Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating - The $1.4M Liquor Store That Prints $500K/Year

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

In this episode the hosts break down a surprisingly solid liquor store deal in Washington, DC, questioning whether a 3x multiple and $500K SDE is too good to be true.Business Listing – https://www.tworld.com/buy-a-business/listings/80yrs-old-sba-appd-profitable-corner-liquor-biz-in-nw-dc-Welcome to Acquisitions Anonymous – the #1 podcast for small business M&A. Every week, we break down businesses for sale and talk about buying, operating, and growing them.💰 Sponsored by:Verivend – The smartest way to manage capital calls and distributions. Automate investor transactions and streamline your back office with https://www.verivend.com/Capital Pad – Simplify your SMB deal process. From LOI to closing docs, Capital Pad helps you run transactions smoothly. Learn more at https://capitalpad.com/This week, the team reviews a long-established liquor store in Northwest Washington, DC. With $2M in annual revenue and $500K in SDE, the business is priced at $1.4M—plus $290K in inventory—putting the effective multiple just over 3x. The store has been operating since 1941 and sits on a corner in a high-traffic, high-income neighborhood with a 10-year lease at $9,500/month.Key Highlights:- Asking price: $1.4M + $290K inventory, SDE: $500K- Liquor store in DC proper with 80+ years of history- 10-year lease at $9,500/mo in a high-income area- SBA-preapproved (though Heather warns that means nothing without tax returns)- Macro headwinds in alcohol consumption vs. 10% YoY sales growthSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at [e-mail]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and welcome back to another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous. This is the internet's number one podcast on buying, selling, and operating small businesses. And today, you're getting kind of a twofer because we intended to talk about a liquor store, but we got probably five to ten minutes in the beginning about how to think about asking prices when you're buying a business and whether or not they are real or totally made up. So I hope you enjoy the at the beginning. and then we've got a really cool deal today because it's kind of an old school classic. It is a liquor store in Washington, D.C. And the multiple is reasonable.

It's been around for 80 years. This deal, to use a phrase from Mills, who wasn't on today, but to crib his phrase, this deal really pencils. So if you're interested in liquor stores or you want to harken back to like the good old days of SMB buying when it felt like you could buy anything in the world for 3X and make your money back in under a year, this is one of those deals. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this episode of Acquisitions Anonymous. Hello, another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous.

We don't have 100% beers anymore. And thumbs downing on just the plus inventory line. Hey, everyone. I just want to tell you that this episode is brought to you by Varevend, which is the only platform purpose built for independent sponsors and private market investors who want to move faster and eliminate friction. VareVend is cool because it combines investment management and secure instant payments into one platform. So that means capital calls, deployments, and distributions.

They all work like Venmo. One-click, real-time transfers with no transaction limits and automatic reconciliation. So from raising capital to returning it, VeraVan handles it all. Deal marketing, data rooms, KYC and accreditation for your investors, signatures, capital flow, dashboards for your investors, and even fund administration, accounting, and taxes. So whether you're raising a single deal or managing a full fund, V-A-V-R-V-E-N gives you the speed and confidence to execute all in one single platform. So you can check it out and learn more at V-E-V-E-V-E-N-D.com. So we just press record it. I was telling everybody that I made all the business brokers on Twitter mad at me yesterday because I tweeted that asking prices on businesses are a joke and that when you hire an investment bank to run your business,

or to sell your business, they just run an auction and the business is worth what the market tells you it's worth. But the only segment of the market that lists asking prices on business is small businesses. And then I wrote the thing that made everyone mad at me, which is probably because half the brokers are also realtors. And unfortunately, all of like the business brokers that I know and like on Twitter thought I meant them. But I did not. Of course, there are plenty of amazing business brokers out there, but there are also 50% of business brokers that are also realtors.

And we're back to the asking price in the business is a mortgage balance on my house. Trope that we say all the time. So everybody's all mad at me in the comments. So after this, I have to log back on to X and apologize to people. You have to make amends now. Okay.

