March 1, 2026

From Operator to Investor: Saul Cohen's Guide to Business Growth and Financial Freedom

From Operator to Investor: Saul Cohen's Guide to Business Growth and Financial Freedom

Send a text In this insightful episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Saul Cohen, a seasoned accounting and acquisitions advisor dedicated to empowering business owners to transition from operators to investors. Saul shares his passion for entrepreneurship and the pivotal role it plays in fostering community and societal change. He elaborates on his journey from working at PwC to specializing in acquisitions advising, highlighting the importance of understanding business valua...

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Send a text

In this insightful episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we welcome Saul Cohen, a seasoned accounting and acquisitions advisor dedicated to empowering business owners to transition from operators to investors. Saul shares his passion for entrepreneurship and the pivotal role it plays in fostering community and societal change. He elaborates on his journey from working at PwC to specializing in acquisitions advising, highlighting the importance of understanding business valuations and tax strategies for successful exits. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the mindset shift required for effective leadership, the common mistakes entrepreneurs make when planning their exit, and the significance of early tax planning. Join us as Saul offers practical advice on identifying growth opportunities and achieving true financial freedom, along with a success story that underscores the transformative power of strategic acquisitions. This episode is a must-listen for any entrepreneur looking to enhance their business acumen and navigate the complexities of growth and exit strategies.
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600
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22:25 - (Cont.) From Operator to Investor: Saul Cohen's Guide to Business Growth and Financial Freedom

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00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:34.149
> Curtis Jackson>Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. If you believe you can achieve. Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I and a few guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, I am joined by Saul Cohen, an experienced accounting and acquisitions advisor.

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> Curtis Jackson>His focus is to help business owners take the leap from operators to investors. He has a proven track record in acquisitions advising, and he specializes in tax planning, strategic business growth, and business exit. And he wants to help business owners and entrepreneurs take the leap and, you know, get financial freedom. So we're going to be talking to him about his experience and why he does what he does and everything that he's up to and gonna be up to. So, Saul, thank you for joining me.

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> Saul Cohen>Thank you very much for having me on.

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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Saul Cohen>Ah. so, well, I've got a following from you, but, look, I, I think what, what I want everyone to know about me, really, is that I'm someone who is passionate about entrepreneurship. ultimately, at my core, I've always been, you know, I love building, I love creating. and I was, I always, When I was younger, I always used to think that there was, you know, to be successful. People who were successful in entrepreneurship didn't necessarily want. Were not people who, you know, built society and, you know, gave back to their local communities. and then I was very privileged.

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> Saul Cohen>you know, as I got a bit older, I was, you know, put in front some of some really successful entrepreneurs. And it completely blew my mind just how much successful entrepreneurs care about the environments in which they're in. and really, at that point, I knew that those are the people that I wanted to work with because they're builders, they create, they affect real change, and they give back to their societies. And I was just. From that moment on, I knew that if I could put myself in front of those people and work with those people, I was going to live a fulfilled and happy life. And that's really what I try and, Yeah, what I try and do and how I sort of try and conduct my, my affairs as well.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, what made you decide to pursue accounting and specialize in acquisitions advising and explain to the listeners what acquisition advising is as well?

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> Saul Cohen>Yeah, absolutely. So, it's funny, I didn't know that I wanted to be an accountant, really. I knew that I wanted to work with business owners, as I said. and I think that one Thing led to another when I thought, you know, often the, the person that most business owners will turn to will be their accountant. and if I can position myself in that place, if I can be their sort of trusted advisor, then you know, I can, you know, get fulfillment, from what I'm doing. So it wasn't necessarily the accounting side of things that drew me to it. It was more the account advisory and support side, that I really wanted to be a part of. And that's why I became an accountant, in terms of why I sort of started in acquisitions.

