Stickers in exchange for a small survey

Ilya Novohatskyi

Oct 13, 2022

Hey guys.

This week I got sick and visited my doctor. Not a COVID. Just sore throat, high temperature, and stuffy nose. Viral disease.

But I can't miss this week's newsletter and prepared one sweet story, a small survey, and profitable micro-startups.

Also, our first annual subscriptions will renew in one month, and I decided not to change the price for our early customers. They supported us initially, and we want to pay tribute to them, so we'll keep their cost as is. I know almost nobody does this, but we greatly appreciate our old customers.

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who supports Ukraine. When I visited a doctor, I heard how Iran's drones flight in the Ukrainian sky. This week's massive shelling showed us that the war isn't ended, and we need to do everything to stop Russian occupiers early.

👋 Welcome

Welcome to the 31 new people joining this week.

Let me know what you think of your first issue. Replying helps Google realize it’s not spam.

Prefer Twitter? Drop me a DM here.

Now let’s crack on with the newsletter ☕️

🙋‍♀️ Stickers for a small survey

We already send stickers and notepads to our users.

I created a small survey for our newsletter subscribers to understand your preferences and what stops you from acquiring online businesses.

I'd love it if you find a minute to submit the form. Every participant will receive a pack of stickers from me.

🤝 Recently acquired startup

This month one more startups was acquired. The actual deal size was around $16k, but it doesn't matter much. But what matters is the story behind it.

Both buyer and seller were satisfied. Great acquisition.

The buyer who acquired the startup was about to churn and sent me an email saying he wanted a refund and couldn't utilize our service. I was slightly angry when I read this email, but I took a breath and walked into the park.

I tried to relax to find the right words. Our landing page clearly states that we don't refund if you use the service. Imagine if you visited a barber and didn't pay for the service. I felt the same.

After I walked, I didn't tell him about our refund policy. Still, instead, I wanted to build trustworthy relationships and started asking questions to understand the root problem. Finally, I figured out that the problem was time.

The buyer wanted to find a product to buy within a month, but this is almost impossible to achieve. Investing is consistent and continuous work. We encourage our premium members to purchase annual subscriptions because finding a suitable project to buy might take years.

Ben was convinced after our conversation.

I changed the buyer's monthly subscription to yearly, and then we started chatting more closely in our community and Discord. So many positive things have happened since then.

This buyer inspired me to finally start working on Concierge service (because he had a terrible experience with Tazapay) and helped us reveal one fraud seller.

Also, I want to thank the seller, Soufiane. He did an excellent job being a very friendly and open guy. The deal went smoothly because of the excellent and fast communication. I think it was the main success factor.

Soufiane Loudaini @LoudiniSoufiane

I recently sold my project for the first time on @micronsio. It was a good experience. The deal was smooth, and @ilyanovohatskyi was helpful, thank you. Deal done. Sold. What a great platform. I highly recommend it!

Moral of this story. There are two ways you can handle unpleasant feedback. You can respond with hate and point your users to your terms, or you can be kind, mainly analyze the problem and try to solve it. I chose the second one. This way helped me to gain one more loyal customer and build trust.

🤔 Patience plays a crucial role

To continue a theme with a time, I recently read a great post on Indie Hackers where the buyer stated a few important lessons I want to share with you.

Patience. The buyer subscribed to MA for two years and contacted more than ten sellers before making his first acquisition. Investing it's not about quick money. It's about wise diversification and time.

Due diligence. No one will properly analyze the assets if you don't do it yourself. It is especially relevant in the world of micro-acquisitions. At least, you need to understand the basics of the businesses you want to acquire. At max, you need to be a professional in the field.

Time kills deals. If you don't act fast on the agreement, another buyer will do it for you. If you wait, the seller will prefer to move on with another person, so you lose your opportunity.

Let me know what you think about it. Do you have any rules for acquiring small online businesses?