Deeper · 06.C
Buy the clinic.
The endgame. The provider stops being a partner and becomes a P&L line. The leakage problem disappears. The moat becomes physical.
The buy criteria
- 01Provider does most volume from bord leadsAbove ~70% bord-sourced volume, the provider has no leverage to refuse a buyout discussion.
- 02Bord brand is bigger than provider brandCustomers think they're calling bord. They are.
- 03Operations are simple enough to absorbA two-chair dental clinic. A six-scooter rental. A four-cleaner team. Not enterprise.
- 04Owner wants out, or wants partnerAging founder, succession problem, capital need. The acquisition is welcome, not hostile.
The structure
Each acquisition is its own LLC or local equivalent (PT in Indonesia, SARL in Switzerland, SRL in Italy), wholly owned by bord's holding entity. Operations remain local. Marketing, dispatch, and finance are shared services across the portfolio. Cost of marketing per site is amortised across N owned businesses, which improves with each acquisition.
Berkshire Hathaway for local services. Buy small, run small, compound the cash flow at the holding level.
Why nobody clones this
Cloning a software product takes a weekend. Cloning a portfolio of owned local businesses across cities and countries takes capital, operators on the ground, and time. Time is the moat. Once bord has ten years of accumulation, the entire structure is unrepeatable.