Somehow I got tagged at this threat. I was like, how did I just catch a stray? What's going on here? Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, we all catch strays together now because of the pot. So when one of us gets barbecued, we all do. But I stand by the point, by the way, that asking prices on businesses are made up and you

should bid whatever you think the business is worth. As we always talk about in this podcast, like, what do we think this business is worth? I had two interesting replies. One person said that the reason that, you know, quote unquote, real investment banks don't list prices is they said, when I sold. my business, I had five bids at $5 million, and the winning bid was $7 million. And because you never know, like, who's really going to like it, right? And so the other person was trying to make points about debt service coverage ratios, et cetera, which is

missing my point, because of course, there are prices at which deals pencil using SBA loans. So this person wrote, there's a maximum price any business can sell for. And I was like, well, yeah, but you don't put that on the listing. Like, you know, you're never going to sell the business for more than you listed for. And I would, and I would argue with that point as a lender, there's a maximum loan amount you can get. But you can pay whatever more you want above that in equity if you think the value is there. So, you know, even, even that doesn't determine the value. Exactly.

100%. Well, and you can, in a business purchase, I mean, I'm pretty sure the choir here, but you, It is not like buying real estate. Like real estate, there's five or six levers to pull that can change valuation and how much it ends up costing in the end. There's a thousand of them in business in these transactions from everything from how working capital is computed to what the seller gets paid in terms of earn out or consulting agreements afterwards. Or how much of it is contingent on based on growth. Like, you know, I could value any business in a billion dollars. It's just the terms are going to be.

be very interesting. One billion dollars if we achieve one billion dollars in revenue in the next two years. Can I add my other lender pet peeve to this discussion? The SBA requires a business valuation, just like as if it's an appraisal on real estate. And I just kind of think it's a waste of time because to your point, the value is whatever it is to the buyer. And everybody, there could be five different buyers who have five different values that make sense. And so having a third part already come along and say this is the value of the business, I feel like it's just, it's bringing a real estate mentality into this. Even the SBA does it. So yeah, business brokers do it. Yeah, buyers do it. Everybody does it. But don't bring a real estate

mentality into business buying. It's, it doesn't fit. Doesn't make sense. My favorite internet argument amongst all the internet arguments, I rarely wake up. This is the best one. All right, let's hear it's going to be for today it is. But it's these people. people that come in and basically believe that a business appraisal or property appraisals are an exact science. And I've had people be like, oh, yeah, like, property appraisals are an exact science. And if you spend 10 minutes with an appraiser, they will come up with 85 different values generated from 85 valid ways to value a property. It is such a science of Hocum. that you could have for a property,

I've seen appraisers come in. You get three different appraisers on something. One of them will be double the other ones and another one will be triple the other ones. And it's just such a, it's even worse for businesses. Like the only valuation that truly matters is somebody's writing a check.

Every other one is just such a chokom. That's my argument I get into people over and over again. They just. Amen, Michael. I really want to continue pulling that thread. We can talk on this whole episode about how appraisers appraisals of all stripes are absurd. But I am trying to buy a house.

The seller got an appraisal is using that to justify what the house is worth. The appraiser excluded nearly half of the square footage of several of the best comps in the neighborhood because they're technically below grade. So the appraiser considered them to be basements. These basements are full of light, have bedrooms, and walk out onto pool decks because the home is built on a slope. So the point is appraisers are BS. And I was going to say also, Michael, at least real estate is relatively fungible, right? Like you can probably have a lot of good comps for a three-bedroom, two-bedroom

bathroom house in that neighborhood. Probably had 10 good comps, right? You're going to have a sense where the market is. In businesses, like, yes, there are some, okay, if it's a plumbing business, like maybe, and people argue with maybe if, like, if there's a plumbing business, we know what's worth. Really? Have you seen the varying revenue qualities of plumbing business? businesses? I mean, listen to this podcast for a couple episodes, like, what if it's mostly

