{"podcast":{"title":"Before You Buy or Sell a Business","slug":"before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525","podcast_index_feed_id":5819525,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/before-you-buy-or-sell/","website_url":"https://jaredwjohnson.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/7ad7b883-57f4-40ca-89a1-31c6f0b05f6e/tjT5gAbth3Kmx8GzDayPgcL8.png","author":"Jared W. Johnson","episode_count":68,"summary":"Learn everything you need to know about buying and selling a business from High-Performing SBA Lender, Jared Johnson, who specializes in business acquisitions. Jared interviews industry experts on both the buying and selling side to provide insights into the buying and selling process. Experts include brokers, attorneys, escrow officers, and seekers. You'll also hear from actual buyers and sellers about their experiences before and after the process. If you're a buyer or a seller or thinking about becoming one at some point in the future, this is the podcast that will provide you with the information you need for a successful transaction.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T22:20:19.103669+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525"},"episode":{"title":"Inside M&A from a Soldier's Perspective: How Guy Bartlett Built a 170 Million Dollar Track Record Buying and Selling SME Businesses","slug":"inside-m-a-from-a-soldier-s-perspective-how-guy-bartlett-built-a-170-million-dollar-track-record-buying-and-selling-sme-businesses","published_at":"2026-07-28T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525/inside-m-a-from-a-soldier-s-perspective-how-guy-bartlett-built-a-170-million-dollar-track-record-buying-and-selling-sme-businesses","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525","url":"https://jaredwjohnson.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/818815e3-81be-49d1-9067-3543e600b9c8.mp3","summary":"Jared Johnson sits down with Guy Bartlett, founder of The Business Buyers Club and Fidelis Advisory, a fractional M&A service based in the UK. Guy shares how 42 years in the British Army Reserve shaped his approach to acquisitions, how he stumbled into his first share sale in the late 1990s, and how that experience led him to complete over 150 transactions and personally acquire 13 companies since 2006. Guy explains why M&A is fundamentally a people business, how due diligence can never fully capture a company's culture, and why the \"transition trenches\" after a deal closes are often harder than the deal itself. He breaks down the psychology of sellers who come to market unprepared, why so few UK business listings actually sell, and how unregulated brokers contribute to unrealistic price expectations on both sides of the table. Jared and Guy walk through what overseas buyers need to know before acquiring a business in the UK, from leadership presence and management incentives to deal structures like security bonds for deferred consideration. They also discuss the coming wave of baby boomer business exits, the risks of waiting too long to sell, and the hard lessons Guy learned from deals that went wrong, including a lost government contract, an underfunded roofing acquisition, and a cultural transition that cost him a business. Main Takeaways: M&A success depends more on people and culture than on spreadsheets or numbers Due diligence can verify contracts and financials but rarely captures a target company's culture Only about one in five UK businesses listed for sale actually sell Unregulated brokers in the UK often promise inflated prices to win the mandate fee Sellers need a clear, realistic understanding of how much money they actually need before pricin…","meta_description":"Jared Johnson sits down with Guy Bartlett, founder of The Business Buyers Club and Fidelis Advisory, a fractional M&A service based in the UK. Guy sha…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2893,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525/episodes/inside-m-a-from-a-soldier-s-perspective-how-guy-bartlett-built-a-170-million-dollar-track-record-buying-and-selling-sme-businesses/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/before-you-buy-or-sell-a-business-5819525/inside-m-a-from-a-soldier-s-perspective-how-guy-bartlett-built-a-170-million-dollar-track-record-buying-and-selling-sme-businesses.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}