Siam Kidd - Building a Successful Membership Community and Making Lots of M&A Mistakes!

Grow My Business Or Sell It

Siam Kidd is a former RAF pilot who has packed a lot into his young life. He’s now a full time Investor and trader in the financial markets as well as owning a group of profitable businesses. What’s especially relevant for us is that he has built his main business - coaching people in financial trading - through organic growth while also using M&A techniques to acquire a portfolio of other businesses alongside it with, shall we say, mixed results.

Siam was motivated to create the Realistic Trader platform as an ethical alternative to the Get Rich Quick charlatans who tend to dominate the sector. He explains how he has established and maintained those ethics that set him apart from the online hustlers.

Realistic Trader is a subscription coaching model that provides the Holy Grail of recurring revenue. Siam explains how he got started and what approaches he's used to grow to more than 450 members.

Siam has a really strong relationship with the people he coaches, and we explore how he has built those relationships and what can other business owners learn from his approach.

I ask Siam if there's an optimum size for this kind of subscription based coaching business model or whether it's infinitely scalable.

At what point did Siam decide to start acquiring other existing businesses and what approach did he take to finding them?

The challenges of acquiring a business in a sector where you may not have any previous experience - Siam ended up owning one of the oldest potteries in the UK and still can't make a teapot!

Siam explains why, having at one point acquired 16 companies, he had 60 people chasing him every day and why he has taken a samurai sword to his business portfolio and reduced it back down to just three companies run by two staff.
The importance of the Shareholder Agreement and why you should avoid 50/50 partnerships.
Siam and Graham share their passion for financial education - listen out for Siam's unique requirement that his kids have to achieve before they inherit their trust fund!
What would be the top three lessons Siam would share with other entrepreneurs trying to grow or sell their business?
If you would like to appear on Grown My Business Or Sell It, or would like Graham Rowan to appear on your podcast, please email Graham on [e-mail]
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