So having a go at taking the readers on a journey with me...

Just to set expectations… I don’t write newsletters… or really write in general EVER (aside from short work emails and chat messages).

But I wanted to start this newsletter to clarify my thoughts, force accountability by stating what I’m doing in public, hopefully inspire and meet others who want to do something similar and get better at writing in the process.

For those who don’t know me… I’m Jamie and I’ve been working in engineering for the last 10 years or so working in various departments of automotive companies in the UK. I’ve learnt so much in my time in the industry and met some amazing people along the way but now is as good a time as ever to step things up…

My interest in learning new challenging subjects and picking up new skills has driven all my career to date as I’ve worked from drawing CAD to laying out engineering business plans & strategies. Right now, I’m really interested in how the companies I’ve worked for are run, the general performance, valuations, investing etc while still retaining the key knowledge of how to engineer & design physical cars these companies make. So where do I go from here as the next move that builds on all this?

I find ownership and accountability is the ultimate way for me to learn the ins and outs of the specific subject or hobby that I’m learning about and so like to take some stake into the project whether it’s technology, cryptocurrency or building something at home with tools.

I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to scratch the itch of building something that utilises my skillset where I am fully accountable that a small group of people may find useful and get some revenue in return. Broadly I think the main options to kick this project off are:

1. Start a company from scratch.

2. Buy a stake in an existing company.

3. Buy a company for sale outright.

To converge on the best approach for this project… Generally, option 1 is going to be investment heavy in the engineering world and I think there’s a stat somewhere that 95% of businesses fail. Option 2 resonates with me but still doesn’t give the level of full control that I would like to have during the learning process. Path 3 would give me a stake in a working company with accountability and control to enable me to go ‘all in’ on the subject of engineering business ownership and generally how the world of business investing or ‘private equity’ works. So number 3 is currently ticking the boxes of the next things I want to learn and so is the direction of travel and the reason for starting this newsletter. I’m going to give this my best efforts and document my findings and mistakes along the way.

I’m no sovereign wealth fund so I won’t be buying any multinational corporations or FTSE listed companies but hopefully this in return makes my journey more accessible, interesting and relatable to others. Broadly, I plan to:

1. Create a plan of a business I can afford based on potential deals that generates cashflow.

2. Find a business that an owner is willing to sell outright locally.

3. Secure funding through the best channel found.

4. Dive into the fine details of the deal and due dilligence.

5. Buy said company.

6. Establish ways for the company to run without being a ‘hands on’ operator.

7. Implement all steps.

8. Look into next company to acquire with the ultimate aim of creating a mini, local investment company that specialises in engineering and manufacturing.

All of this will be documented to the best of my ability along the way for anyone else in the UK who wants to give this a go. I know this is pretty high level and I’m sure I’m going to hit some big speed bumps and diversions along the way, but hopefully some of you reading this will join me and laugh/cry at the mistakes I’m going to make.

I’m not 100% sure how the Beehiiv emails turn out but going off the general ‘calls to action’ that I watch on Youtube; if you liked this introductory post, give it a ‘thumbs up’, hit subscribe and click the notification bell for more content like this!

Thanks for reading.

Jamie.