An Engineer's Mini Berkshire: 2 Auto Shops in 1 Year | Sujith Shankar Interview
Synopsis
Sujith Shankar, an automotive engineer, bought a boutique auto repair shop near his Orange County home and later added a body shop through a 50/50 seller partnership. He financed the first acquisition with a HELOC from a credit union at a rate 3.5 percentage points below SBA pricing, kept his day job at Hyundai while paying much of it down, then left his W-2 after the second deal. The episode frames the strategy as a Buffett-inspired mini Berkshire built around circle of competence and long-term cash flow.
Ideas in this episode
- Buying cash-flowing lifestyle businesses
Sujith Shankar describes his two Orange County auto shops as a Buffett-inspired mini Berkshire focused on long-term cash flow and circle of competence.
- Buy-and-build holding company
Sujith Shankar bought a boutique auto repair shop with a credit-union HELOC, then added a body shop via a 50/50 seller partnership while keeping his Hyundai day job.
- Small business acquisition (no experience required)
Sujith Shankar financed a HELOC-priced first auto-shop acquisition 3.5 points below SBA rates and added a 50/50 seller-partnered second shop within a year.