Via @isardasorensen on X

I found this picture from this past Friday, right before a nor'easter rolled through our area. For a few minutes the sky went wild, and then the storm hit. But I want to talk about the skyline for a sec.

A PERSONAL NOTE

I was born in Queens.

If you grew up there, or in any of the outer boroughs really, you know what that skyline does to you. From across the river, Manhattan is a promise you can see every night but can't touch yet. Queens was where you learned to work for it.

Countless conversations on our bikes by the curbs and hydrants amongst kids who had no idea, but knew they wanted something bigger. Because it was so close by. It was just one breakthrough away.

That spirit still lives in me.

Today, I connect aspiring entrepreneurs to opportunities every day: the 9-to-5 employee who wants to tackle ownership for the first time. A founder who built something real and then got trapped inside it (and needs out). An operator who makes a great living but doesn’t exactly know what’s next. Or a 20-something who needs to know what to focus on.

Brick by Brick is for you. It's about buying or building a business that doesn't need your every waking hour, and wealth that rewards you for what you built and then outlives you. Or figuring out how to start, systemize, and scale. One hire, one system, one tool, one acquisition at a time.

MINDSET: Why most “next moves” never happen

Most launches, acquisitions, or major investments die in your head, somewhere between "I should" and "I did."

Carl Jung had a name for the lifelong work of becoming who you're meant to be: individuation. In his view, the ego (the part of you that wants to stay safe, known and in control) resists growth, because growth means letting go of who you've been.

Modern neuroscience adds something hopeful that Jung didn't explain: neuroplasticity. Your brain rewires around what you repeatedly do. Every time you delegate, ship something imperfect, or make the call you've been avoiding, the next one gets easier.

So the breakthrough usually isn't one big leap. It's each brick. This newsletter is an example. And my wish is for this newsletter to help you lay down your next brick.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES

Here's what's crossing my desk right now, on and off market.

Exterior Contractor · Columbus, OH · Pre-market

  • Revenue / profit: $3,200,000 / $600,000

  • Asking or expected price: $2.5M with $500K down and a seller note

  • Why it's interesting: A staff in place that is ready to stay on and lacking a good system to scale to neighboring towns

  • Who it's right for: Current operator in the space

Legacy Greek Restaurant · Astoria, NY · Pre-market

  • Revenue / profit: $6,200,000 / $1,200,000 (after new lease in place)

  • Asking or expected price: $2.7M with $1M down and a seller note/fresh lease

  • Why it's interesting: A cash cow that has been operating for over 40 years with a staff in place that is ready to stay on. Some upside on modernizing point-of-sale and online systems for increasing take-out orders

  • Who it's right for: Experienced operator or hospitality group in the space

Laundromat · Brooklyn (Park Slope), NY · On-market

  • Revenue / profit: $467K / $156K

  • Asking price: $799K

  • Why it's interesting: Still being run “old school” — not much focus on pickup/drop off, local marketing, or online system. Upside is there.

  • Who it's right for: First time business buyer or laundromat portfolio addition

For First-Time Business Owners:

Tanning Salon · Bayside Queens, NY · On-market

  • Revenue / profit: $75K / $25K

  • Asking price: $35K

  • Why it's interesting: A more hands-on first time operator can add aesthetic services, injections or related services for a 650+ customer list

Food Truck · Long Island City Queens, NY · On-market

  • Revenue / profit: $360K / $72K

  • Asking price: $50K

  • Why it's interesting: $100K buildout completed in late 2025 ready for an immediate takeover or re-branding for nearly any food concept. Permit rental in place.

Reply to this email if you want to dig into any of these opportunities, or let me know what you are looking for and I’ll hand pick and send you opportunities from the 700+ active business listings worldwide that I currently have listed or have direct access to — on and off market.

STRATEGY: The PE roll-up, and why waiting can pay

A small business sells for a small multiple. A bigger, professionally run company sells for a much larger one. A roll-up captures the gap, and home service owners (for example) who can wait a few years are in the best position to benefit.

How it works

  1. A micro private equity group partners with a strong local company: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, landscaping, pest control.

  2. The owner sells a majority stake, takes cash now, and keeps a piece of the equity ("rolls" it).

  3. The partner adds what most owner-run companies lack: capital, systems, finance, recruiting, better pricing and marketing.

  4. The platform buys and bolts on other local companies.

  5. In 3–6+ years the combined company sells, and the owner gets a second payday on the equity they kept.

A story to think about

Tony runs a plumbing company doing $3M in revenue and $600K in profit. He's 58, tired, and thinking about selling.

  • Sell today: a shop his size might get roughly 3–4x profit. Call it $2M, and he's done.

  • Partner instead: he sells 70% to a micro PE group at the same valuation and takes $1.4M in cash. He keeps 30% and stays on while they add systems and buy three more shops. Because new capital funded those deals, his stake becomes roughly 10% of the bigger company.

  • Exit in year five: the platform now earns $4M in profit. Larger platforms often sell for much higher multiples than a single shop. At 8x, that's a $32M company, and Tony's 10% is worth about $3.2M.

All in, that's $4.6M instead of $2M. Same owner, same trade. The difference is patience and the right partner. (Real deals carry debt, fees and risk, so treat this as an illustration, not a promise.)

Who it's right for: owners open to an exit who can stay 3–6 years, have a solid team, and can work with a partner. If you need out in 90 days, this isn't your path.

What to watch: who has control, the terms on your rolled equity, how much debt the platform carries, and whether the partner has done this before.

STEAL THIS IDEA: the SOP sprint

If you're young and starting from zero, here's a way to make money this month and build the relationships that lead to owning a business later.

Most owner-operators run their whole business out of their head. They know they need systems, and they'll never find the time to write them.

The offer: "I'll turn how you run your business into written SOPs your team or a future buyer can follow, in two weeks."

How to do it

  1. Pick one trade in your area: plumbers, landscapers, cleaning companies, auto shops.

  2. Interview the owner for an hour per process (booking a job, onboarding a hire, closing out a job) and record it.

  3. Use AI tools (Plaud is a great AI/audio recording device) to turn each recording into a clean, step-by-step SOP with checklists.

  4. Charge $500 - $1,000 for a starter pack of five SOPs. Your costs are your time and a transcription tool. Up-sell actual implementation of new AI-lead gen for their business (funnels and automations take minutes to build but most owners still don’t know where to start — sell the outcome)

Why it compounds: you learn how dozens of real businesses run, owners start to trust you, and you're the first to know when one of them wants to sell. A lot of acquisitions start exactly that way.

What I hope you get out of all of this

Brick by Brick isn’t transactional. This newsletter is a catalyst for you to make the next move, whatever it may be for you. If I can play a part of that in any way, it makes this worthwhile. If nothing here resonates today, a new issue will land in your inbox every Sunday night. And our forthcoming website will have every issue there for you to refer back to. I appreciate you signing up and coming along for the ride.

CALL TO ACTION: My ask of you

  • Reply with the kind of business you'd want to buy: industry, size, location, price range — I’ll reply back with what I’ve got.

  • Or just reply and say hello, what you’d want help with, or what you’d like to learn more about (this determines what I include here in future weeks)

  • Or forward this to someone who should subscribe (at https://brickbybrick.media)

Thank you again for being a part of the beginning. Until next week…

- JM

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