Our M&A Law Firm Made $3.2M In Its First Year
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson here! We are the co-founders of SMB Law Group. After rising the ranks at Big Law firms and gaining experience in M&A and capital markets, we decided to start our own boutique firm focusing on small and medium-sized business mergers and acquisitions (M&A). SMB Law Group brings the industry expertise of a major law firm combined with the personalized touch and client support of a neighborhood small business.
Since opening operations in mid-2022, we've closed over $1 billion in small business acquisition transactions.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
Both of us worked at top Big Law firms. In fact, we both met at the same firm back in 2015 when Eric joined as a new associate out of Duke shortly after Kevin had joined the firm as a lateral associate from California.
Over the years that followed, we both continued to pursue our career goals on the traditional law firm path, but they weren’t anything like we imagined. In many cases, both of us worked 18+ hours a day, sometimes even sleeping in our offices. Meanwhile, our kids were growing up quickly at home. We missed our families, and we resented the burnout-ridden lifestyle that is so common among attorneys at Big Law firms.
During this time, Eric stumbled upon the idea of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) – also known as buying a small business in order to become your own boss – on X (then Twitter). We learned that it’s an incredible time to buy a business: with the “Great Wealth Transfer” upon us, around $7 billion in businesses currently held by Baby Boomers will be up for grabs by 2030.
At first, we thought about buying a business ourselves. But as we looked further into it, we realized that there was a vast community of people who needed legal assistance in buying businesses. We saw a huge market potential and were eager to jump at the opportunity to help others on their ETA journeys.
So in 2022, we both quit our high-paying W-2 jobs to start SMB Law Group, and we haven’t looked back since.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
In 2021, fed up with Big Law and eager to explore the world of ETA, Eric started posting on X under the name @smb_attorney. There, he found a burgeoning community of people looking to buy up small businesses. Many of them were professionals like us, desperate to leave the corporate lifestyle behind and become their own bosses. Almost immediately, his inbox started filling up with individuals with incredible backgrounds trying to buy “Main Street” businesses but having trouble finding high-quality representation.
Eric called up Kevin and told him to get on X and join the conversation. Shortly after, we were quickly overwhelmed with the interest from potential business buyers, and generated a massive amount of inbound leads. Still to this day, the vast majority of our deal flow comes from inbound inquiries on X!
We got to where we are today because we decided to forgo flashy corporate titles and prioritize our families instead. It’s the best decision both of us have ever made.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Our launch was relatively quick by startup standards. As a professional services firm dedicated to a remote-first environment from the get-go, our overhead and startup expenses were very minimal. We just got several technology subscriptions (CRM, email, etc), a website and branding off the ground, and we were off the races. Or at least we hoped we would be, if we could generate clients!
To that end, we immediately set to work building relationships that could turn into referral resources, and that’s how we met our third partner, Sam Rosati. What initially began as conversations about how we can collaborate on client referrals, we both immediately recognized the unique position we were in to have a seasoned business investor and operator join our partnership. And the fact that Sam was a licensed, albeit non-practicing, lawyer, was icing on the cake, as it meant that we could offer him an equity partnership for his contribution.
For the next several months in early 2022, we then focused on building out our website and building relationships with a tentative launch scheduled for July. But in April 2022, Kevin’s employer announced a partial return to work for 3 days a week, so we set out to accelerate our timeline, with Kevin resigning in April to work full time at SMB Law Group in May. Eric followed shortly after that summer on our original timeline.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Many Big Law firms have a traditionalist approach to communications and branding. They communicate in stiff, corporate language, and their social media presence primarily focuses on firm news.
For us, we knew that to stand out, we’d have to throw that “traditionalist” approach away, and build a community that potential business buyers could connect with on a personal level. In some respects, legal ethics rules made that easier.
We actually aren’t allowed to directly solicit business, so instead of filling our social media fees with “Here’s what SMB Law Group can do for you. Call us today for a free consultation!”, we instead went about sharing helpful information and letting the relationships we built do the rest.