00:03:31.689 --> 00:04:56.680
> Saul Cohen>when I was, well, when I was first training as an accountant, I started at PwC. and you know, being in one of the largest accountancy firms in the world is incredible. you know, the type of advice that we able to, we were able to give, you know, the, the clients that we worked on, the projects that we worked on, it was, it was really interesting, really incredible. and it was a really fantastic time for me. but I think that what was missing was that connection with direct, you know, entrepreneurs. when I was at PwC, it was very much you're working for stakeholders, investors. and I wanted to work more closely with the entrepreneurs themselves. And I think when my dad came to sell his business, I realized just how little exposure entrepreneurs had, particularly in the small, medium sized entrepreneurs. So SME business owners who maybe they've worked really hard, and they come to an exit, and they've just, they've got no idea how the process works. They don't understand how to value their business, and they've made plans based off of, you know, off of assumption really, which is a shame. and they don't get the reward that they deserve. and I thought that actually that's a, that's a big issue. And that was what prompted me to move into the acquisition space.

00:04:57.610 --> 00:05:55.829
> Saul Cohen>Acquisitions Advisor itself can mean lots of different things to different people. anyone who works in the acquisitions space will often refer to themselves and that acquisitions advisor. Most commonly they are people who work with you to prepare your business and get it sold. from my point of view, we are, I'm an acquisitions advisor because I do do that. I, I support our clients to prepare their business for exit. We don't bring deals to them. you know, we work with fantastic consultants to do, who do that. we very much just prepare the business for exit. and we also work on the buy side. So we do a lot with clients who are looking to make Acquisitions, and purchase sensible acquisitions that help, expand their business. and you know, ultimately many of our clients are growing very large groups and riding sort of the baby boomer exit wave. and, you know, where we're sort of front and center of that.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, talk about how your time at PWC shaped the way that you advise entrepreneurs today.

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> Saul Cohen>That's, a great question, really. I think that, first, well, it's interesting because I think from the outsiders, from the outsiders point of view, if I were to talk about PwC, people are going to be keen to know, well, you know, technically, what did you learn from them and how did you go about, you know, the work that you do. But actually the thing that left the biggest impression on me was culture, and how culture in a large organization, culture shapes individuals. what was amazing about PwC is it just had this natural culture that was, you know, it wasn't something that was, you know, they didn't drive, they did drive the culture down your throat, but it wasn't like, oh, yeah, we are, the PWC professional and we behave in this way and that way. And whatever it was just everyone did it. It was, you copied what was done because everyone above you acted in a certain way.

00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:10.240
> Saul Cohen>Everyone above you wrote reports in a certain way.

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> Saul Cohen>Everyone above you served their clients in a certain way. There was a level of professional professionalism that everyone above you, conducted. and that was the same at every level.

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> Saul Cohen>It was, you know, every level in the organization.

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> Saul Cohen>It was just very clear and laid out and written what was expected from the people in those in each level. And you could see it, you could see that the people succeeded, succeeded because they were in line with the behaviors that were expected from them. And that was, you know, I remember actually when I was at an interview, I asked someone, what's going to make you successful? What's, what will make me successful in PwC? and they said to me, it's not going to be how good an accountant you be. You will be a fantastic accountant because you work here. and it was very much like that. you know, I always can, I always used to explain it as like, it's like a fast growing stream and you know, you just throw, you know, stones or, or let's say twigs into this, into the stream and it just gets carried along the river. It's fast flowing. You can't, you can't not moving with the river. And if you do, it builds up so much resistance behind you. If you do sort of try and Be stubborn. It builds up so much resistance behind you that eventually it's either going to push you out or push you forward. and that's what it was like. And that I think that was what more than anything else. And I did get a tremendous amount of technical, know how from them. But more than anything else, it was that understanding of culture, that I think shaped me in terms of the accountant that I am today. Yeah.

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> Curtis Jackson>What is the biggest mindset shift business owners need to make when transitioning from operator to investor?

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> Saul Cohen>it's really interesting because I think the, the biggest opera, the biggest mindset set shift that business owners need to make in general is that, you know, to be a better leader is that everything is a reflection of themselves and the person that they are. So it's that acceptance of responsibility, and moving from owner to investor.

00:09:26.090 --> 00:10:06.300
> Saul Cohen>I think where a lot of people struggle is that once they've accepted that level of responsibility, they find it very hard to let go of. And actually it's not about letting go of that responsibility because an investor is still, still ultimately responsible. But the mindset set shift comes from the ability to look above the wall, to look over. and I think that comes from distance.

