Chapter 51: What am I missing

Damian woke up with one question already in his head.

Why hasn’t anyone bought it?

It had bothered him all night.

The company had customers.

It had recurring revenue.

It had working software.

The owner wasn’t desperate.

The asking price was low, but not suspiciously low once the debt and infrastructure problems were considered.

Still, something wasn’t adding up.

Damian sat at the edge of his bed and rubbed his face.

"I’m missing something."

He wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

That was the problem with having money.

It was easy to start believing you knew what you were doing simply because you could afford to make decisions.

Damian didn’t want that.

He grabbed his phone and opened his contacts.

He needed professionals.

Not another internet search.

Someone who could actually tear the company apart and tell him whether it was worth buying.

He made a few calls.

An accountant first.

Then a lawyer.

Then someone who understood software infrastructure.

He didn’t need them to tell him what to buy.

He needed them to tell him what he couldn’t see.

By noon, Damian was sitting in a small café with a man named Marcus Reed.

Marcus was an accountant Damian had been introduced to through one of the university’s business connections.

He looked through the financial documents Damian had received.

For several minutes, he said nothing.

Damian waited.

Eventually, Marcus looked up.

"You’re seriously considering buying this?"

"I’m considering it."

"That’s different."

"Exactly."

Marcus nodded.

"Good."

He went back to the documents.

"The revenue isn’t terrible."

"That’s what I saw."

"Customer retention isn’t terrible either."

"Also what I saw."

Marcus pointed at one section.

"But their operating expenses are high."

Damian leaned closer.

"How high?"

Marcus explained.

Damian listened carefully.

The biggest problem wasn’t one massive expense.

It was several smaller ones.

Support costs.

Maintenance.

Staffing.

Third-party infrastructure.

Customer acquisition.

None of them were individually disastrous.

Together, they were eating into the company’s margins.

"So they’re making money," Damian said.

"Yes."

"But not enough."

"Not enough for the amount of work they’re putting in."

Damian nodded.

Marcus continued.

"There’s another thing."

"What?"

"The company has been spending money to maintain customers instead of grow."

Damian frowned.

"Meaning?"

"Too much support. Too much customization. Too many exceptions."

Marcus tapped the report.

"They’re basically bending the product around individual customers."

Damian sat back.

That sounded familiar.

Westbridge had nearly fallen into a similar problem during its early growth.

Except Westbridge had started fixing it.

Maybe that was why this opportunity caught his attention.

The company wasn’t fundamentally bad.

Its operations were inefficient.

Still, Damian wasn’t satisfied.

"Would you buy it?"

Marcus looked at him.

"I wouldn’t answer that yet."

"Why?"

"Because I haven’t seen enough."

Damian smiled.

"That’s exactly why I called you."

Later that afternoon, Damian met the software consultant.

Her name was Maya Patel.

She spent nearly an hour going through the technical documentation.

At first, she was quiet.

Then she asked,

"Do you have access to the source code?"

"Not yet."

"Get it."

"Why?"

"Because everything you’re looking at right now is what the owner says the system can do."

She closed the laptop.

"I want to see what it actually does."

Damian nodded.

"Fair."

She continued.

"From what I’ve seen, the software isn’t obsolete."

"That sounds good."

"It is."

She paused.

"But parts of it are old."

"How old?"

"Old enough that I’d want a proper technical audit before touching this."

Damian nodded.

"Expensive?"

"Potentially."

"How expensive?"

Maya gave him a range.

Damian went quiet.

It wasn’t catastrophic.

But it wasn’t pocket change either.

He wrote it down.

"Could you modernize it?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Depends how much of the existing system can be kept."

"And if we don’t modernize it?"

Maya looked at him.

"You’ll keep paying maintenance costs."

Damian sighed.

"So either way..."

"You spend money."

"Great."

Maya smiled.

"That’s technology."

That evening, Damian returned home with more questions than he started with.

But strangely, he felt better.

The professionals hadn’t told him the company was worthless.

They hadn’t told him it was a guaranteed success either.

They’d simply shown him where the risks were.

And that was exactly what he wanted.

He opened the acquisition file again.

The list had grown.

Revenue — Verified.

