Five things separate businesses that make money from businesses that own you.

Our reading notes on Codie Sanchez

• Codie Sanchez: These “Boring Businesses” Will Make You Rich

  The hosts ask Sanchez how she sets criteria for an acquisition and how owner compensation affects the apparent earnings of a small business. The discussion makes the owner’s labor visible. A listing’s figures still need reconciliation with records and the cost of doing that work after a handover.

• Stop Creating Businesses. Buy One Instead.

  Bob Safian asks Sanchez how an owner builds a business that can run without them. She describes looking at operating data every 90 days and revising the system in response. Her exchange with Safian comes after an interview with another founder, so follow the speaker labels when comparing the two accounts.

• From Laundromat to Millions: Codie Sanchez on Buying Her First Business — and the Steps to Acquire Your Own

  In an interview reported by Jasmin Suknanan, Sanchez describes buying a laundromat while she still had a corporate role. The account opens questions about what made that particular business manageable and how a different buyer might verify the work involved. Use it as one buyer’s account of the work.