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> Saul Cohen>you know, my business coach always advises and m, I, I now also advise my clients to take a day out of the business to work on the business. You know, put a, a day away from the office, from the coal face so that you can look, and you know, can you can condition yourself to look over and above and see, you know, as if, as if you're sort of playing like Age of Empires or something, you know, Monopoly and think, you know, who is doing well, who is performing. How is my asset performing as an asset in my portfolio rather than when you're in it, you're, you're in lead the headset headspace. and you're always thinking about how you can lift everyone up and work with people and you know, how you can be a better leader. I think the move to investor is, I'm still responsible for these people, but I'm looking now at a higher level, at the bigger picture all in one go. And that can only happen when you, when you shift your environment and you're moving and looking out from a different perspective.

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> Curtis Jackson>Talk about some overlooked tax strategies that can make a huge difference for entrepreneurs planning on exiting their business.

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> Saul Cohen>well, look, obviously it's, it's, it's a hugely important point. and it is geography specific. So the strategies that work in One country don't always work in another. I think that, so I'll talk in general terms and I think in general terms it makes a huge difference to get tax planning earlier on rather than later on. You know, we always tell our clients that if you can save even£4,000 dollars, euros, whatever it is, if you can save that each year by just having a slightly better tax strategy and keeping on top of that strategy, if you invest that the course of a working lifetime, it compounds to a million dollars, million pounds, a million euros, at retirement. And that is a huge, huge thing just from a really small drop, a really small saving.

00:12:20.580 --> 00:15:36.350
> Saul Cohen>and actually, you know, what we tend to find is it's very easy to make a $4,000 pound saving. in fact, it's often, you know, with a successful entrepreneur, it's quite easy to make even, you know, a 10,000, even 15, $20,000 pound saving, each year. just with a few small tweaks. something that we're a big proponent of is making sure that you know as much as possible. you extract what you need to live. but your savings as a business owner should stay within the company. And that generally is similar across all geographies. And that's because as a business owner you don't pay, you pay tax on income in the business, but you only pay tax on income when you withdraw income from your business. So if you, to the extent that we can get our clients to avoid withdrawing income, we will do so. And so it's not really efficient to withdraw income just to sit in a savings account personally. it's more efficient for us to make savings and asset purchases within a corporate structure so that if you do need money, if you need a cash purchase for something later in line, we can, we can pay it from the company. And you know, if you have to pay tax on it, you have to pay tax on it when you need it, rather than paying on tax tax on it in day one. and I think that's, that's one of the biggest mindset m shifts that we find from a tax planning perspective that I think is really important that it's, you know, it's this idea of you don't need your savings to be held in your personal name because if you own assets within a, you know, if you own assets personally and those assets happen to be shares in a company and that company happens to hold other assets, you know, whether it's shares in, in on the stock exchange or whether it's cash or whether it's property, whatever it may be, that's fine. And those assets themselves don't need to, and often in many cases, better not to be held in your personal name. so that's definitely one of the biggest things. I think the other thing is thinking about it too late, thinking, about tax, planning too late, when it comes to the exit share sales, you know, an exit on your business, whatever it may be. I think the earlier you look at things, the better. The more that we've got, at your disposal. you know, I know we were just talking with a client literally just before this podcast, and they were in a bit of a sticky situation because they'd agreed a deal and the terms of the deal, and without going into the details of it, it was one of those situations where six months down the line, it's much more difficult for us to save the money. But if they would have done it six months ago, if we would have been involved in the negotiation of that deal, we probably could have saved them about a million pounds in tax. now we're having to sort of reverse engineer to see what we can recuperate.

00:15:36.670 --> 00:16:11.940
> Saul Cohen>but that all would have been much easier six months ago. and, you know, so that as early as you start thinking about planning, you need to make sure that your tax advisor is aware of what's going on so that they can advise you holistically, not just in an individual area, but what that impact is in terms of what you're trying to achieve, what you want for your family, and how that looks. So I think that's my overall advice is always, it's never too early to start planning for tax. and even small early, tax improvements can really compound.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, let's talk about the most common mistake business owners make when planning their exit. And how can they avoid the mistake?

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> Saul Cohen>the most common one actually is just having no idea on the valuation. you know, they think that the business is worth, you know, maybe because they've heard numbers in the headlines. So sometimes people think it's worth 10 times, eight times. You know, sometimes people think it's a multiple of revenue. They think, oh, you know, I've got 3 million in, in revenue, therefore my business must be worth about 5 million. I've, I've heard all of those sort of misconceptions before.

