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

1. We bought a hotel in Montauk
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2. Don't make this mistake when buying a business
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3. He's rolling up auto shops...and doing $150 million+ per year

🔑 I did something a little crazy.

Not many know I’ve been working on this for the past 2 years. I bought a hotel in Montauk, NY, for $23 million.

I'll jump into the numbers and business plan in a minute.

But first I want to tell you about what makes this particular spot so special.

Here’s a little about the hotel: It's a 73-year-old hotel on a huge piece of property right on the ocean in downtown Montauk.

Montauk is a special place. They call it the "End of the World." It's located at the far end of the Hamptons. Two hours from Manhattan.

Most people who come out and visit are from New York City. During the summer, it gets hot and muggy in the concrete jungle of New York, so people are looking for a place to escape.

For over a hundred years, that place to escape has been Montauk. There are no large buildings; everything is airy, breezy, filled with sun and ocean smells. Even though I grew up in California, I've never been to a beach town like Montauk. There's something incredible about it.

Here’s what we bought:

• 45-room hotel. All the rooms have views both ocean and the pond views which I think is pretty special.
• It’s one of the only hotels in the Hamptons that is on the beach
• A cool fact: this hotel has the largest commercial swimming pool in Montauk.
• We paid $23.5 million. That’s a lot of money! We raised some debt and some equity for the property. I personally invested a million, which is a lot of money for me.

Originally built 73 years ago, the hotel is in the middle of downtown, next to the only grocery store in town.

It was an 8-room roadside motel when first built, but expanded to 45 rooms over the years by the original owners Abe and Julia Hausman (pictured below)

We bought it, gutted it, and did a total remodel.

Construction is expensive.

Now it’s called Offshore Montauk.

I have a lot of my personal money invested in this property. My dream is that in three years, if things go well, this little property can generate a few million of profit per year. If that happens, I think it's going to be great.

It’s the nicest hotel product in the town of Montauk. But to be honest, there aren’t that many nice hotels in Montauk, which is definitely in our favor.

With our hotel, we really leaned into the beach thing. We focused on the feeling and the aesthetic of “drifting away”. Drifting away from the stress of the city and drifting towards relaxation.

We put in a cool spa complete with multiple hot saunas, multiple cold plunges, red light therapy, and an awesome gym.

I've never done hotels. And as you can imagine, I'm anxious, and I want people to check it out.

if you're in New York and you spend summers in Montauk, definitely give it a try (and please tell your friends!).

Over the last couple of years, I really put my all into this project. Lots of sleepless nights. Hand-wringing about the costs. Choosing every single furniture and fixture down to the last light bulb and bedside table.

Please let me know what you think, and give us a follow on Instagram if you want to see more pictures and videos as we open this hotel.

I'm excited for you to check it out.

🔑 Don't make this mistake when buying a business

Buying a business without getting a quality of earnings report is like buying a house without a home inspection. You’re taking a big bet without knowing what you’re buying, and it could be a disaster.

Even if the seller gives you all their financial statements, they often have very bad bookkeeping. ​

So, what should be in your QOE and financial due diligence package? ​ Here's what today's sponsor Appletree says about their QOE reports: ​

✅ Proof of Cash ​

Are revenues real? We rebuild the last 1-2 years using bank statements to verify that reported earnings arrived in the bank account.

✅ Addbacks That Actually Make Sense ​

We normalize SDE or EBITDA with logic, not wishful thinking. The hand-waving. No “adjusting away” real costs just to make numbers look better.

✅ Working Capital Analysis ​

Avoid the “Post-Close Surprise” where you’re suddenly short $150k in working capital. We calculate what the business needs to operate smoothly.

✅ Forward Looking Projections

​We model post close cash flow and debt service coverage under flat, growth, and decline scenarios – so you know how risky the deal really is.

If you’re sending out LOI’s or nearing a deal, don’t go in blind. Talk to Appletree for a pragmatic, thorough Quality of Earnings report – built by people who’ve bought businesses themselves.

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🔑 He Rolls Up Auto Shops

I chatted with Logan Leslie, one of the most skilled rollup operators I know.

He owns 100+ automotive shops across the Southeast with more than $150 million + in annual revenue.

Logan chatted with me about why he started a holding company, how he did his first deal, and dozens of other lessons from building his empire.

​Watch on YouTube​

​Listen on Spotify​

​Listen on Apple Podcasts​

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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