Podcast Summary
Podcast: Action Academy | Millionaire Mentorship For Your Life & Business
Episode: How This Couple of First-Time-Buyers Purchased a $1.2M Business in 6 Months (With Seller Financing)
Host: Brian Luebben
Guests: Chance and Shelby Mancuso
Date: November 12, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Chance and Shelby Mancuso, a couple from Alabama, who candidly share their step-by-step journey buying their first business—a glass company—valued at $1.2 million, using seller financing. Host Brian Luebben walks listeners through the emotional and practical process, from making the leap from W2 jobs to entrepreneurship, to negotiating financing and the realities of stepping into ownership. The conversation is packed with actionable advice, honest reflections, and insights into the mindset and support network needed to succeed in small business acquisitions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Deciding to Ditch W2 Work for Entrepreneurship

Timestamps: 01:26–04:42

• Background: Chance and Shelby both worked regular jobs for years before realizing rentals weren’t moving them toward true lifestyle or income goals.
• Early Investing: Their journey began with long-term rental properties, then a successful short-term Airbnb, but these didn’t provide enough leverage for Shelby to quit her higher-income job.
• Pivot to Business Ownership: Realized acquisition—not more rentals—was their ticket to leaving corporate jobs behind and achieving greater dreams.
  • "We really like the business aspect as well. We love how Action Academy just has pretty much all of it." — Shelby (04:42)

2. Why and How They Found Their Deal

Timestamps: 02:52–06:26

• Searching for Businesses: Used BizBuySell and identified target cash flow—enough to replace Chance’s income first, with Shelby’s as the next step.
• Joining Action Academy: After vetting other communities, they joined Action Academy for guidance across both real estate and business, finding it a better fit for their asset-agnostic aspirations.
• Key Help: A call with community member Pearson provided invaluable advice leading directly to a $75,000 saving via seller-financed terms.
  • "If it wasn’t for him, we probably would not have this business right now." — Shelby (04:42)

3. The Mechanics of Seller Financing

Timestamps: 06:26–09:13

• Negotiation: Seller agreed to lower asking price from $650K to $600K. $75K was structured as a “seller carry” note at 5% interest, payable only upon refinancing or debt payoff.
• Benefits: Lowered monthly payments significantly, made the deal viable, and gave both buyer and seller skin in the game.
  • "What he had suggested that really helped us was to see about negotiating a seller carries note." — Shelby (04:42)
  • "Seller carry aligns incentives." — Brian (09:14)

4. Inside the Business: One Cut Glass

Timestamps: 10:05–12:33

• Overview: Full-service glass company, specializing in everything from residential windows, shower glass, to bespoke freehand glass cutting.
• Business Snapshot: Five technicians, one office manager.
• Transition Pain: Inherited a paper-based office—owner resisted technology—which became a priority for modernization.
  • "Everything's paper...there was so much minimal technology...that’s our main next step right now." — Chance (11:23)

5. First-Year Game Plan and Growth Vision

Timestamps: 13:23–16:32, 24:34–26:40

• Immediate Focus: Digitize and systematize the business, introduce modern processes, and ramp up advertising (business previously grew on word-of-mouth only).
• Revenue Goals:
  • Goal: Hit $2M revenue within 18–24 months.
  • Longer-term: Build a specialty/brand reputation; eventually own multiple businesses.
  • "Our primary game plan right now is to get Shelby to quit her job, and then we want to get that to at least 2 million within the next year and a half to two years." — Chance (24:34)
• Culture Transformation: Shelby’s management skills will drive cultural change and staff morale.
  • "There is this owner problem...you can only do so much when you're not the owner. I'm ready to create the culture and bring the people in." — Shelby (14:54)

6. Mindset, Motivation, and "Taking Action"

Timestamps: 19:40–22:12

• Why They Followed Through: Shelby’s ambition and discipline drove quick action—"If I say I'm going to do something, I am a woman of my word."
• Overcoming Analysis Paralysis: Many people just talk; the Mancusos committed, submitted offers, and closed the deal.
• "I want to quit my job in five years...now that was a year and a half ago. No, actually, I want to quit it sooner..." — Shelby (19:40)