00:16:50.442 --> 00:19:42.161
> Saul Cohen>And those misconceptions are really bad because they put you into number one. It makes it inherently less likely that you will actually sell your business. And much more likely that what will end up happening is you just end up closing the doors, switching off the lights, walking out and getting nothing for your business. You just, you just lock up shop. the other reason why it's really bad is because most people who have those mis, you know, misaligned, valuations on their businesses, they also will make decisions about their futures based off of the number that they've got in their head. and that's really dangerous because if you're planning your retirement around having a $3 million exit, and that never materializes your retirement, your whole retirement is put in jeopardy. so I think the most, the while something that everyone or every business owner can do is get a, evaluation, a very simple valuation. Not, not you know, I don't mean paying for an expensive valuation. I mean a really simple, just asset, acid test type valuations. You can get them all over the place and just have an idea of what your business is actually worth so that you can do something about it. I think that yes, you know, if you find out that your business is only worth, you know, let's say you've got a business, it's got a million or 1.5 million in revenue. So that's top line sales and then that translates to 200,000 in profit. So you are taking home, 200,000 a year. Let's estimate that business is probably going to be worth somewhere in terms of half a million to 600,000. Right. 2.5 to 3 times the multiple. And that kind of holds true up until you're making over a million in profit. A million in profit. and I think if people sort of think that, you know, in those terms, what's my profit? And then put a lower multiple on it, they can make plans, they can say, right, I want a million dollars when I exit, to do that I need to get to 300,000 in profit. This is what I'm going to do to do that. And they can, they can, they can probably do it. It's probably not beyond their scope, but if they wait or yeah, the scope of their ability. But if they wait until they are, you know, draw tired and just want to be out and want to sell the business, and they wait to that moment to say, and then suddenly they're told, you know, they're expecting the business to be worth a million dollars and actually, you know, it's only worth 600,000, that's going to be a completely different story. They don't have the ability at that point because they're tired, they just want out. and you know, clearly they're much worse off.

00:19:42.401 --> 00:19:47.201
> Saul Cohen>So I think the most important thing to do is get a good understanding of what your business is worth.

00:19:47.932 --> 00:20:10.771
> Saul Cohen>Get an, you know, maybe even speak to a business consultant who's going to sell the business and might have buyers. and you know, find out what your business is currently worth so that you can make plans, informed decisions about how you're going to invest for your retirement and what you're going to do. Whether you're going to wait, you're going to try and build the asset of the business or you're going to build personal assets.

00:20:11.141 --> 00:20:17.172
> Saul Cohen>you know, empower yourself with knowledge, I think is, is the, the key message.

00:20:18.371 --> 00:20:24.851
> Curtis Jackson>How do you help business owners identify the right opportunities for strategic growth without overextending themselves?

00:20:27.131 --> 00:20:57.511
> Saul Cohen>I think that's, it's very dependent on the business owner. you know, my, my view is very much that I don't want business owners to do something that they don't want to do. I think first and foremost, I think first and foremost business owner, my first question is always, why, why do you want more? Why do you want to grow? Is this something you really want to do? I, think growth for the sake of growth isn't always a good thing.

00:20:57.891 --> 00:22:02.311
> Saul Cohen>I've known business owners who have said to me that, you know, they were making more profit, were happier and living a much better life when their business was at 1.2 million than when their business got to 3.6. you know, I think business owners need to be aware of the journey that they're on. and so my first question is always, why do you want to do this? What are you trying to achieve? And are we sure that this is the best way to get there? Let's take a step back and think about this. The next thing is, okay, let's assume that this is the right thing. This is exactly what you want to do. You're aware of the work involved.

00:22:02.871 --> 00:22:31.611
> Saul Cohen>Well, do we have the cash reserves to do it and understand what could go wrong? And then the third thing is going to be to think about, well, what other opportunities do we have to achieve your stated goal? Right. there's a, there's a fantastic book called Red Team Thinking. And I think in many ways the role of any business advisor or accountant is to stress test a decision that a business owner is making. you know, red team it.

