Awesome Acquisitions - Nick Leja - Leaders Who Scale - Episode # 020

Acquiring a new business can be a complicated process, but when done right, it can also be extremely rewarding in many ways! Nick Leja is an outstanding entrepreneur and owns locations of European Wax Center, Plato's Closet, Disc Replay, MY SALON Suite, and Superior Fence & Rail. Tune in to hear about what EOS can actually do for your business, how to build trust with employees, and what goes into successfully acquiring a new business.

 

Takeaways: 

• One of the biggest parts of running a successful business is the team. You need to get the right people in the right positions and give them the right incentives.
• Avoid working with the mindset of checking boxes. Instead, try to streamline your company’s processes to the point where you as the owner don’t have to do anything.
• When acquiring a new business, first focus on the team. Meet with as many of them as possible to build trust and remove pain points. Next, zero in on improving the processes of the company.
• When you incentivize your managers in a way that allows them to treat the business almost as if they are the owner, it’s easier for you to step back from the business and remove yourself from the day-to-day.
• Exiting their business is a very emotional process for the seller because of everything they have put into building it up over their lifetime. They want to leave their company in good hands with a buyer that can be a steward for the company and continue its legacy.
• Even when running multiple companies, you can use the EOS system, with its weekly meetings and rocks, to help the teams within each business get aligned and focused on their goals.
• Develop a stockpile of great employees that are growing and becoming overqualified for their current work so that you can elevate them when new opportunities arise.

 

Quote of the Show:

• “At the end of the day, a business is a business and managing people is managing people” - Nick Leja

 

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-leja/ 
• Nick’s website: https://nickleja.com/ 
• European Wax Center website: https://waxcenter.com/ 
• Plato’s Closet website: https://www.platoscloset.com/home  
• Disc Replay website: https://www.discreplay.com/ 
• My Salon Suite website: https://www.mysalonsuite.com/  
• Superior Fence and Rail website: https://www.superiorfenceandrail.com/  

 

Shout Outs:

• Traction by Gino Wickman
• Ninety.io - EOS Software
• Notion - Project Management Software
• Ray Dalio - Investor, Author, Speaker, and Thought-leader
• Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• Predictable Success by Les McKeown

 

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/337eea2a-f8ab-4b4f-8a36-fe4143b5913b
• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leaders-who-scale/id1609131634
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5PFtdxDlXcnaojG8jJk74T
• Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc3dob3NjYWxlLmNvbS9mZWVkLnhtbA