commercial business? What if it's mostly residential business? What if it's mostly new build? What if it's mostly maintenance, right? There's, there are businesses are not fundable. If you've seen one business, you've seen one business. And so the idea of kind of appraising something, especially in a business, at least in real estate, the lender cares because they want to know they can liquidate the asset and get their money back. The SBA is not liquidating a business to get No, that's why I think, I think some of, they started out thinking that's what it was and then maybe they just kept it. I've had business appraisers for SBA loans call me and say, this one's coming in low and they say for this kind of business and they'll say the industry and I'll say,

who told you it was that? That's not even what the industry is. So you've got a third party appraiser who doesn't even know, not nearly enough about the deal or the business to be in a position to give a valuation. So it's just, it's just, don't put any stock in those. reports. The moment that will radicalize you on appraisers is the following. You're in business for a few years and you're getting an appraisal on something and the appraiser calls you. And you realize three minutes in, what they're trying to do is find out what your offer price is or what the listing price is or what the contract price is so they can figure out how to solve for that. Like I have had that happen so many times where the appraiser calls. And I'm like, oh, he wants

to know what the correct answer is here. Yes, the correct answer is what we did, what we're paying for it. Thank you. But that actually, Michael, is the correct answer because that's the market clearing price. Some jackass is willing to pay it. It's me. Right. Exactly to your point. Yep. Yeah. Which is why it's ridiculous. All right. So the lesson of all this is the internet is boring unless you're getting on fights. Like even more fights. That's why X exists, man. It's to make the internet interesting. Right. Well, all right, ready for the segue? Yeah, yeah.

Speaking of things that get you into fights, we're looking at a liquor store for sale today. Uh-oh. And it's Friday, so. And it's Friday, and it is still before noon, so I swear we have not been drinking. They have not. But this is, we're on a trans world kick for the past couple episodes. So this is another trans world deal. This is an 80-year-old, SBA approved, profitable corner.

so many adjectives, liquor business in northwest Washington, D.C. So this is a your nation's capital, get the leaders of this country drunk on a daily basis. Sales of $2 million, SDE of $500,000, FF&E of $200,000, not sure what shelving or whatever you would need. I don't know why you got 200K of FF&A to liquor store. Maybe it's inventory. The rent is $9,500 a month. It's been around since 1941. The seller is retiring.

There are two employees. And again, SD of 500, they're asking 1.4 million. So a little bit under 3X. So I'll tell you a little bit more about it. It says it's semi-absentee and operationally efficient on a great corner with low rent with a long-term lease. It says this growing business is located on a corner of a super busy major northwest D.C. Avenue. and the business has over seven decades of successful history and will continue that rich tradition

for many generations to come. This long-established wines and liquors business is a great gemstone and a course of constant income that has steadily been increasing over years owned by the present owner from 2002. So this guy bought it 25 years ago from somebody who had previously operated. So this is a longtime business that has changed hands. Like a good whiskey, this business has aged with character, price, total customer satisfaction, reputation and depth of excellent relationships with their vendors and suppliers. The owner has diversified in other ventures with his next generation,

such as multifamily real estate and other business outside of D.C. And sincerely wants to leave his legacy in good hands to continue serving the marketplace with love and affection to keep growing intact into the future. It's a well-known and great location. The store is beautifully built with no expense spared, plenty of parking, professionally operated by a well-trained staff. I mean, what more could you want? And by the way, the American dream, create cash flow in business and diversify into real estate. This guy has done it. 2024 sales were up almost 10% organically and tracking to increase 11 to 14% in 2025,

per the projection of the owner, thanks to their customers, loyalty and great prices and a variety of products. Serious and bona fide buyers only. Ideal opportunity for an experienced industry buyer looking to add another location, a store in a prime location. Net margins 31% steadily growing. It is,

I believe they put liquors are 57% and beers are 43% beers and wines. I think that's what this means.

There are $290,000 of inventory not included in the asking price and it says fast moving variety, which I suppose matters of the liquor store because you have all these old wines

that are like super rare and never move. But $290,000. of additional inventory, so that takes you from like 1.5 to like 1.75. So we're still just a little bit over 3x, including inventory. They have a five years remaining left on their lease plus five year options. So you've got 10 years left on your lease at 9,500 bucks a month, which means your total annual rent is a little over 100 grand. Not bad. Well-established large residential areas, commercial and tourists, 90% of business comes from established local retail customers.

