<p><b>Startup description</b></p><p>We help start-up founders raise money from the government of Malta. By using AI, we streamline the grant application process for founders so they can get the best results in a fraction of the time. Additionally, we support founders with further services (intros to accountants, lawyers, and other key stakeholders in Malta) to help them prepare their expansion into Malta, as well as act as their liaison to the Malta government officials.</p><p><b>Key highlights:<b></b></b></p><ul><li>TTM Revenue: $22,000</li><li>All time revenue (~15 months):  $37,400</li><li>All time net margin: $14,177 (38%)</li><li>Contract Value per Client: ~$6,700 (£5,000 GBB)</li><li>CAC: Zero</li></ul><p><b>Team</b></p><p>Just me right now. However in the past I outsourced some of the writing and accounting to contractors.</p><p><b>Tech Stack</b></p><ul><li>Website/Domain: Squarespace / Google</li></ul><ul><li>Workplace: Google Suite</li></ul><ul><li>AI Agent: Perplexity</li></ul><p><b>Marketing and growth</b></p><p>Marketing/Sales Channels:</p><ol><li>Leverage existing network and conduct direct outreach on LinkedIn.</li><li>Conducted only 2 webinars for startup founders via VC funds.</li><li>Word of mouth.</li></ol><p>I acquired all of my clients from word of mouth and from conducting two webinars in 2024, which in total had ~ 150 attendees. I have worked with 9 clients in 15 months, all driven from these two sources, with almost no active outbound sales efforts.</p><p>I ran this business on the side so my capacity was limited in that I can only do 1-2 clients per month max.</p><p><b>Revenue and profit</b></p><p>From June 3, 2024 (first sale) to September 10, 2025...</p><ul><li>Revenue: $37,469</li><li>Expenses: $13,034</li><li>Taxes: $9,118</li><li>Retained Earnings: $749</li><li>Net (Take-Home) Profit: $14,567 (39%)</li></ul><p>CAC is zero with the exception of my time to conduct two webinars and conducted some outreach on Linkedin.</p><p>There are two revenue streams: Full service and Hourly Advisory.</p><ul><li>Full Service Grant Writing and Representation: ~$6,700 + 2.5% success fee per client(It's priced at £5,000 GBP as many of my clients come from the UK).</li><li>Hourly Advisory: ~$200 per hour (£150 per hour). Usually they purchase between 5 to 10 hrs.</li></ul><p>There are three active customer contracts that include the success fee, which have not been paid out yet. These are included in the sale of the company. If they are successful, this could amount to anything from $2,000 to $40,000 in revenue.</p><p>There are fixed costs that are re-occurring whereas sales are not reoccurring. Hence, margins change month-by-month.</p><p><b>Return on investment</b></p><p>The payback period depends on the sale price and on the number of clients the buyer is able to acquire within a certain amount of time. Without outsourcing and keeping all operations in-house, I have been able to maintain ~ 63% net profit margin. With a Contract Value of ~ $6,700, the Net Profit would be $4,187.</p><p><b>Here are a few scenarios:</b></p><p><b>Scenario A</b></p><ul><li>2 clients per month, payback period would be ~6 months.</li></ul><p><b>Scenario B</b></p><ul><li>4 clients per month, payback period would be ~3 months.</li></ul><p><b>Scenario C</b></p><ul><li>6 clients per month, payback period would be ~ 2 months.</li></ul><p>In addition, few clients will opt in for the hourly package which would bring additional revenue, reducing your payback period.</p><p><b>Startup assets<b></b></b></p><ul><li>Website</li><li>Transfer of company</li><li>AI Grant Writer app</li><li>Pipeline of potential clients +100 (warm and cold) (Notion &amp; Linkedin)</li><li>All existing contracts (potential value of up to $40,000 from success fees)</li><li>Notion workspace, which contains everything you need to run this business. (e.g SOPs, Processes, Pipelines, Email Marketing, etc)</li><li>Introductions to one VC partner and one venture studio (in total they have more than 500 founders in their portfolio)</li><li>Introductions and contacts to key stakeholders (reps at Malta, Accountants, etc)</li><li>Training</li><li>Support for an agreed period of time</li></ul><p><b>Risks</b></p><p>Malta stops funding:</p><p>In theory, they could not receive funding however, they’ve been receiving funding for over 15 years from the European Central Bank and have increased it each time.</p><p><b>Ways to de-risk this is to:</b></p><ol><li>Expand service offering to other European and non-European opportunities.</li><li>Expand into other services like international expansion into Malta.</li></ol><p><b>Competition:</b></p><p>I see this as a low risk, as I found that the USP is built on relationships and proximity. Our competitors are in Malta, whereas I have built a network of founders in the UK and the US - our main target market.</p><p><b>Ways to de-risk this are to:</b></p><ol><li>Create better service offerings by improving the product (huge AI play in this business).</li><li>And also to expand into other European and non-European countries.</li></ol><p><b>Summary</b></p><p>Here’s why this is a great business to buy:</p><ul><li>Profitable out of the box with high margins38% to 63% net profit margins.</li><li>Growth potentialzero CAC, and it generated $37k. A solid sales strategy would take this business to the next level.</li><li>Margin expansion: Leverage AI and automation to streamline the process. Cut expenses like office space (~$200/m) and don't hire contractors (~$5,000 over 15 months).</li><li>Low competition: few independent consultants in Malta.</li><li>Great serving entrepreneurs!You’re helping founders raise money to grow their business and to expand into a new country. It’s rewarding to help them, and if you enjoy working with other founders, then this could be a great fit.</li></ul><p><b>There are several opportunities a buyer can utilize with this type of business:</b></p><ul><li>Expand product offering. Enter new countries: we currently only work with Malta, however, several European and non-European countries offer similar grants and loans to foreign start-upsInternational expansion service: clients have expressed the need for more services to facilitate their international expansion. (e.g, incorporation, private investment, HR services, etc).</li><li>Capitalize on the trend of US &amp; UK companies relocating. There’s a growing trend of US and UK companies looking to expand into the EU. Malta offers an easy way for start-up founders to base their EU office in Malta whilst receiving some financial incentives.</li></ul><p>By leveraging technology and having a good small team around you, this could be a great business that brings in consistent cash flow while having fun helping entrepreneurs.</p></br>✅ $22,000 in Annual revenue✅ 9 customers✅ Business model: One-time sales✅ Built with Notion, Google Sheets