7. The Importance of Community

Timestamps: 20:59–23:07

• Support & Resources: Action Academy’s community provided real-time, practical support. Felt they “wouldn't have this business” without it.
• Honest Environment: Community vulnerable, generous, and nonjudgmental—"just raw and real."
  • "Just the support and care...that actually genuinely care about what you're doing and want to help you get to that next step is just truthfully, the best part about being a part of this community." — Chance (21:46)

8. Roadblocks and Lessons Learned

Timestamps: 27:10–30:02

• SBA Lending: Proved difficult—closing delayed by months and paperwork.
• Inherited Chaos: Transition from entirely paper records to digital proved a major hurdle; lack of written SOPs for pricing and quoting glass jobs a second big issue.
  • "So much stuff that...someone didn't write down the phone number or the piece of paper gets lost, or they never even got put into the invoicing system." — Chance (28:40)
  • "A lot of it is just kind of in her head...doesn't really have like an actual system down on quoting or pricing..." — Shelby (29:23)
• Encouragement: If the former owner could run a near $1M business without systems, anyone motivated can learn and scale.
  • "This woman in South Alabama is doing $780,000 with no emails, no receipts, no everything on paper. Just absolute, like, spitballing it from her head. And she's doing about a million dollars a year. So if anybody's listening to this podcast and they're like, I don't know if I got an ['M' in me] you do." — Brian (00:00 & 30:19)

9. Looking Ahead

Timestamps: 33:11–34:02

• Brand Plans: New goal to actively document the journey and bring the business online, expanding social media presence, and updating stale Facebook pages.
• Strategically Prioritizing: Modernize systems first, then invest in advertising—"You just can't do—you can't change 90 things at one time. Just gotta do it one by one." — Brian (32:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If it wasn’t for him, we probably would not have this business right now." — Shelby, on Pearson’s seller financing advice (04:42)
• "Seller carry aligns incentives for people listening...the only way to actually trust somebody in a business transaction is if you have aligned incentives." — Brian (09:14)
• "I just hit a ceiling all the time. Like, there is this—it has, you know, so much potential. And there's really an owner problem...I'm ready to create the culture and bring the people in." — Shelby (14:54)
• "If I say I'm going to do something, I am a woman of my word..." — Shelby (19:40)
• "To be honest with you, if it wasn't for the community, the process and everything that we are doing now, it would have been extremely hard and difficult…" — Chance (20:59)
• "She was doing $780,000 with no emails, no receipts, no everything on paper. Just absolute, like, spitballing it from her head. And she's doing about a million dollars a year. So if anybody's listening to this podcast and they're like, I don't know if I got an Emmy, you do." — Brian (30:19)
• "I'm not doing this the rest of my life. Like, I am not. I'm doing something better and I'm creating something for myself and my husband and maybe our future kids..." — Shelby (17:49)

Key Timestamps Guide

• 01:26–04:42: Couple’s background, rental investing, decision to pivot to business.
• 04:42–06:26: How Action Academy and community support propelled their first deal.
• 06:26–09:13: Seller financing mechanics explained.
• 10:05–12:33: Inside look at the acquired glass business.
• 14:54–16:32: Shelby on skills transfer, culture, and management vision.
• 19:40–20:25: The mindset that made action possible.
• 20:59–22:12: The critical role of community.
• 24:34–26:40: Next steps and growth plan for the business.
• 27:10–30:02: Roadblocks with SBA loans and inherited business mess.
• 33:11–34:02: Future branding/social media goals, phased approach to change.

Final Thoughts

This episode embodies the ethos of Action Academy: practical, actionable steps toward financial freedom through small business ownership, combined with the power of community. Chance and Shelby’s story provides a prescription for moving from “thinking about it” to successfully closing and scaling a business—even without prior experience, and despite messy realities of real-world entrepreneurship.

Contacting the Guests:
Reach Shelby Mancuso on Instagram/Facebook (under her name) or follow "One Cut Glass" on Facebook (pending updates).

[End of Summary]