You ever listen to Acquiring Minds and feel discouraged that you don't have an MBA or a background in finance? This episode is for you. Patrick Norris went from Marine, to garbage man, to manager of a local trash company, to... ...buyer of his own trash business. He bought a small one, just $625k in revenue. A little family business with a burned-out owner. Patrick bought it (for a song, by the way), grew it, and sold it for $4.4m five years later. And oh by the way, he'd also generated $1m dollars cash for himself in the meantime. Now, despite not being a finance guy, Patrick did have a distinct advantage: He knew trash. But! As you'll hear, that might have also been a bit of a disadvantage because it pulled him into the business when he may have been better served working on the business. Lesson being: Just as important as the particular skill set you bring to a business is exactly how you leverage those skills as its new owner. See what you think. And see what you think of the trash business. We spend a lot of time just learning the industry, which was a joy. I loved this interview and think you will too. Here's Patrick Norris, former owner of Mr. Trashman.

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