I couldn't sleep the other night.

Before bed, I was scrolling Acquisitions.com, curious to see what type of boomer businesses were out there, ripe for modern GTM tech and processes.

That's when I found a classic accounting services business.

This company's been around ~30 years and has everything going for it — hundreds of loyal clients, solid reputation, lean team of 5, and what looks like $2-3M in revenue.

And they’re doing all this with almost ZERO outbound GTM strategy.

That got me thinking.

• What if I bought this business?

• What systems would I build?

• How would I grow revenue?

So I decided to break it down — not just for me, but for you too.

A simple, step-by-step case study for the Founder whose referrals have run dry.

Or the sales person who is struggling to build pipeline.

• The targeting

• The messaging

• The systems

Let’s dive in.

Business Overview (and assumptions):

ATS Bookkeeping case study:

• CEO + 3 offshore team members

• Decent website with a "Book Consultation" button

• Probably $2-3M revenue (based on asking price)

• EIGHT different industries they serve

• Zero outbound GTM strategy

The 3-Step Playbook for GTM Growth

ATS is probably getting most of their new business from referrals.

How do I know? I Googled "bookkeeping services Pennsylvania" and "ATS Bookkeeping" and they were nowhere on the first page.

So, if they were looking to scale, outbound presents a huge opportunity.

Step 1: Pick a Lane (Any Lane)

ATS currently supports clients across 10 different industries.

The Problem: When you serve everyone, your messaging is too broad.

The Solution: Pick one persona and focus on one pain point.

For this example, let's say attorneys and consultants.

Why? They bill by the hour. Easy math: "Stop doing $300/hour bookkeeping.

Step 2: Build the Machine

Every CEO needs to be a salesperson in some capacity.

But Andrew doesn’t have to do prospecting, list building, and email follow-up.

What You Actually Need:

• 1 part-time person (10-15 hours/week)

• Prospecting tool

• Email sequencing

• Simple CRM

The key to successful outbound is aligning your value to trigger events.

For ATS this could be things like audit season, recent acquisitions, year end.

You can use Google alerts or AI to scrape news announcements to turn your cold outreach into warm outreach.

Step 3: Craft Your Message

Email alone can be an effective channel for adding pipeline.

Layer in a few cold calls and the world is your oyster.

Since most Founders I work with avoid cold calling, here’s an email framework:

1. Sentence 1: reference a common challenge related to persona

2. Sentence 2: responsibilities/obstacles that often get in the way

3. Sentence 3: simple phrasing of what you do / how you help

4. Sentence 4: desired outcome you can help them achieve

5. Sentence 5: casual call to action

The Universal Lesson

This isn't really about ATS.

It's about the framework for adding systematic revenue growth to any service business:

1. Work backwards from your best clients

2. Pick one target market

3. Lead with their biggest pain

4. Use trigger events for timing

5. Systematize the process

Most service businesses are sitting on 6-figure growth opportunities.

They just need someone to build the machine that connects them with prospects to deliver prospects and revenue.

If that sounds like you — I’d love to help. Here’s my calendar.

Until next Thursday,

TSG

P.S. I reply to all emails.