208 - Factory Life: Buying a Manufacturer with $1m SDE
Ben Jasper was a guy who'd spent most of his life checking boxes. Following a well-trodden path to conventional success. Not that it was easy; he worked very hard to get where he got. But at 40, he started to fatigue of his all-consuming job in finance and to contemplate how the second half of his career could look different. He wanted more control over his time than the 24/7 world of New York hedge funds allowed. He wanted to see his family more. He wanted boundaries. Now, I hear you saying: "Boundaries? By owning & operating a small business?? Ha!" Well Ben did achieve them, even though the plastics manufacturer he bought requires him to arrive at the factory at 4:30am every morning. We get into it, Ben's new lifestyle. He goes out of his way to provide a window into the unglamorous, pre-dawn work of operating a 10-person manufacturing business with no management. Ben Jasper at his factoryBut to be clear: Almost a year into his ownership, and it is going well for Ben. Both as an investment and as a vehicle for the professional path he desired. Please enjoy this conversation with Ben Jasper, owner of a plastic bag manufacturer in New Jersey.

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