FLAGSHIP Community

Contrarian Community

Formerly the Unconventional Acquisitions Mastermind.
Contrarian Community is an exclusive network of ambitious dealmakers, owners, and achievers seeking to elevate our lives through business acquisitions.

$10,000

This is where you belong.

At Contrarian Community, we’re creating the world’s most strategic business buyers network – and creating connections to your next partner, investor, and fellow owner to last a lifetime…

“Surrounding yourself with people who are moving forward is a game changer. Worth it.”

Willard M.

“I’ve wanted to be financially independent ever since my first job out of engineering school 10 years ago, so it’s been a long time coming. The contrarian community is a huge help; seeing the support for each other is really amazing.”

Wing M.

“If it weren’t for this community I would probably still be surfing BizBuySell trying to figure out how to do all of this. LFG.”

Sean R.

Give yourself an unfair advantage

By joining the Contrarian Community, you’ll give yourself an edge against everyone out there trying to hack it alone.

You’ll pick up modern strategies in the course, and even more powerful connections in the community. It’s like getting an MBA you’ll actually use to become a savvy business acquisition expert.

Meet a few of our current members

Colin Callahan
Collin joined the Contrarian Community in January 2023. He credits the resources and recommendations he gained from the course and its members for accelerating his ability to purchase his first business, an electric bike tour company, in May 2023.

Katie Fleming
Katie is experienced business coach who decided to bet on herself and buy a pet spa rather than continuing to consult for owners. She negotiated 70% seller financing in her first business and is looking to acquire more after learning the art and science of proper due diligence.

Renan Cortez
Renan is a military veteran who left his job in sales after learning how to creatively negotiate a 100% seller-financed deal and buy his first business, an emergency restorations services business. Now, he is working to grow his 8-figure business portfolio.

Contrarian Community

With support from a community of peers and pros, you’ll never feel alone in your journey to becoming a successful business owner. Connect with other members, share deals to get unbiased feedback, and even do deals together.


Personalized mentorship

Discuss your goals and questions with experienced dealmakers and business owners. Plus, get real-time advice as you navigate financing and due diligence, so you can feel confident in your ability to close the deal.


Expert speakers

Top dealmakers and industry experts join our group calls weekly to share knowledge and insights with our community on topics like SBA loans, attorney services, M&A and roll-up strategies. Elevate your business acumen and build a valuable network of expert connections.


Deal analysis

Join a bi-weekly deal review call where experienced dealmakers discuss and break down deals. Increase your chances of making smart investments by learning to spot the most profitable opportunities – and turn down the duds.


Moderated community

Our Slack community has more engagement and answers than the smartest AI on dealmaking. We have 6+ facilitators and a dedicated concierge team to provide the expert guidance you need.


Expert office hours

Slack is great, but sometimes async communications don’t cut it. That’s why we host weekly AMA-style Q&A calls for our members with industry experts to receive focused attention on their most pressing questions to help you close deals faster.


Weekly community calls

As if our moderated community and expert office hours weren’t enough, we offer up 3 different types of community calls. Join us on our Monday Night Live, deal sourcing, and special topic calls each week to continue your education and learn from some of the best people in the biz.


In-person events

We bring together the biggest names in business acquisitions, operations, and scaling each year. We accelerate that with dozens of local meetups and member-only events. Whether it’s a “Hard to Kill” workshop with Tim Kennedy, or access to members-only clubs, this is where owners connect and play.


Owners Circle

The only place for those who have bought a business and are looking to grow their empires. Our members run some of the fastest-growing Main Street or acquired businesses and are looking to scale, build, and grow together. That’s why our members call it “life-changing.” And why the people inside it give a hand up to other business owners to change the world one small business at a time.


3-Day annual conference*

As a member, you’ll receive an exclusive invitation to our community’s annual event, dubbed Main Street Over Wall Street. This is not another boring conference. This is about real connection and challenging each other to get our next deal done and beyond. Past speakers include Noah Kagan, Justin Welsh, Nick Huber, and our own, Codie Sanchez. *At an additional cost.


Business buying course

The Contrarian Community comes with a self-guided course that teaches you to buy, value, structure and finance a small profitable business. It’s like a $100k MBA…but one you’ll actually use, and 1/10th of the investment.

We’ll start with identifying what kinds of businesses you should pursue based on your goals, and how to find them. You’ll learn how to sweet-talk prospective sellers and navigate negotiations like a pro.

