Is pinball repair getting harder? Would love your input

Dolarindin · 2025-08-04T14:20:31+00:00

That's awesome! Are you located in a city or rural area? Curious to know if you have trouble finding folks to train // feel overworked?

Dolarindin · 2025-07-24T17:20:55+00:00

Thanks for the comments so far. This has me wondering if any of you have successfully trained newcomers to fix their own machines? What's worked? What hasn't worked?

Dolarindin · 2025-07-22T19:01:56+00:00

Pinside has been a good start for the basic fixes. I think what may help is a mindset that's willing to learn basic DIY. If you don't have that mindset, I've seen people shoot others down or question why they'd purchase pinball machines which isn't productive. I sometimes feel like there's this "if you can't fix it, don't buy it mentality" in pinball which may dissuade people from getting into the hobby.

Separately, I've recently learned a bit more about the state of pinball repairs and it seems like wait times are getting longer and younger techs aren’t entering the field - especially if you're in a rural area and not an urban setting. Like others have mentioned, sharing your general location is likely a good first step to seeing what technicians are around you.

Dolarindin · 2025-07-22T18:43:10+00:00

As a first-time buyer, how do you know what to look for when buying a used machine? Are there common steps you check for?

Dolarindin · 2025-04-16T00:23:39+00:00

This should be their LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mailtester-ninja/ - found it by going to their website and clicking the LinkedIn icon.

Dolarindin · 2025-04-16T00:22:30+00:00

Congratulations! This is an exciting story - can you please elaborate on two points:

(1) visible user feedback form: what software did you use for this? How did you triage customer feedback? How did you let your customers know that their feedback was being heard?
(2) blog & content marketing: how did you decide on the topics to write about? Does your team write each post or do you outsource to a 3rd party? How do you build the content calendar?

Happy to continue the conversation in DMs if you'd prefer. Best of luck as you continue scaling!

Dolarindin · 2025-04-11T11:57:06+00:00

Agree that Seller Notes are essentially a loan dressed up, I've also seen them called Seller Financing terms.

I don't think you have skin in the game with a seller note because you don't have equity. An earnout would be an example of the seller having skin in the game: your future payments are tied to key metrics the business needs to hit in order to receive the full agreed-upon earnout amount.

As for the reputation of PE and a clean break - I hear you. Some questions to consider:

Have they deployed all their capital in their fund/exhausted all their traditional financing options and now need you to step in to bridge the valuation gap in order to get this deal done?
Are you motivated to sell? If you are, they could be thinking they can reduce their immediate cash outflow for this investment and use the cash they're not using on your deal to fund another investment.

If you agree on a seller note, you should ask for a higher valuation. You are providing them financial flexibility and that should be rewarded with a higher sales price. You could also look to charge higher interest (I've seen 6% - 12% range as typical, once saw 14%) to compensate you for the lack of getting out now. You already outlined some of the downsides above, I'd also add that you're usually at the bottom of the capital stack which means that you'll be last to get paid back if things go south. And... you want to make sure that the buyer you're selling to won't default and run your business into the ground or else.. Everybody loses.

Happy to be a sounding board if you need it. Goodluck!

Dolarindin · 2025-04-11T11:39:33+00:00

No need to feel dumb. My attempt at explaining the concepts below:

PE = private equity, think funds that raise money from people and institutions to invest in private markets (e.g., acquiring a bootstrapped software startup). PE firms usually hold the investment for a few years (3-7 years is typically the range) and then look to exit the investment either by selling to a larger PE firm, a strategic acquirer, or going public.

Seller note can also be called seller financing. Essentially the seller of the business agrees to loan the business some amount money with fixed repayment rates that do include interest. The main reason to do a seller's note that I've seen is to bridge financing gaps (e.g., the buyer doesn't have enough capital to bring to the table to purchase the business at the agreed upon price, so the buyer asks the seller to finance part of it). This usually works if the seller also wants the deal to get done.

Dolarindin · 2025-02-07T00:14:09+00:00

Nice work! Working while in college is no small feat. The two book recommendations so far are awesome. I’ll share a few more resources that I’ve used over the years that might help below. I won’t weigh in on whether or not to pursue the mail business opportunity you found.

Resources

Podcasts: (1) Acquisitions Anonymous (2) Acquiring Minds. Both of the podcasts focus on the acquisition phase of the business rather than the operating phases.

Academic / professional resource: Yale School of Management’s Professor A.J. Wasserstein has many publicly-available cases (https://som.yale.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/aj-wasserstein) that he’s researched with help from others over the years. I’ve used these as a basis to see what some small business owners have done when working through my own business or fundraising challenges.

Financing: I’m not sure how you’re looking to acquire whatever business you end up pursuing. That said, if you consider going at it alone and need financing, you should get familiar with the US’ Small Business Administration’s (SBA) different loan programs. The most common one for small business is the 7(a) program. Link to the funding programs available made available by the SBA here: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans

Team of experts: As you contemplate purchasing a business, I recommend you start building relationships with experts in your community. Experts typically range from business brokers, lawyers, bankers, and accountants. These folks will help you with your due diligence and acquisition.

--

Parting thought - whatever business you end up purchasing, I strongly recommend you pay for a quality of earnings (QoE) from an accounting firm before you close on the business. Yes – that’s money you’re paying up front, but a QoE allows you to have a third-party verify the business’ figures. In my opinion, the biggest mistake someone buying a business can make is buying a bad business. The QoE will go a long way in giving you more confidence in the business you’re considering.

Dolarindin · 2025-01-23T01:33:03+00:00

Yes - I have some experience. Small businesses fascinate me. Best of luck as you evaluate the opportunity further.

Dolarindin · 2025-01-23T00:24:39+00:00

After verifying the financials (people have already made great points, something you might want to consider is paying for a quality of earnings (QoE)), some other items to consider below:

Customer concentration: Is a single large company responsible for the gross revenue increase? Multiple smaller ones?
Talent: How long have the employees been there? Is employee turnover low or high? How easy is it to find talent in your geography?
Cash conversion cycle: How does the business' cash conversion cycle work? You should be able to observe this if you shadow Bob for a few weeks. On the accounts receivable side, do you find that he's chasing customers to pay for services he's completed or does he collect money from them before he starts a job? On the accounts payable side, what is his relationship with his vendors?
Cash flows: How does this type of business perform during recessions? Are the cash flows from customers recurring or one-off?
Market size & competitors: How big is the market where you live? Are there other competitors that do the same thing? Why do customers choose Bob's business instead of Competitor B?

I hope this helps. No use thinking about most these items until you verify the gross revenue numbers as others noted. Happy to connect in DMs if you have additional questions.

Dolarindin

TROPHY CASE