That started with the community we’ve built on X: Eric has built up 100K followers talking about everything from business buying to the struggles of being a working parent and his latest pizza orders. But our approach has expanded far beyond just X.
For example, events, both in-person or online, help us foster community and cultivate strong interpersonal relationships. Earned media and thought leadership, on the other hand, have elevated our profiles and expanded our reach.
We’ve also started a podcast, called Mundane Millionaires, where we bring on business buyers and entrepreneurs to talk about their journeys. Our focus has been on generating inbound leads through as many relevant channels as possible, and it’s worked out very well for us.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
We’ve been in business for less than two years, but we’ve already had some massive success. In 2023, our first full year of operation, we brought in $3.2M in revenue. Kevin was also recently named 2023's #1 M&A Lawyer in the state of Texas, ranking above the Big Law firms that we left to start SMB Law Group in the first place.
We continue to build upon our initial foundation of a remote-first, tech-enabled law firm, growing an incredibly talented team that is using technology to deliver client service more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
While we intend to always remain a small business focused law firm, the breadth of services we offer to small business clients will continue to expand. In the months and years to come, you’ll see SMB Law Group add additional subject matter expertise that will allow us to service more of our clients needs, including an outside general counsel practice for those businesses that have day-to-day corporate legal needs but can’t afford the price tag of a full-time attorney.
As we add more and more attorneys to the firm, we are also focused on geography. We currently have lawyers licensed in over 15 states, including 4 of the 5 most populous states in the country.
Sometimes, your expectations far exceed reality, which can be very discouraging. We could have stayed in those jobs forever; complaining and secretly disliking what we do, but never taking action.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
We got to where we are today because we decided to forgo flashy corporate titles and prioritize our families instead. It’s the best decision both of us have ever made. In our minds, we’ve been successful because we have followed our passion and our values.
All entrepreneurs, parents or not, can strive for this type of integration between work and life. Finding ways to make professional life align with your values, goals, and personal objectives—however that may look for you—is worth it. Don’t sacrifice the things that make you happy just for the sake of big titles or big compensation.
Don’t just take it from us, though. Many of our clients who are pursuing ETA are in the same boat. They are fed up with corporate life and want to become their own bosses; so they take the leap into buying a business. It’s incredibly inspiring watching people live out their dreams, and we’d encourage anyone thinking about making a change to consider or start looking into ETA.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Of course, we’ve got the basics like Microsoft Office, Slack, and Zoom. But we also use a few different law-specific tools like Lawmatics and Practical Law.
We’re not afraid of using AI around here, either. We use several different tools to help streamline our processes and make us more efficient, including Cleo and ChatGPT.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
For anyone considering ETA, we always recommend a few books, namely The HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business and Buy Then Build. The journey to buying a business can often feel like an overwhelming, daunting road, but these two books are incredible resources to help people out on their journeys.
We also have started up our own podcast, Mundane Millionaires, where we speak to business buyers and experts in the field. It’s a great way to connect with others in the ETA community and hear their stories!
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Both of us had always dreamed of the day we’d “make it big” at major law firms, but, once we were there, it wasn’t anything like we imagined. Sometimes, your expectations far exceed reality, which can be very discouraging. We could have stayed in those jobs forever; complaining and secretly disliking what we do, but never taking action.
Our advice? Don’t be afraid to pivot. Take risks. Sometimes, they’ll work out, and sometimes you’ll fail. But you’ll never live with the regrets of what “could have been.” It’s never too late to start over, change your mind, or start prioritizing what you love.
With that said, not every opportunity is the right one. Warren Buffet once said, “You don’t have to swing at everything—you can wait for your pitch.” Don’t swing very often; wait for a perfect, home-run pitch to come down the center of the plate. Then, crush it! You never know what could happen.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are always looking to hire M&A attorneys. These roles are fully remote and offer a competitive salary, plus the opportunity to work for a family-first, entrepreneurial firm. You can check out open positions on our website.
Where can we go to learn more?
X/Twitter:
- Eric: @SMB_Attorney
- Kevin: @KHendersonCo
- SMB Law Group: @smblawgroup
LinkedIn:
Linktree:
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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