We’ll also share our framework for valuing businesses to make sure you’re getting a fair price, and – of course – some unconventional approaches to financing.

9

Units

15

Hours of video lessons

50+

scripts, templates and TOOLS


Hear it straight from our Contrarian members

Course outline

  • Welcome to buying a business
  • What you will learn
  • Why buy a small business?
  • Why buy a business now?
  • Pros and cons of biz buying
  • Building your team
  • Can I really buy a business?
  • Getting prepared to buy a business
  • Your personal P&L
  • Business buying calendar for Excel
  • Gaining clarity
  • Characteristics of the business
  • Goals and objectives
  • Models: Services, products and systems
  • Buying franchises with Wayne Lucier
  • Lisa Song field interview
  • Resource: Business buying checklist
  • Bonus interview: Buying laundromats, add-on companies
  • 5 worst businesses to buy
  • 5 best businesses to buy
  • Targeting the right sellers
  • Don’t try to do it all – pick 2
  • Leverage your network
  • The FROG method
  • Roleplay: Soliciting dealflow from friends
  • Leverage your community
  • Roleplay: Reaching out to COIs
  • Build your personal brand
  • Roleplay: Cold calling a business
  • Overcoming rejection with Andrea Waltz
  • How many businesses do I need to look at?
  • Resource: Network email outreach scripts
  • Resource: 1-page seller email outreach
  • Resource: Business broker list
  • Resource: Bizscout
  • Your unique skillset
  • Your track record
  • How does the seller benefit?
  • Roleplay: First meeting
  • Resource: NDA template
  • Bonus interview: David Osborne
  • Example: Laundromat due diligence and value
  • How we value companies: KISS method
  • Financial model walk-through
  • Common methods to value a company
  • Value of relationships: Valuing customers
  • Resource: 3 M model for adding value
  • 5 steps to due diligence broken down
  • Negotiate: Two warnings
  • Seller needs analysis
  • Levers: Negotiating price vs. terms
  • What to bring to the negotiation table
  • Determine your level of competition
  • Buying a closed business
  • Create your own inflation hedge
  • Term sheet and LOI template
  • 8 questions to ask to save time
  • Negotiation tactics for win-win
  • Financing – important levers
  • Structuring owner finance
  • SBA loans: Lender interview
  • Alternative lending sources
  • International – Canada lending options
  • International – United Kingdom lending options
  • Milestones & earn-outs
  • Cash influx for percentage of equity
  • Investor & operator partnership
  • Sweat equity, revshare, profit sharing
  • Bonus interview: Empire Flippers CEO
  • Case study: Seller financing structure
  • Legal – oversight and access
  • 13-week cashflow
  • Most important legal documents
  • First employee meeting
  • Hiring your operator
  • The first 30-60-90 days

Meet your facilitators

Codie Sanchez

Codie Sanchez

As the founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking, Codie helps people learn to think critically about money and build wealth through unconventional business buying strategies. She’s a reformed journalist, Wall Streeter and investor who has built a $50 million portfolio of “boring businesses. Bottom line: Codie knows her sh*t. She created Contrarian Thinking to spark a new generation of free thinkers and business owners. Will you be the next one?


Clint Fiore

CEO of Bison Business, LLC a Modern Buy-Side and Sell-Side National Business Brokerage and M&A Firm. Former Founding Partner of a Texas-Based manufacturing company that launched two national consumer brands. Certified Business Intermediary (CBI), Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Professional (CM&AP), Mergers and Acquisitions Master Intermediary (M&AMI).


Robert Clinkenbeard

Robert Clinkenbeard

Robert is the CEO of The Radix Group. He is a serial entrepreneur having sold his $20M company and now has several franchises, and multiple real estate investments, all while raising a large family. He is also a senior leader in EO and therefore understands the challenges CEOs face within growing companies.


Stan Sanchez

Stan Sanchez has built 10 companies and sold six small businesses. He’s built and exited a construction company, two import export companies, two marble and granite installation business, a general contractor business, a plumbing business, a tree farm and two commercial real estate brokerage businesses. He’s had 6 acquisitions and done several billion dollars in commercial real estate transactions.


Robert Schiller

Robert is an accomplished professional known for his expertise in strategic marketing, business development, and team leadership. As the current Chief Marketing Officer at Controlled Contamination Services, he is dedicated to driving company growth and revenue through sales and partner expansion. With a diverse background that includes leadership roles at Zoyo Neighborhood Yogurt, ISS Facility Services, and experience in private equity, Robert has a proven track record of building and growing businesses.