Whoa. This is verbatim, parentheses, white color and middle to high income, perhaps capita income groups. So we're profiling the customers. It said color, not color, white color, not color. White color, that's what I'm saying. That's what it says here in the listing. It does. Semi-Avancy owner, surrounded by famous, well-established high-income communities, globally known office buildings, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce,

leading hotel brands, and hyperactive traffic of tourists and educated professionals throughout the area. Blah, blah, blah. I have to interrupt right now. Number one, we're 440 episodes in. This is the first time we've had a racist liquor store. Great job, guys. That's a joke, by the way. It's clearly a typo.

It's a joke, we have four or five racist liquor stores. But number two, like the first thing I look at from all the surroundings, founding businesses, work at the World Bank and all this kind of stuff. All those places they listed are the types of places if I work there, I would have a heavy drinking problem. So this is a big favor in front of the, in front of this. It's up what it's up 15% this year. Just look at it. Let me go. You get a new guy's president and people start drinking. You know how there's this thing where people watch the receipts and the traffic at like the Domino's Pizza outside the Pentagon to see if they can predict. The pizza indicator. Yeah. It's crazy. What do you think, what do you think

this indicates. The liquor indicator outside of the international monetary fund? I don't know. That could be a side, that could be another revenue channel for this business if you bought it. Sell the data. Selling the data. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So that's all I got. What do you guys think? This is a unique one. What's the deal with the real estate? Did they say that? It's leased. There's rent. We got a 10 years left on their on their lease. And it's low rent. I mean, it's like $9,500 a month for a good, for a good corner. I mean, that is low. Yeah. Yeah. Who owns the lease?

Does it say? It doesn't say. It doesn't say. I get the sense it's, I don't know, but like this guy's been in it for 25 years and he bought it from the prior owner and this is D.C. And it's a good corner. I bet that real estate is not turning over. It's probably a third-party landlord, if I had to guess. Yeah, I mean, where these liquor stores get really interesting is, you know, when you own the real estate, eventually it can give you a competitive advantage where other folks can't come in and compete with you because rents are.

just so high, but you own the real estate, so you get a kind of monopoly on liquor in that area. So 10 years is good. At least it's not like three. No, 10 years is good. I mean, you're going to pay three X keep cash flow for this business. So like all the time we complain about how you're going to get screwed by paying a multiple for a business with a short lease. But Heather, this has got a 10-year lease. We can use an SBA loan. And SBA loans love liquor stores. As long as I've been in the business of SBA lending, I've seen lots and lots of liquor store deals. I personally have never done that, or I haven't done one in a long time. It's just kind of a different type of client that wants to buy these because it is, this one says semi-absentee, but you really have to be there.

This is the kind of business that's someone who's going to be there overseeing the employees. I mean, it can be a dangerous business for the employees. It's retail. It's alcohol. It's highly regulated. So it's usually, I mean, in the area where I live, it is usually an immigrant, you know, would be interested in buying these kinds of businesses. That's what I've seen the most of. And they make great businesses. And as long as you can get the liquor license to transfer, they didn't say anything about that. And every state and jurisdiction is different. This is actually in D.C. proper. So it's whatever the liquor license rules are there. But I would assume the license is included in this price. I don't think they said that. They did kind of break out inventory and whatnot, but I would assume, and that would be, I guess, the first question I would ask is, is the license included? And what does the transfer process look like for a buyer? How long does it take? It's usually fairly bureaucratic what you have to do to transfer a liquor license.

And you can sell just the license in some states. You know, like if you had a restaurant, you were no longer going to be serving liquor or whatever, or the restaurant went out of business, the license itself usually sort of has an inherent value because they limit the number of licenses that they issue in most places. But you have to find out what the story is here. I like the multiple. I hate that we always have to add, you know, add and subtract here. They give you a price and then tell you plus inventory.

