Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today:

1. The billionaire who drove a beat up Volvo
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2. Never miss a filing deadline again
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3. Watch this if you want to buy a business

Nick is my director of finance. This saves him hours of work each week.

My business has 50+ bank accounts. Last year Nick started using Vesto to check these accounts

With Vesto it takes him less than 5 minutes, so he has more time to work on all the important parts on his job.

Vesto connects all of our banks into one simple dashboard. With real-time balances, transactions, and cash flow monitoring – we went from 50+ account logins to one.

​Learn about Vesto here​

(Thank you to Vesto for sponsoring today's newsletter)

You've probably never heard this guy's name.

But you probably have one of his products in your home.

This is Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA.

At 17 years old (back in 1943), he started IKEA with money he received from his father as a reward for good grades.

At first, the business was a mail-order service selling small goods like wallets and picture frames.

Then he pivoted to furniture in 1948. But within a few years he ran into a huge problem: Suppliers wouldn't work with him because his established competitors told them not to.

This could have killed his business.

But instead, it helped create one of the biggest innovations in furniture.

In 1956, IKEA pioneered flat-pack furniture: Disassembled pieces packed flat for easy transport, after an employee suggested removing table legs to fit items in a car.

This slashed costs and became IKEA’s hallmark.

Kamprad opened the first IKEA store in Älmhult, Sweden, in 1958, emphasizing self-service and low prices.

He expanded to Norway (1963) and beyond, focusing on functional Scandinavian design.

Innovations like in-house manufacturing, global sourcing (e.g., Poland to dodge high Swedish costs), and warehouse-style stores drove growth.

By the 1980s, IKEA was a European powerhouse

Then IKEA entered North America and Asia, adapting designs to local tastes while keeping prices low through ruthless cost-cutting - like optimizing packaging to fit more units per shipment.

IKEA's low prices aren't just a corporate strategy.

Ingvar's frugality influenced the company's entire culture.

He famously drove an old Volvo and flew economy even though he was a billionaire.

Today, IKEA has 481 stores and about $50 billion in annual revenue.

Here are the four strategies you can boil IKEA's success down to:

• Flat-pack and self-assembly: Lowered production, shipping, and storage costs.
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• Vertical integration: Controlled design, manufacturing, and retail.
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• Economies of scale: Massive global supply chains and bulk purchasing.
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• Customer experience: Maze-like stores and cheap cafeterias encouraged longer visits and impulse buys.

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🔑 Ever miss a state filing deadline?

I have, and it's a distraction. My registered agent was supposed to help, but they just sent confusing emails and expected me to do all the work.

Tracking legal entities and state compliance as I've bought businesses is a nightmare—spreadsheets, portals that never work, and zero actual filing help.

​Discern changes everything. Their software replaces traditional registered agents completely, giving me one dashboard for all my entities AND automating my annual report as well as tracking franchise tax filings.

Now my team spends minutes per year on state compliance, with no more penalties or surprises.

​Switch your Registered Agent to Discern today, it only takes a few minutes.

(Thank you to Discern for sponsoring today's newsletter)

🔑 Learn to Buy Businesses (this is a masterclass on M&A, Rollups, and Negotiating)

I chatted with Brian Wolfe, an expert on M&A from all levels: he worked as a partner at a big law firm for 17 years, helping to close huge deals.

Now he's buying businesses himself - including a rollup of 3 software businesses that he sold to private equity. He even bought one of them for 100% seller financing with some clever negotiating tactics.

This interview is a masterclass on buying businesses.

​Watch on YouTube​

​Listen on Spotify​

​Listen on Apple Podcasts​

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Have a great day,

Sieva

P.S. - Are you hiring? Get started with top global talent from Somewhere (I'm a customer and investor)

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Disclaimer: nothing here is investment advice. Please do your own research. The information above is just for information and learning.

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