Chris Petkas

Chris spent 10+ years in the Navy, 8 as a SEAL Officer. He then went on to run innovation and acquisition for national security programs. After service, he led business development at a VC-backed AI startup, a $12B public company, and finally as a COO position at a fast growing AI defense tech company. Excels at: startups, operations, leadership, systems, scaling, fundraising.

Chris Petkas

Rafael De La Cruz

Rafael De La Cruz

Entrepreneur, angel investor, strategic advisor with decades of experience in marketing. Rafael has led teams in successfully launching a variety of consumer products, creating new categories, building communities and effectively connecting brands to the most elusive audiences, including Pepsi and glacéau – the makers of vitaminwater & smartwater.

Rafael is a managing director of Universal Brand Ventures. He has held several executive positions overseeing marketing, operations and strategy.


Lloyd Silver

Lloyd is a buy-side and sell-side business broker and entrepreneur. He co-founded a financial app startup and founded an insurance marketing firm which he led for 9 years before exiting as part of a private equity rollup. Lloyd then started a digital marketing agency focusing on SEO and content strategy. One of the first members of UA to buy a company with the purchase of his first laundromat in 2021, and a follow-up acquisition in 2022. Excels at: financial analysis, due diligence, process creation, and marketing.

FAQ

The Contrarian Community is a private community for people who want to learn the art of dealmaking and business acquisitions. It also includes our full Small Biz Buying course, all resources, 6-8 live calls each month and access to our invitation-only events (around the USA).

We currently are only accepting people who are committed to making their first acquisition within 1 calendar year and have a minimum of $25,000 to invest (excluding the cost of the community). Those are our bare minimum requirements. Beyond that, we will also evaluate your past experience and likelihood of success.

It’s everything you need to go from “I know nothing about business acquisition” to becoming a successful business owner, investor and entrepreneur. We are constantly adding to and improving our Mastermind, but as of November 1, 2023, it includes:

Private community
This is where the magic happens. We’ve had members do deals together, become best friends, and tap the community for expert guidance and accountability. Members are experts in eComm, landscaping, real estate, laundromats, hotels, bakeries, professional service firms and beyond. Forget about the small talk – we’re on Slack getting it done.

Weekly live calls (every Monday)
Our weekly group calls are where we review your potential deals, hear about businesses members just closed on, and we invite other top dealmakers to come and speak with us. These range from SBA loan experts to business attorneys, merger and acquisition specialists, roll-up guys, and more. It’s a ton of knowledge and a lot of fun.

Bi-weekly deal review calls
Our expert facilitators help review real member calls twice a month (and 24/7 on Slack). This is one of the best ways to see us break down your or other members’ deals and see if they’re worth pulling the trigger on. It’s also a great way to hear what’s happening in adjacent industries and in markets around the world.

All-access course
It’s an MBA you can actually use. You’ll work through 9 units at your own pace and learn everything you need to buy your first business – from finding the right businesses to go after, to savvy negotiation and financing tactics, to your first 90 days in charge.

50+ additional resources (and we’re frequently adding more)

  • Personal profit and loss sheet
  • Business buying calendar
  • Deal clarity worksheet
  • Business buying checklist
  • NDA template
  • 3 M model worksheet
  • LOI template
  • Due diligence checklist
  • Term sheet
  • 13-week cashflow template

As of November 1, 2023, we have 800+ members across the world, primarily concentrated in North America.

Most of our members are looking to make their first acquisition and actively working toward it. We also have many people who are already business owners but want to expand their businesses and build empires.

You’ll be surrounded by people from all areas of life, in all stages of the journey, who are just as ambitious as you. Everyone in the Mastermind community is working toward common goals: owning their own businesses, their time, their finances and their lives.

The Contrarian Community membership is 1 year, with the option to renew if certain conditions are met. Remember — business buying and operations is a long-term game, not a one and done!

Is anything in life guaranteed? Let us be really clear here – we cannot make any guarantees of success or earnings (read our earnings disclaimer if you’d like). But in plain English, you are responsible for your own results. Not us.

We can provide the recipe, but you have to go out and source your own ingredients and cook the meal. We’ll be Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen yelling at you if you’re about to make a mistake. Then high-fiving and celebrating you when you close on your first business.

Tap into the Community