00:22:33.001 --> 00:23:14.961
> Saul Cohen>and so that's the first thing that we'll Always do. and obviously because we are acquisition focused, we'll always look at, you know, let's assume that someone was looking to open a new branch or expand geographically abroad. You know what? Always look at the option. Well, okay, what, what about buying a business in that area, in that geography? You know, let's assume it's going to cost you 250,000 to set up a new store. Perhaps it might just be better for us to buy a store that's already set up, has its own footfall, et cetera, et cetera. and that for many of our clients, is the route that they end up taking. it's not for everyone and it doesn't always work, but definitely it's, it's something that we always encourage people to think about.

00:23:17.121 --> 00:23:22.432
> Curtis Jackson>In your view, what does true financial freedom look like for a business owner and how can they m.

00:23:22.521 --> 00:23:23.121
> Curtis Jackson>Achieve it?

00:23:25.141 --> 00:24:13.101
> Saul Cohen>I think true financial freedom, in my view is, that business owners can support their lifestyle without it having a detrimental effect on their family, their relationships, their health. you know, that's what financial freedom is. And that's a different number for everyone. You know, I've seen people where that number is maybe 100,000, maybe even less. And I've seen some people where that number is, you know, 400,000 a year, and, and more and beyond. You know, I know we actually have a client, we act for a client right now. You know, they spend probably 100,000amonth. you know, it sounds like an extortionate amount of money, but for them, they wouldn't be able to live on lifts.

00:24:13.201 --> 00:24:34.041
> Saul Cohen>they're just, you know, very high, lifestyle, high, highly expensive lifestyle. And it's whatever it is for people. and I think that it's about knowing that number. How much do you need to live a comfortable life each year? And then understanding how much that means. You know, how much does that mean I need to have in the bank?

00:24:34.281 --> 00:25:26.451
> Saul Cohen>Because I think often for people it's a lot less than they think it is. For most business owners we work with, they're looking for maybe say 10,000, 15,000amonth. to achieve that kind of number, you probably only need let's say 2.5, 3 million, maybe 4 million in the bank. you know, and that would probably give you, the number that you're after, for the rest of your life. So, I think for a lot of business owners, they are quite surprised by how low, the asset number has to be before they're ready to take it, to take it on. And certainly a lot of successful business owners that we've spoken to in sort of their late 40s, early 50s. I think when you have that discussion with them, they often realize that they're already financially free. They just don't feel it because they've not allowed themselves to feel it. and they're still getting wrapped up in the day to day.

00:25:28.771 --> 00:25:36.291
> Curtis Jackson>Can you share a specific success story where acquisitions played a pivotal role in scaling a business?

00:25:38.561 --> 00:26:45.201
> Saul Cohen>yeah, I mean look, we've got many I think one that always always, always jumps to mind is a manufacturing client of ours, M. Who you know they've, they've done really well in the geography. they work in sort of metal engineering, and, and have a fantastic reputation. and they ended up doing something that's quite common. They bought one of their suppliers, who had. It's very interesting because this supplier, they themselves was a little bit bigger than my M client. and they had access to a very different type of client base. and so despite the fact that it was a supplier, a direct supplier of my client, that most of their client base was completely different. and when that purchase happened, well, I mean the profit margin, my client's profit margin went through the roof. So that was fantastic because obviously they now own the supplier. So the profit was owned between both companies. So that was, that was very good. both companies benefited, both of the individual companies benefited from sharing the client banks.

00:26:45.481 --> 00:26:50.961
> Saul Cohen>so there was a countless cross selling opportunities, which were, which were fantastic.

00:26:51.321 --> 00:27:03.861
> Saul Cohen>and did really well. and I think culturally actually because of the fact that they'd been trading for many years, the culture in those two businesses were quite similar. They knew each other and it was a very, very smooth transition.

00:27:04.271 --> 00:27:28.432
> Saul Cohen>and I often say to people, you know, acquisitions don't work for two reasons. Either it's the cash or the people. And nine times out of ten it's the people. you know, everyone's always focused on the accounting and really it's about the people. and in this case the people, they just knew each other so well. It just, it was, it was a truly fantastic acquisition. and he actually tripled the valuation in the business as a result of that acquisition.

00:27:28.971 --> 00:27:37.291
> Saul Cohen>you know, it took a couple of years for the, for the actual benefits to follow through. but you know, possibly one of the best acquisitions I've seen.

