO services. The platform is curated to list only vetted SEO experts, ensuring high-quality service for business owners.

Q2: Who is Mushfiq Sarker and what is his role in Vettted.com?

• A: Mushfiq Sarker is an experienced entrepreneur in the SEO and digital marketing industry. He acquired Vettted.com in December 2023 and is now at the helm of the marketplace, leveraging his expertise in SEO and growth marketing to enhance the platform's offerings and service quality.

Q3: How does Vettted.com ensure the quality of its SEO experts?

• A: Vettted.com has a stringent vetting process for SEO experts. This includes testing their services, reviewing their past work, and assessing their social media presence to ensure they are dedicated and reputable in their field. This process is part of Mushfiq's strategy to maintain high standards and integrity in the marketplace.

Q4: What inspired Mushfiq Sarker to acquire Vettted.com?

• A: Mushfiq was inspired to acquire Vettted.com due to the prevalence of low-quality and scam SEO services in the industry. His background and understanding of the market's needs led him to take over Vettted.com to provide a reliable platform for business owners to access top-notch SEO services.

Q5: What are the future plans for Vettted.com under Mushfiq Sarker's leadership?

• A: The future plans include improving marketplace functionality and usability, maintaining strict marketplace integrity, enhancing customer service, and integrating growth marketing strategies. There's a focus on increasing revenue and expanding the platform's reach by leveraging Mushfiq's network and expertise in SEO and digital marketing.