Danyelle Nys·October 17, 2025

Buying a $1.6m Business for the Inventory Value | Danyelle Nys Interview

Danyelle Nys grew up in her family's asphalt paving business in the Seattle area and spent years working there as an adult before a falling out led her to leave. After attending an ETA seminar hosted by Jake Ferraro and Kyle Bdon, she pursued buying a service business with coaching support from Kyle. She acquired Decor Home Staging — a luxury home staging company in the Seattle/Washington market — in November 2024 for $780k, an extraordinarily low multiple (under 2x SDE of ~$400k) essentially pricing in only the inventory and assets (~$650k on the balance sheet). The deal was funded via SBA loan with a 10% down payment sourced from a loan from her mother's inheritance. Within roughly one year, she grew revenue from $1.6m toward $2m and SDE from $400k to ~$480k by aggressively booking contracts, hiring full-time staff, purchasing new premium inventory, and raising prices. Key risks include customer concentration with one dominant builder client, the capital intensity of growing an inventory-based business, and a warehouse move forced by a skeptical landlord. She and her mother are deliberately taking minimal salaries to reinvest in growth, with goals of eventually buying a commercial warehouse and potentially launching an interior design service line.

Deal facts

purchase price: $780k
multiple: less than 2x SDE
sde ebitda: SDE ~$400k (with add-backs)
revenue: $1.6m (2024, at acquisition); ~$1.8m and approaching $2m at time of interview
financing structure: SBA loan, 10% down (funded by mother's inheritance loan); seller financing briefly agreed to cover potential 15% down requirement but ultimately not needed
notes: Total loan including working capital approximately $880k-$940k. Working capital draw of ~$160k. Business assets/inventory on balance sheet ~$650k at time of acquisition. Net profit at acquisition ~$400k; grown to ~$480k within first year. Closed November 27, 2024.

Why this business

The numbers felt almost too good to be true — the business was essentially priced at the value of the inventory and assets, meaning the earnings came nearly for free. The owner was fully remote (running from Florida), the team was a well-oiled machine, it was a service-based business (which fit her background), and there was clear upside from underinvestment and lack of marketing.

What's working

Strong existing client relationships with major luxury home builders in the Seattle market, requiring no marketing at acquisition
Fully delegated design and logistics team — guest replaced the prior remote owner/manager with no meaningful disruption
Pricing power in the luxury segment ($5m+ homes); average contracts $10k-$50k per stage
Rapid revenue and SDE growth in first year by saying yes to more contracts, hiring staff, buying new inventory, and raising prices
In-house custom art production as a differentiator from other staging companies
Builder clients provide more consistent volume than realtor clients, smoothing out real estate seasonality

What's hard

Customer concentration: one large builder ('whale') accounts for a disproportionate share of revenue
Significant capex required to grow — inventory sits on the balance sheet, so reinvesting in furniture is capital-intensive and not reflected as an expense
Lease/warehouse challenge at acquisition: original landlord deemed guest too high-risk financially and required the sellers to personally guarantee her, forcing a warehouse move
Key-person risk in the design manager, who oversees all staging design
Guest and her mother are taking very low salaries ($4k/month each) to fund growth — financially constrained in the near term
Business is tied to the cyclical residential real estate market, though luxury segment is somewhat more insulated

Notable quotes

The numbers were almost too good to be true. It was kind of mind-boggling. It was really just kind of packaged at a purchase price essentially for the inventory and the assets that were provided.

It was less than 2x for a business that was pretty established and as you said remotely run — the owner was not even in the day-to-day.

I had no clue initially that you could buy a business. I didn't even know that existed. And when they presented kind of what it takes to buy a business, I was like, none of this seems hard to me. I already understood all of this based on being in the family business.

F your mood, follow the plan. That's just kind of been like my motto. My feelings are there, but essentially I just dive head in and figure it out.