In 1961, 31-year-old Warren Buffet acquired Dempster Mills. The first company he ever ran. On paper, it was cheap. In reality, it was low quality: no revenue growth, low return on invested capital, and slow cash cycles. And it was in deep trouble when Buffet took over.

Buffet brought in Harry Bottle to fix Dempster. The 42-year-old accountant and business operator parachuted in and cleaned up. Two years later, Buffet sold and tripled his money. 

If Dempster had failed, Buffet’s career would’ve looked very different. Now imagine if he poured his life savings into Dempster and it failed. And that money had come from years of scraping by, with a family depending on him. Would he have the same second chance?

My point is: the first deal is the most important.

  • A great one gives you cash flow without burying you in ops. You get to chase the next deal and compound faster.

  • A good one gives you cash flow but you’re stuck in the weeds. You still win, but grow a little slower.

  • A bad one? You lose money and time. And it might turn you off from the acquisition game forever.

But here’s the truth: In the world of business acquisitions, every deal should be treated like the first.

I grew up watching my parents struggle financially. I know what it feels like when losing isn’t an option.

I started Divergent CPA to help you stack great first deals.

In The Great First Deals Playbook, I share the good, the bad, and how we approach financial due diligence at Divergent CPA.

Complete the short form below to get instant access to the Playbook.
You’ll get the same 39-page system we use to help clients stack great first deals.

  • About Our Business: Both The Bad and The Good

  • About Our Service

  • The Divergent CPA Five Pillar #1: Earnings Quality

    • GAAP Corrections

    • Normalization Adjustments

  • The Divergent CPA Five Pillar #2: Revenue & Margin Health

    • Healthy Revenue

    • Healthy Gross Margin

    • Healthy Operating Margin

  • The Divergent CPA Five Pillar #3: Cash Flow Health

    • FCF Margin and ROIC

    • CCC

    • Working Capital

      • WC Requirement

      • Normalized NWC

      • NWC Peg

      • A/R Deep Dive

      • A/P Deep Dive

      • Inventory Deep Dive

      • Proof of Cash

    • Capital Intensity

      • Maintenance CapEx

      • Growth CapEx

      • CapEx Split

      • Future CapEx Needs

      • Useful Life

      • PP&E Deep Dive

  • The Divergent CPA Five Pillar #4: Balance Sheet Strength

    • Assets

      • Asset Composition

      • Asset Quality

    • Liabilities

      • Liability Composition

      • Liability Quality

      • Leverage Tolerance

    • Equity

      • Retained Earnings

      • Return on Equity

  • The Divergent CPA Five Pillar #5: Key Value Drivers

    • Organic revenue growth

    • Margin trajectory

    • Capital intensity

    • Capital deployment

    • Terminal value perception

Client Spotlight

California Client

$1.5M Bike Retail

Acquired the top 2 bike shops in his county after Divergent CPA validated earnings and surfaced three value drivers: a century of goodwill, underpriced inventory, and untapped acquisition channels.