Debt — Needs deeper review.

Users — Needs customer verification.

Employees — Needs review.

Technology — Technical audit required.

Ownership — Verified.

Legal issues — Lawyer reviewing.

Reason for sale — Mostly understood.

He looked at the final line.

Then added another.

Existing customers — Talk to them directly.

That was the next step.

Numbers could lie.

Customers were harder to fake.

Emily’s week wasn’t going nearly as smoothly.

She sat in the hospital cafeteria, staring at a cup of tea she’d barely touched.

Her mother was improving.

That should have made everything easier.

Instead, Emily felt more guilty.

Because every time she looked at her mother, she remembered where the money had come from.

Adrian.

Her phone buzzed.

Adrian:How’s your mom?

Emily replied.

Emily:She’s doing better.

A few seconds later:

Adrian:Good.

Then another message.

Adrian:Dinner Friday?

Emily stared at it.

She typed:

Emily:I don’t know yet.

Adrian:That’s fine.

She put the phone away.

There was no argument.

No pressure.

That somehow made it harder.

That night, Damian called Emily.

She almost didn’t answer.

Then she did.

"Hey, love."

"Hey."

"You sound tired."

"I am."

"Long day?"

"Yeah."

Damian leaned back in his chair.

"Mine too."

"What happened?"

"I’m getting the acquisition checked out."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I brought in an accountant and a technical consultant."

Emily smiled.

"Look at you."

"What?"

"Actually getting professionals involved."

Damian laughed.

"Hey, I know when I’m out of my depth."

"That’s new."

"Very funny."

She laughed softly.

For a few seconds, everything felt normal.

Then Damian asked,

"How’s your mom?"

Emily froze.

Her grip tightened around the phone.

"She’s... okay."

"Just okay?"

"She’s getting better."

Damian went quiet.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He didn’t sound convinced.

Emily closed her eyes.

"I’m just tired, Damian."

"Okay."

He didn’t push.

"Get some rest."

"Okay."

There was a pause.

"Love?"

"Yeah?"

"I’m here, okay?"

Emily swallowed.

"I know."

The call ended.

She stared at the screen.

For a moment, she considered telling him everything.

The hospital.

The bills.

Adrian.

The arrangement.

Everything.

Her thumb hovered over his name.

Then she locked the phone.

Not tonight.

The next morning, Damian received another email.

This one was from Michael.

Subject: Customer Access

Damian opened it.

Michael had arranged access to several long-term customers who were willing to speak with a potential buyer.

Damian smiled.

Finally.

He replied immediately.

Damian:Thank you. I’d like to speak with as many as possible.

Michael’s response came minutes later.

Michael:That’s probably a good idea.

Damian paused.

There was something about that sentence.

Probably a good idea.

Not great idea.

Not absolutely.

Just probably.

He frowned.

Then another email arrived.

This time, from Marcus.

I’ve been reviewing the financial statements again. There’s something you should see.

Damian opened the attachment.

A spreadsheet.

One section had been highlighted.

Customer revenue concentration.

Damian stared at the numbers.

One customer represented a surprisingly large percentage of the company’s annual revenue.

His expression slowly changed.

"Oh."

Now he understood.

Not everything.

But enough.

If that customer left, the company’s revenue would take a serious hit.

And suddenly, the low asking price made a lot more sense.

Damian leaned back.

He looked at the screen for several seconds.

Then smiled.

Not because the problem was good.

Because he’d finally found one.

A real one.

Something he could investigate.

Something that could determine whether the company was actually worth buying.

He picked up his phone and called Marcus.

"Tell me everything about that customer."

Marcus answered almost immediately.

"I knew you’d ask."

Damian smiled.

"Let’s start there."

He opened his notebook.

At the top of a fresh page, he wrote:

THE BIG CUSTOMER

Then underneath:

Why are they still here?

How long is their contract?

Can they leave?

What happens if they do?

He paused.

Then added one final question.

And why hasn’t the owner told me about this?

Damian stared at the page.

That was the question he couldn’t ignore.

Because maybe Michael simply hadn’t gotten around to mentioning it.

Or maybe—

Damian closed the notebook.

"Let’s find out."