My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Service-to-Product Acquisition Strategy
Using profits from a service business to systematically acquire better businesses with recurring revenue and product characteristics.
How It Works
Service businesses generate cash but have limited scalability. Use that cash flow to buy businesses with better unit economics, recurring revenue, and less labor intensity.
Components
Build profitable service business first
Resist typical agency expansion (fancy offices, more staff)
Identify acquisition targets with recurring revenue
Use service profits to fund acquisitions
Gradually shift portfolio toward product businesses
When to Use
When you have a profitable service business generating consistent cash flow but want to reduce dependency on labor and improve margins.
When Not to Use
If your service business is still growing rapidly or you lack operational experience in acquisitions.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Andrew Wilkinson's Metalab design agency generated profits that funded acquiring software companies like Dribbble, building a portfolio less dependent on billable hours.”