00:27:39.451 --> 00:27:46.811
> Curtis Jackson>Well, what trends in tax policy and acquisition should business owners be paying attention to right now?

00:27:48.631 --> 00:28:27.541
> Saul Cohen>well, look, I mean, in the, in the uk, there's quite a lot going on. you know, there's, there's just general, employers, taxes are changing, and so, and going up. and I think in any. And any, business that you're acquiring, that's a really, really important thing to consider. particularly if it's not, if it's not a business that you're going to move, or that is movable. you know, you need to make sure that in, when you're calculating the EBITDA and the valuations, you are taking into account these employment changes, the employment changes in employment costs, because, you know, they're going to be a real cost to the business.

00:28:27.971 --> 00:29:00.361
> Saul Cohen>and you don't want to do all your projections based on historic numbers, and then find that actually taxes have gone up and the projections that you did don't no longer work. so I think that's really important just to make sure that you understand not just corporation taxes, but, you know, local and employer taxes, and how those, those are changing. I think, you know, there's a, there's a misconception where people sort of think, oh, I'm just going to transfer everything abroad and that, that will solve my problem. It, it doesn't, you know, you can't just sort of sack.

00:29:00.841 --> 00:29:40.581
> Saul Cohen>I think when you're making an acquisition, you've got to remember that a large part of the value in that business is in. Held in the, the team that you are buying, particularly in an SME acquisition. and if you just were to get rid of the team, strip it down to its parts and then, you know, hire people abroad, well, that, that, that wouldn't really work because, you know, you, you've basically stripped off the asset that you've bought. so I think people need to be particularly careful around that and just make sure that they've, they are aware of the changes that they're making in geography in the area in which they're making the acquisition.

00:29:42.182 --> 00:29:48.101
> Curtis Jackson>Beyond numbers and deals, what impact do you hope to leave on the entrepreneurs that you work with?

00:29:49.821 --> 00:30:01.011
> Saul Cohen>I think that for me it's sort of twofold. So for themselves, I want them to have a materially better life and have a materially better exit.

00:30:01.091 --> 00:30:51.451
> Saul Cohen>Having dealt with me and my team, that's what I want. I want them to be able to affect their societies in a much more positive way because of the fact that we've enabled them to do that. and I think if we do that that's how I would, justify my success in terms of when people deal with me. What do I want people to come back feeling? I want people to feel, or I'd like to hope that people would say of me that I'm someone of. Of values, who holds my values very close to my heart, and that I am an authentic person. That, you know, I am m. What you see is what you get. there's sort of, you know, no pretense, that I am as transparent as I can be. and I think that if I've done that and in so doing help them have a better life with incredible, and better opportunities.

00:30:52.071 --> 00:30:55.641
> Saul Cohen>you know, if you're helping people that change the world, what better place to be?

00:30:59.321 --> 00:31:05.881
> Curtis Jackson>Tell us about any upcoming projects or current projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.

00:31:07.731 --> 00:31:31.912
> Saul Cohen>I'm not sure if I can say this actually, but I will. I've recently, Yeah, I'm incredibly privileged. I've recently been offered to take a board role in a private equity, roll up. So it's a funded, A couple of guys who are funded, they've got. Raised some money for a private equity roll up, and they've asked me to sit on their board.

00:31:32.331 --> 00:31:35.261
> Saul Cohen>that's an incredible, incredible opportunity.

00:31:35.261 --> 00:33:44.573
> Saul Cohen>Really looking forward to that. and I'm looking forward to actually making my own acquisitions or being part of the own acquisitions because I think, you know, again, very privileged. Have worked on over 150 acquisitions now and then to be able to go and do that for myself will be fantastic. And you know, see, I suppose the process from a different side, you know, being emotionally invested rather than just as a consultant, I'm sure we'll make plenty of mistakes. Despite the fact that, I am writing a book on all the mistakes that I've seen. but, yeah, I think that'll be really interesting. and then I suppose the other project that people might want to be aware of is the fact that I am writing a book on acquisitions, and just everything that I've seen, over the, you know, number of transactions that I've. I've dealt with, it's funny because you tend to see the similar patterns, and things repeating themselves. and if I can advise people and tell people all about those things, in advance, if I could tell people the patterns so that they can try and avoid them, it just means we make the mistakes at a higher level. It doesn't Ever rule out mistakes? nobody's ever perfect. We're always going to keep growing and improving but it means that we're not making those mistakes that are maybe going to take us out the game. it allows us to make that, as I say, mistakes at a higher level so that we're growing and improving rather than, you know, you slip and fall and you know, you have that, that mistake that everyone's really worried, about that sort of takes you out the game. And I think that's really what this is all about really in terms of working as an advisor. You know, ultimately what we're trying to do is guide people. We're trying to be sort of, you know, the support net to make sure that they never fall out the game, you know, because that's, I think you can recover from anything as long as you're still in the game. and that's why people say their health is the most important thing. And it's true, because you know, as long as you have your health you can, you can get back up. and similarly in business, you know, if, if you've got cash flow, if you've built assets, maybe a personal brand, whatever it is, you're always going to be able to get back up.