I wish we could normalize just a price that includes what you need to run the business, such as inventory. But as you noted, it's- Like a networking capital peg, Heather? And a networking capital, yes, thank you. I've been on my high horse about working capital lately. But yeah, it seems like a good all-in price or effective multiple is pretty good here, still just over three. But I think this has to go to a buyer that is willing to be in the store every day, you know, or pretty close. to that because that's what it takes to run these kinds of businesses successfully. Let me put an answer to that.

The type of buyer who is willing to go to the store on any day. There you go. Okay. I agree. That's better. Because they have two employees and it does say semi-absentee. Right? So I don't think the owner is actually behind the counter in this thing.

I absolutely believe he's there a couple days a week. Yeah. 100%. And you've got to trust those employees because there's cash. too. Yes. Yeah, and the expensive inventory also. Yeah, all the way. Very expensive. Yeah. Right. That's right. Hey, everyone, it's Bill. And I want to tell you about maybe the most exciting sponsor we've had in a long time on the pod. It's called CapitalPad. And it is the thing that I wish existed when I started my journey of

operating and investing in small businesses. So CapitalPad is a marketplace for acquisition entrepreneurs that is people who want to buy a business and need capital to list. To list. their deals and solicit capital from other people who want to invest in acquisition deals. So if you want to back somebody buying a small business, CapitalPad is a place to do it. And if you want to buy a business and need capital, you can go on CapitalPad to be introduced to investors. So the really great thing, too, from the investor side is that CapitalPad takes care of all of the details that can get hairy with small business acquisitions. They handle standardized terms, standardized governance, standardized distributions all up front in black and white.

Basically, CapitalPad professionalizes investing in small businesses, and the returns can be really, really good. I'm so stoked that they exist. It's founded by my friend Travis, who is a phenomenal entrepreneur in his own right. So if this sounds like something that's appealing to you, if you want to buy a small business and need capital, or if you want to invest in small businesses, go check out Capitalpad.com. and tell them that acquisitions anonymous sent you. One thing that's surprisingly and a really good sign for this listing is they're up 10% year every year in sales.

And if you're following the liquor market and the alcohol consumption market, it is going the other direction. Like, you know, you're seeing a retrenchment in people drinking beer, especially craft beers. And a lot of people are trading up or sideways, depending on how you look at it, to do THC as opposed to alcohol. Young people, like, I've done some videos on alcohol consumption. The comments from every single person under 30 says exactly the following thing. Alcohol is poison.

You shouldn't do it. Pot is better. Every single one of them believes it. We're going to try not to deviate into all the ways pot is bad for your brain. But, like, really bad. I was just really excited about this. You know what should people do? People should do have a coffee and eat a salad.

That's what I think. There you go. Why do we need to be putting all these chemicals in our body? Anyway, but I think it's, I mean, it's a good time for this listing that even in face of those headwinds, they're up 10%. Now, it looks like the target market around here is not a bunch of 25-year-olds trying to buy, you know, Mad Dog 2020. I may be dating myself by talking about that, our Boone's Farm. Boone's Farm, yeah. Am I right, Heather? Yep, yep. Girdly anecdote for you. My wife did ask me, because she had a white claw. I was like, girl, You're going to have to stop this. Anyway, she was drinking a white cloud of social event. She's like, what was the name of that, that beverage that was like the first

multed clear beverage? I was like, oh, yeah, Zima. That was it. Oh, yeah. I'll go all the way back to California coolers. You probably don't know where those are. They're horrible. They're gone now.

They are so sugary. It's nasty. Yeah, nasty. So the one thing I like about this, and I think it's why they're up 10% year over year, this is the group that's still drinking. 50, 60-year-olds, a bunch of folks with a bunch of money who are buying $250 bottles of wine, and they work at the World Bank, International Finance, U.S. Chambers of Commerce. All places you work at will make you drink.

And so I love that about this business. I want to say that I think that this was a Freudian slip where they said white color. I believe they meant to say white collar. I think so. And it's a Freudian slip. So Trans World Broker, you might want to check that one. Yeah. There's a price.

