The Nathan Barry Show

What does it actually take to sell a creator business? That’s what I wanted to get into with Pat Flynn and Liz Wilcox, who sat down with me to share some big news. After 18 years of building Smart Passive Income, Pat has officially sold the business - and Liz is the new owner.

In this episode, Pat and Liz take us through the entire process, from why Pat decided it was time to let go, to how they valued and structured the deal, why Liz was the right person to take over, and how they planned the transition to make sure the audience felt supported. We also get into what makes a creator business sellable, including building systems, community, recurring revenue, and a brand that can thrive beyond its founder.

If you're building a creator business and want to understand how to make it more valuable, transferable, and ultimately sellable, I think you'll get a lot out of this conversation.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:15 Pat's big announcement
02:48 Liz's journey to acquiring SPI
04:30 How SPI became a sellable business
06:27 Pat's massive success with Pokemon
08:21 The impact of SPI's community
10:47 Why Pat let go of SPI
12:38 Prioritizing community over profit
14:10 The financial aspects of the deal
16:15 The future of Smart Passive Income: Team WIN
18:30 What makes a business sellable
20:00 Merging Liz's brand into SPI
21:23 10x is easier than 2x
22:50 The challenge of selling a personal brand
24:50 The intentional transition process

If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.

Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show

Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
Kit: https://kit.com

Follow Pat:
X: https://twitter.com/PatFlynn
Website: https://patflynn.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@patflynn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patflynn

Follow Liz:
Website: https://www.lizwilcox.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelizwilcox
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-wilcox-58740b1b0

Featured in this episode:
Kit: https://www.kit.com
Smart Passive Income: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com
Built to Sell: https://builtosell.com
Will It Fly?: https://patflynn.com/book/will-it-fly
The Virtual Campground: https://thevirtualcampground.com

Highlights:
01:15 - The big announcement
07:12 - Liz's personal mission for SPI
14:32 - The Pokémon channel's incredible growth
25:27 - The profound impact of communities
35:40 - Negotiating and structuring a business sale

What is The Nathan Barry Show?

As the CEO of Kit, Nathan Barry has a front row seat to what’s working in the most successful creator businesses.

On The Nathan Barry Show, he interviews top creators and dives into the inner workings of their businesses in his live coaching sessions.

You get unique insight into how creator businesses work and what you can do to increase results in your own business.

One of the things Nathan is passionate about is helping you create leverage.

Creator Flywheels let you create many copies of yourself so you don’t get bogged down with the little things in your business. Flywheels will help you reach a place where you can focus on revenue instead of busywork.

Tune in weekly for new episodes with ideas and tips for growing your business. You’ll hear discussions around building an audience, earning a living as a creator, and Nathan’s insights on scaling a software company to $100M.

Learn how to get more results with less effort and:

Grow faster over time.
Work less hard over time.
Make more money over time.