00:33:46.413 --> 00:33:50.813
> Curtis Jackson>Well, so listeners can keep up with everything that you're up to. Throw out your contact info.

00:33:52.884 --> 00:34:10.643
> Saul Cohen>yeah, no, I can, I can absolutely. I mean look, LinkedIn is always the best place for me, because I post on there quite regularly. But I can absolutely, send something over for you and for your listeners. maybe a maybe evaluations help, sheet. that might be quite useful.

00:34:10.873 --> 00:34:11.683
> Curtis Jackson>you got a website?

00:34:12.403 --> 00:34:14.643
> Saul Cohen>Absolutely we do, yeah, we can give that over.

00:34:14.803 --> 00:34:18.913
> Saul Cohen>What's your website.co.uk but I can send that in via show note.

00:34:19.073 --> 00:34:20.273
> Curtis Jackson>Okay, what was it again?

00:34:21.873 --> 00:34:30.063
> Saul Cohen>The expert. I so T h e Expert Eye the Expert ey.co.uk okay, we'll close this

00:34:30.063 --> 00:34:31.263
> Curtis Jackson>out with some final thoughts.

00:34:31.263 --> 00:34:36.823
> Curtis Jackson>Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

00:34:38.243 --> 00:35:15.284
> Saul Cohen>no, I think, I think if I were to be able to give one final thought, I suppose to everyone it's the game of business is hard. no one teaches us how to do this. no, there's no school for business. I mean there are but they're not very good. and then they're very good in theory but they're not really good in terms of real hands on practical experience and there's so many things that we need to do as business owners. Right. I remember when I first had to hire people and go through people management and, you know, releasing people from the business. No one teaches you this stuff.

00:35:15.813 --> 00:36:08.223
> Saul Cohen>Building a team, being a leader. It. We have to learn it as we go. and I think what I've realized over the years is that we're going to go a lot faster if we do this with other people who are also doing it. If we get a coach who can show us the way and highlight, you know, some of the pitfalls in advance. you know, and that might be your accountant, but it also may well be a business coach. I work with a business coach myself, because I think that this is. It is really important. I found it incredibly valuable. and I think that if I could leave on one final note, it's, you know, it's a lonely road, but don't choose to do it alone. There are people out there who will help. and there are communities out there that are very supportive of each other. And I think that as business owners, we need every help that we can get because it is a tough journey.

00:36:08.223 --> 00:36:19.413
> Saul Cohen>It's incredibly rewarding. and there's an incredible upside. But we absolutely, you know, we. It's much easier when we've got support and a good network and a coach who can show us the way.

00:36:20.693 --> 00:36:26.574
> Curtis Jackson>All right, ladies and gentlemen, so please be sure to keep up with everything that Saul's up to.

00:36:26.574 --> 00:37:07.773
> Curtis Jackson>Check him out on LinkedIn and on the Expert Eye Follow Rate Review Share this episode to as many people as possible, especially share to, all those business owners and entrepreneurs out there. And go sign up for the new Living the Dream newsletter and check out everything that, Living the Dream with Curveball podcast is up to and going to be up to by visiting www.craveball337.com and share the site to everybody you know. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Saul, thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining me.

00:37:08.494 --> 00:37:10.023
> Saul Cohen>Thank you so, much. It's been a pleasure.

00:37:10.583 --> 00:37:23.463
> Curtis Jackson>For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.craveball337.com until next time, keep Living the Dream.