I mean, there was another word that was misspelled below. So Gen X Corner. I noticed it below. So it's definitely, it's a spell check. Chat. GPT wouldn't have been bad. There you go. Move here.

Yeah, that bothered me. Yeah. So in general, right, if you look at a liquor store, Heather says the SBA loves them, you're a little bit worried about the macro that Michael mentioned, like the trend of alcohol consumption broadly. So like you're going to want to check that box. This one seems like it's not really effective. by that. You're going to want to check the lease box because this is retail, so location,

location, location. That box is checked here. You got 10 years left, right, and it's a reasonable lease. The multiple is right. Is there anything not to like about this? I mean, this is a really good listing. You know, if you want to buy a liquor store, this seems like right over a home plate, right? I say yes. Absolutely. It looks good. So, Heather, but you said before we started recording that SBA loves liquor stores, but you didn't love liquor stores so much? Why don't you love liquor stores so much? They just tend to be, it tends to be in a category of business. And maybe things have gotten better lately. I haven't looked at them in a long time, but where there was a lot of cash. And so you had a lot of buyers and sellers saying, yeah, but the numbers really are better than this.

They do this amount in cash and don't report it. I had the same problem with car washes. you know, so we would have the same problem. We would see tax returns that looked terrible. You had a buyer that wanted to buy it, and it was because they had looked at the receipts and could see that there was a fair amount of cash. And as a lender, you can't lend on what's not on the tax return. And it doesn't feel good either to be, you know,

in a space where there's a lot of cash under the table going on. You just can't see what's really going on. Maybe that's changed, you know, with credit cards and whatnot. Well, I think that's something you want to diligence on this business, right? It does say SBA pre-approved, but as we know, Heather, how much waters does that carry? Zero. Absolutely nothing means nothing. Yeah.

But we need to see the tax returns. Right? Yeah, yeah. That would be the first thing I'd ask for here is this is great, EBITDA, but can I, is it on the tax return? Is that what's reported? Because you can clear this one out in one sentence if it's not. So, I mean, this, you're going to pay one, I'm going to round here. You're going to pay a little other over $1.5 million for this business.

You pay like 1.6, like 1.7, probably 1.7 even, including inventory. It's going to cash flow 500K a year. You're making 30% on your money. I mean, Heather, you're going to get a SBA loan here. So what are you going to put down here? You're going to put down 200K? 300,000. I would put at least 200, 250 down.

You know, you don't need much working capital. a cash business. You just need that inventory. You need to, you need to diligence your inventory. Make sure none of it's obsolete and, you know, how to, and those relationships with the suppliers are really important to you. But yeah, you put about two, 250 down. You would want a seller note. It's, you know, at least 10%. So they said they would do that. They said that would seller finance the inventory. So that would be 300 grand or so. I take it. So you're going to put down 250K. I'm rounding here. And you're going to clear 500. in the first year.

Yeah. Right? Maybe 400 because you're going to have to service your debt. Yeah. But like you're going to more, you're going to get your money back in like eight months. Yeah. Here on a business that's been around for 80 years. And yes, I know there's some headwinds, maybe in the alcohol industry, but like people

are still going to be drinking in 50 years, maybe a little bit less, but the IMF people are still going to be drinking in 50 years. Yeah, I would just look at the location. I'd go, I'd go check out this location. If it's as good as it sounds. this is a great deal. This reminds me, this is like the good old days of SMB buying, of small business buying. Yeah.

Right? Reasonable, multiple, incredible leverage available through the SBA on incredible terms, like SBA, eighth one of the world of our economy, incredible. Ten-year loans, great interest rates, stables hack business, been there for 80 years. Yeah. Buy this thing, get your money back in eight months, and you're clearing 500K a year. year for the next nine years until your lease is up, in which case you maybe got a problem, but you deal with it then. You've already made back multiple in your money.

