You spent years building it. We'd like to be its next chapter.
We are Daniel and Jessica Huddleston, owner-operators in Newport Coast, California. We spent nine years building a consumer-products brand of our own, and we are buying one to run for the long term.
If you're thinking about retiring, or you're just done running it, the conversation starts wherever you're comfortable. No listing required.
Daniel & Jessica Huddleston, Coastal Ridge Ventures
Where we stand before you ask.
The product
We buy brands where quality is the reason customers come back. We do not value-engineer the spec to save forty cents a unit.
Your customers
Same product, same service standards. We stay close enough to make sure of it.
Your reputation
The brand keeps its name, its story, and its reviews. No relabeling under a portfolio brand.
Your people
We want your employees and long-standing contractors on the same terms. If a role genuinely does not survive, you hear it before close.
| Coastal Ridge Ventures | A Typical Financial Buyer | |
|---|---|---|
| Hold Period | Long-term | 3 to 5 years, then resold |
| Who Runs It After Close | We do | A hired GM or a committee |
| Capital | Our equity plus SBA financing | Outside investors on a clock |
| How Many at a Time | One | Several at once |
| How Value Gets Created | Keeping what works, then growing it | Cost cutting and integration |
We have been the ones answering the emails and watching the inventory.
We ran our own consumer-products brand alongside our careers. It was a small business and we won't dress it up as more than that, but we did every job in it, which is why we know which parts of the work don't fit into evenings and weekends. The business we buy next gets Jessica full-time from day one, and both of us on every decision. Daniel joins full-time as the business grows.
How a conversation with us goes.
You reach out
We answer either way, fit or no fit.
We review
We sign your NDA, work through the CIM and financials ourselves, and come back with specific questions.
Letter of intent
For a deal that fits, an LOI within two weeks of the CIM, with the assumptions behind our number spelled out.
Diligence and close
75 to 105 days with our SBA lender. We operate it from day one.
Your first 60–90 days
Sixty to ninety days of transition, then on call for the questions that come up after. We're not asking you to run it while we watch. We want the relationships, the supplier history, and the things that aren't written down anywhere.
A seller note
Expect one. Every deal we do will include a seller note, typically 10 to 15% of the price. The exact terms depend on the business and the lender, and you'll see them in the LOI, not at the closing table.
Standard targets, not promises on a specific deal.
One buy box, stated plainly.
| Criterion | What We Are Looking For |
|---|---|
| Geography | U.S.-based and U.S.-domiciled |
| Category | Proprietary consumer products with a real brand moat |
| Revenue | Typically $2M+. SDE is what we actually screen on — revenue is a guide. |
| SDE | $500K+, scaling with price, verifiable against tax returns |
| Deal Size | Up to $2.5M all-in — business, inventory and working capital |
| Tenure | 5+ years operating history |
| IP | Owned and defensible: trademarks, patents, designs, or formulations |
Standard targets, not promises on a specific deal.
Owner-run is fine. Most businesses this size are. We mean brands where customers buy because of who the founder is, which is the one thing a sale can't transfer.
Suppliers, components and tooling sold into jewelry and apparel are in scope. The exclusion covers finished goods sold to consumers.
Close but not exact is still worth sending. We answer either way within 48 hours.
A product you own outright
Trademarks, formulations, molds or tooling that belong to the business. Not someone else's brand under license.
Customers who come back
Consumable, replenishable or subscription-driven products, with repeat buyers you can point to.
A business that runs without you
Documented processes and a team or contractors who know the work. Owner-run is fine. Owner-dependent is the problem.
Margins that hold up
Earned by the product and how it's positioned, not by constant discounting.
Demand you don't rent
Organic, repeat and referral customers doing real work alongside paid ads.
Books that tie out
Clean financials and a history long enough to have survived a bad year.
Privately funded, pre-qualified, and in your category.
Nine years operating a consumer-products brand, pre-qualified by our SBA lender, and buying in the category we already know. Deal size up to $2.5M all-in — business, inventory and working capital. We underwrite SDE we can tie to the tax returns — add-backs we can't document don't count toward the number.
This is our first acquisition. You'd find that out in week three anyway, so you may as well have it from us in week one.
We don't retrade on a change of mind. If diligence turns up something material, you hear it within 48 hours with our reasoning, and we either adjust with the math shown or we walk. No price discovery the week before close.
We sign your NDA and work your fee agreement the way it's written. Resumes and our lender pre-qualification letter on request. Under LOI within two weeks on a deal that fits, and a straight no within 48 hours on one that doesn't.
For a fast answer, send: the teaser or an anonymized summary; revenue and SDE for the trailing twelve months plus two prior years; the add-back schedule, and reported net income if you have it; primary channels and product category; current inventory at landed cost; and the asking price.
The buy box as plain text for your CRM, contact details included.
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Real people, not a faceless fund.
We are a husband-and-wife team who lived in five states and six cities in a decade before settling in Newport Coast, California. We're buying one business and running it ourselves. If we buy another, it will be years from now, and it won't change how we run this one. When you hand over something you built, you should know exactly who is receiving it.
Tell us about your business.
Only your name and email are required. Ranges and rough numbers are fine, and no documents are needed at this stage. We'd rather hear from you early than wait for a polished package, and nothing here commits you to selling.
Brokers: revenue, SDE, and a listing link is enough for a fit answer.