Get to Know Chad Peterson

I am the founder of Peterson Acquisitions. I have spent years helping business owners and buyers through acquisitions, ownership transitions, and growth opportunities.

I understand business ownership because I have lived it. I have built, operated, acquired, and sold businesses across several industries. That gives me firsthand insight into the problems and opportunities owners face, and I bring that experience to every client engagement.

Today, through Peterson Acquisitions, I help owners sell and buyers buy. Practical experience. A focus on results.

How I Operate

Before you read my story, here are a few principles that guide how I operate:

• INTEGRITY: I do what I say I'm going to do, and so does my staff. You can count on it.
• HUSTLE: I use hard work as my first go-to for results. So does my staff.
• DISCIPLINE: I don't stop, not at all. I win regardless. I am relentless, and we don't stop until the job is done.
• EXCUSES ARE BULLSHIT: I will blame myself in any failure.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: If it's meant to be, it's up to me.

I Come from a Family of Resilience

My family's story shaped who I am today.

My grandmother grew up with little and started working at a young age to help support herself. Through determination, hard work, and perseverance, she built a life that led to real success.

My grandfather faced hard choices and limited opportunities. Resourceful and independent, he found his own path. He taught me self-reliance and personal responsibility.

My parents faced their own challenges. Watching them work through adversity taught me about resilience, perseverance, and never giving up.

I learned as a kid that success is not handed to anyone. It is earned through discipline, hard work, and the willingness to keep moving forward when things are hard.

Those lessons still guide me. They shaped my work ethic, my commitment to my clients, and my belief that determination and persistence can overcome most obstacles.

I Started Working at Seven

At an early age, I learned that opportunity comes to those willing to create it.

At 7 years old, I began buying items at garage sales and reselling them for a profit. That taught me initiative and self-reliance.

By the time I was 10, I was taking on yard work and neighborhood jobs, doing whatever it took to earn my own money and build a work ethic.

As a kid, I took on any work I could find: shoveling snow, mowing lawns, raking leaves, and helping neighbors with odd jobs. There were times when the work was harder than I expected. I finished the job anyway, because I had made a commitment. That taught me one lesson: do what you say you're going to do.

By my teenage years, I was mowing yards across town, walking long distances to earn a few dollars. Those jobs built the work ethic, determination, and persistence that still guide me today.

Every No Brought Me Closer to a Yes

As a teenager, I was already earning more than many people expected. Some called it luck. I learned that success does not come from luck alone.

One lesson that shaped me was learning to accept rejection. Every "no" brought me one step closer to a "yes," and that mindset has stayed with me through my life and career.

I had mentors who recognized my work ethic and gave me chances to prove myself. I learned that success is earned through consistent effort. The harder I worked, the more opportunities I created for myself.

The Car Wash

I had the work your ass off gene, and it didn't take much for me to exploit it. If you tried to make me work, I wouldn't do it. It would be on my own drive, my own will, my own decision.

I will fall on my own sword, not yours. Raw accountability.

In winter, I worked part time at a car wash. I sold more high-priced car washes than anyone in the company ever had. I was a machine. I was earning $2,000 paychecks at 16 years old.

They put me on the line to wash cars, only to see that I did that faster and harder than the others. They put me back on sales, knowing they would benefit from higher numbers.

I sold the most expensive services we had. I knew how to do this at a young age. I sold over $20,000 per day in premium services. I was making great money, and they were happy.

I was making so much money they decided to cut the pay for the line salesmen. I quit. I wasn't going to play their games.

School Was Never Going to Have My Answers

I built my company in my teens and lived a great life. I didn't have a lot of supervision. I was my own man at a young age, knowing that if it was meant to be, it was up to me.

I knew my answers to life didn't exist inside those school walls. I knew that schools were dangerous to a mind like mine. Their doctrine of staying in the box never worked for me. I refuse in-the-box thinking.

I approached class knowing I was only there to finish up and move on. I was careful not to get caught up in all their bullshit that doesn't work: degrees, honors, certificates, more education.

I've hired and fired more people with degrees than I can count. In a lot of cases, the degree is all they have.

How many people with degrees are standing in line for a job, lying to themselves that they deserve a career because of a paper certificate? How many others have that same degree and want that same job? When I interview, education isn't part of the conversation. If a candidate talks about their education, my eyes glaze over. I put their hard work to the test. You can't carry a certificate for that.

The People Who Taught Me

I was given a ticket to see Brian Tracy, a legend in self-improvement and sales. I bought his tapes and listened to them over and over.

I got my hands on Tony Robbins' Awaken the Giant Within and read it until my eyes hurt.

I read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. That book is the ultimate guide to wealth and success. You can't be what you want to be unless you can first imagine it and bring it into your life.

I went on to learn from Tony Robbins in person, and he has been a major role model in my life.

I Wanted to Fly

I wanted to fly planes. Call it the little boy dream we all have. For you it might be a fire truck or an Army man. For me it was flying high in the sky. I love adrenaline. People worry too much. None of us are getting out of this alive anyway.

I told myself that if I was ever going to work for someone other than myself, it would only be as a pilot.

I went to flight school. Money was tight, so I slept in a tent at a KOA campground in Florida.

I became a commercial pilot in 2001 and lost that career in the 9/11 attacks. No one was hiring for two years after.

I was depressed. I hated that I had lost everything I worked for. And I was about to become a father.

The Mortgage Company

A great friend of mine, Kurt, came to my rescue. He told me about the mortgage industry, and I got excited when I saw others making $150K a year. I had no idea how to do it. Kurt brought me on and taught me. But you can't keep me, and he knew that.

I opened my own mortgage company with $60K. Soon my business was doing $9 million a year. I had 120 employees and 5 locations. I was killing it.

I was approached to sell, and I said the most stupid thing to a prospective buyer: "Why would I sell? I am doing so well!"

Then 2008 came around. Boy, did I learn my lesson.

I answered my own question. It went something like this: "Well, Chad, you dumbass, the reason you would sell for 8 million dollars is because you were doing well. Now the 2008 financial crash has hit, you are only making $50K a year, and your business is worth nothing."

This Is Where Peterson Acquisitions Was Born

I never wanted another business owner to go through what I went through. Ever. Not a month goes by, still to this day, that I don't kick myself for not selling that company.

I went on to open a service business. I built it and sold it for a great payday. I opened another service business and sold it for another great payday. I started a software company and did well, but the market changed and I went a different direction. I built and sold another service business in less than three years.

After I had sold several businesses of my own, and used brokers to do it, I knew I could outperform other brokers if I decided to. Those brokers were lazy and old, not only in age but in spirit and energy. I knew I could outwork them and outmarket them, just like I always have since I was a kid.

I was tired of brokers who let my business sit on the internet while they half-assed the marketing. I was tired of marketing and closing the sale myself while a broker stood there acting like he was doing something.

I started selling businesses for others, and I went about it the way I do everything in life: with raw grit.

What I Do Now

I run Peterson Acquisitions. I help business owners sell, and I help buyers find and acquire the right business.

I have employed over 1,000 people, built and sold 6 companies from the ground up, and helped many other owners sell their businesses.

I wrote Swinging Doors, a book on how to sell your business. I host the Business Brokers Podcast, where I talk with entrepreneurs about buying, selling, and growing businesses.

Not a school on earth can teach you grit, hard work, talent, or how to win.

I am here to help you sell your business, and you and I will win together.