Yeah, it wouldn't matter at that point, really, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you'd like to not go to zero in 10 years, but you have probably a lot of room to play with. It'd be okay. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. 100% these numbers work. It's worth calling, but usually when things look too good to be true. That's fair. Just say it. So don't be, this is one of those ones I think if you're going to going to look at it. You have to not get so married to the deal that you don't notice some huge red flags that aren't clearly in this listing. So there may be something going on here. So anyway,

I just encourage people not to just conclude this is a good deal until they do some serious due diligence. Because there's got to be something. Like, don't listen to us to be like, you know, the acquisitions anonymous folks said this is a good deal and then I worked all my money. It could be a good deal. It could be. based on what we see so far. It could be. I mean, if you live in Washington, D.C., or especially if you live near this,

this is like a no-brainer, I would think. Yeah. You know, if you're looking for a business to buy. It's big enough. It's clearing 500K a year. Yeah. Nice lifestyle. Yeah.

Nice lifestyle business. I've hired some former liquor store employees before. Serious hit rate of them being functional alcoholics. It's one of those jobs that, attracts. Yeah. It's just kind of like, what are you going to get if you run a pot store? Some potheads.

That's who works at the pot stores. What do you get when you're on a fireworks store, Michael? I don't know. When I figured out, I'll let you know. All right. So are we, I'm a thumbs up. I mean, I don't let in D.C. But if I did, I'm getting the book here for sure.

This is like a classic old school overhome plate small business deal. Yeah. Heather, what about you? Thumbs up. up. Heather will give you the loan. Your first liquor store. I like it. Michael? I like it. You like it too, despite the industry headwinds.

Well, that was just some good radio. I still think people were to keep drinking. There's a lot of alcohol addicts out there. But maybe that's the one thing not to like about this. I mean, alcohol is, like, I don't know if you watched the Hunter Biden interview from the other day. Like, it's sad what substances do to people, and alcohol has done so much damage to our culture and society. you know, I've got alcoholics in my, my history, too. So that's kind of the one thing. It's like, oh, man, I wish I was, it wasn't that, you know, just because there's that tradeoff of, you know, for some people, alcohol is really negative. Some of your clients aren't just fine wine. They're, they're addicted. Yeah. So, well, yeah, I mean, maybe because of course, alcoholism spans the

gamut, like nice neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, like all over the place. So yeah, some of your clients are probably not using responsibly. But like if you can get okay with that, I mean, you're not the only liquor store. It's not like you're Diageo here. It's not like you invented it. But people buy fireworks and hurt themselves. People, everything I'm involved in, somebody has figured out how to hurt themselves

with it. B2B SaaS has ruined so many lives, Michael. Yeah, yeah. Tell me about it. But like you mentioned it. It's all of society. Like my boogey, the San Antonio neighborhood, like the whole, whole culture here is just, I look at what people do and these people are well off, have big

inheritance or whatever, and just like alcohol problem after alcohol problem after alcohol problem. And they, I'm watching a lot of them promulgate it to the next generation down. Like people subsidizing and sanctioning drinking by like 15 year olds. And I'm like, what are you guys doing? Like, this is just insane. It's funny how they justify it. So one of the things people will do here who, especially if they're parents who are part of this alcohol-centric culture,

They will say, oh, you know what? My kids need to, they're going to drink anyway. So I need to make sure they do it safely. So I'm going to buy the beer for them and then I'm going to host them at my house and they'll do it supervised. And it's like the craziest, it's the craziest parenting logic I've ever seen where these folks are thinking or have somehow figured out this is good to like encourage 15, 16 year olds to get hammered as a sophomore in high school. That's been going on. I had friends in high school whose parents were pulling that move. That's a classic parenting.

It's insane. It's crazy. And they go, well, at least they're not going to drive, et cetera. Or you could eat a salad and drink a coffee and watch a movie. There was a kid who had liver failure at 24 who graduated with me in high school. Like, how badly do you have to treat your body for 12 years? I mean, you start drinking it was 10 or 12. And by 24, he's having liver failure.

Just insane. Yeah. All right, wrapping this up. People said they wanted more banter. There's a banter. Pulling it back, Michael. All right, so we all like the deal. This is a cool one.

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