Lesson 31: Courage

My paternal grandfather passed away this week, so this morning I listened to an audio recording of him telling his story of immigrating from Jamaica to the U.S. On the recording, gospel music is loud in the background so I closed my eyes to focus on his words. Suddenly, I paused the recording to rewind because he said, “Then I went into the trade working on cars… I went to New York, and I was still working at a body shop.” This recording is from 2019, and little did I know it would later reinforce my passion for skilled trade.

Immigrating from the serene forest of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica to the concrete corners of Queens, New York takes courage. My grandfather came to the U.S. with transferable skills he could use to find work because he learned to be a mechanic. On the recording, he never mentioned a fear of finding work perhaps because he  was prepared to use what he had learned in Jamaica. I am inspired by his story because at Booth, I am developing skills to pursue Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.

When you decide ETA is the path for you, you begin to search for a business that you would like to acquire. You become what is called a “searcher.” According to the Stanford 2024 Search Fund Study, 57% of recent searchers successfully acquired a company. Once you acquire a business, you begin operating the company and become what is called an “operator.” After 5 - 10 years, you sell the business for a return on the capital invested. In the 2024 study, search funds saw an average return of 35.1% compared to 10.3% for the S&P 500. 

Why not invest in a small business and maximize both your impact and your return? Because 65.3% of small businesses fail within 10 years. As an MBA student with student loans and an affinity for affording food, that is scary. 

To minimize my risk of failure, I have come to business school to focus on courses, programs and networks necessary to succeed in ETA. My values are to act with love, humility, and wisdom, and wisdom comes from learning from each other’s experiences. Skilled trade helped prepare my grandfather for his new life, and his story of immigrating to the U.S. offers this wisdom: Preparation gives you courage.

Courage is Lesson 31. Next week, I will share Lesson 32: Influence.