EPS3555 Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
4 Advanced Elective Credits
This course is designed for students who want to explore an alternative path to entrepreneurship - not by starting a company from scratch, but by searching for, acquiring, and leading an existing small business.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) has emerged as a compelling and increasingly popular model for building both leadership experience and long-term equity ownership. Rather than inventing a new product and hoping it works, acquisition entrepreneurs buy established, profitable businesses and focus on growing and improving them. For many, this path can offer a more structured and often less binary route to entrepreneurship than a traditional startup.
Organized around the typical journey of a search entrepreneur, the course covers the full lifecycle of acquiring a small business: opportunity sourcing, screening, financing and deal structuring, negotiation and closing, and post-acquisition leadership. Students will examine how this path differs from traditional post-college careers such as consulting, banking, or joining a startup, and will explore the power of equity ownership as a mechanism for long-term wealth creation.
Throughout the semester, students will develop practical skills in evaluating businesses, engaging directly with owners, structuring transactions, raising debt and equity capital, conducting due diligence, and navigating key legal and ethical considerations. The course is delivered in a highly interactive format combining cases, simulations, applied exercises, and conversations with real acquisition entrepreneurs.
Prerequisites: FME1000 or EPS1000