What if you could generate passive income by having someone else buy and manage websites for you (so it’s totally hands off)?
And not just anyone but someone with a track record of investing in websites for passive income.
That’s why we asked Mohit Tater to share his story of how he went from flipping websites to raising $4 Million to buy websites for investors.
When he first started flipping websites Mohit had so much success, one of his friends gave him $12,000 to invest into websites so he too could earn passive income.
Fast forward to today 9 years later and not only is that friend still a satisfied investor, but Mohit has been able to consistently generate great returns for a wide range of website investors through his company, BlackBook Investments.
In this interview, you’ll hear Mohit’s website investing journey, from buying his first website for $2,400 and selling it for $12,000 just 8 months later.
And now running a Multi-Million Dollar website investment company that buys and sell websites for passive investors who want website income but don’t have the time or knowledge to operate the websites themselves.
If you love the idea of owning websites and online businesses that generate an income for you passively, while someone else manages the day-to-day, then watch the video or read the transcript below because Mohit’s story will give you a lot of insights for getting started.
How Mohit Tater turned $2,400 into $12,000, and then started a Multi-Million Dollar investment company that helps people invest in websites for passive income
Matt Raad: Hello again, everyone. Today I’ve got an awesome guest for you all, Mohit Tater from BlackBook Investments. And I’m really excited because Mohit has such a cool story on this journey of buying and selling websites. Thanks so much for being with us today, Mohit.
Mohit Tater: Thanks very much, Matt. I’m happy to be here.
Matt: Most of us probably don’t know who Mohit is. So, let’s get into some detail on his story because it’s really interesting.
Like many people reading this, he started out with flipping websites. But what’s really exciting is these days Mohit has moved into the space where he’s raising funds to do it. This is a way of making buying and selling websites passive.
So, that’s something I want to talk about. And what’s amazing is that BlackBook Investments are now doing multimillion dollar website builds.
Mohit: That’s right. We started raising funds this year, and we’ve already raised about $4 million. I think it’s going to double next year. I’m hoping to do that.
Matt: Ok, its brand new. So, this is the first time you’ve gone out and done this and you’ve already raised $4 million to buy websites.
Mohit: Yes, but I’ve been at it for a while.
Matt: And that’s the story we really want to hear Mohit. I do want come back to what you’re doing now though.
Mohit: Sure.
Mohit Tater’s background and how he got into buying and selling websites…
Matt: It’s pretty amazing. People hear these incredible stories about big website buyouts. They know there’s big buyers, and there’s publicly listed companies out there to acquire websites. But not everyone realizes there’s individuals like you, with $ Millions of dollars to buy websites.
You work from home. You’re just like all of us. You’re buying, selling, and fixing up websites. Where did it all start? How did you get to where you are today?
Mohit: To be honest, it all actually started in Australia, back in 2012. I was doing my Masters at RMIT in Melbourne.
I could see the future. I could see that I’m going to go into debt. I’m going to take a loan and study for this course. And then I’m going to take up a job and I’m going to have to work years to pay the loan off. It just didn’t sit well with me.
The two books that inspired Mohit to take action towards his income and lifestyle goals…
Mohit: So I was like, “Let’s just chuck this. Let’s just go back to India (where I’m from) and then I’ll do something on my own.” That’s what I’ve always wanted to do since I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Matt: I think all of us were inspired by that book, weren’t we?
Mohit: Yes. And then the second book that inspired me to take action was 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. So I came back home in 2012 and I started building websites.
Actually, before that, I graduated in 2011 and I took up a job with a start-up called Zomato. I was working with them for one year. And while I was working with them, on the evenings, I was trying to build websites.
I was trying to learn how to build websites because I always wanted to learn a skill that would help me make a living in the future.
Mohit: I thought, “Why not build websites?” The future of the internet was already there, so I thought, “Okay, let’s do it.” And that would also allow me to work from anywhere.
So, I learned how to build websites. But unfortunately, I couldn’t make any money from building websites (blogging etc.). I wasn’t selling websites, but I was trying to make money by blogging. I wasn’t very successful at it. I was at it for about a year, but I couldn’t make a penny.
At the end of 2012, I came home from Australia. I left my job, and I hadn’t finished my course (I was there for about 1 year and 9 months but didn’t finish it).
Mohit first learnt you could buy and sell websites on Flippa…
Mohit: When I came back home at the end of 2012, I chanced upon the now leading website marketplace Flippa. I was like, “Okay, so there’s a marketplace for buying and selling websites that are already making money.”
Someone else has already worked on those sites and got them to a point where they’re making some money. I could buy them at really low multiples, like 8-12 x monthly multiples. It was just crazy.
Matt: I remember those days!
Mohit: I didn’t understand. I was like, “Is this even real? Why would someone want to sell their business for 6 x monthly multiple?”
I was very skeptical, but still, I took a leap of faith. I had some money saved up and my mum also helped me with some money. It was just a couple of thousand dollars. That’s all.
But he took a leap of faith and bought his first website for $2,400 – which he sold for $12,000 just 8 months later…
Mohit: I just took a leap of faith and bought my first website for 6 x monthly multiple. It was a social media marketing service website.
Matt: All right.
Mohit: Once I bought it, I turned it around in six months and it was making 4-5 times what it was when I bought it.
Matt: That’s awesome.
Mohit: I tried to do different channels of marketing, such as outbound marketing etc. Then I sold it within 8 months for $12,000. That was 5 x what I bought it for, and I made passive income in the process. So that was the first one. And I was like, “Okay, this thing actually works! Let’s try it again.”
Being a believer, Mohit decided to try it again with a second website (which was awesome, until it wasn’t)…
Mohit: So, I bought another site. And for the second one, I actually got scammed because the financials that were shown to me weren’t actually true. I was none the wiser. But I had some cushioning from my first site, so I thought, “I need to be more careful of what I’m buying. I can’t be just trusting whatever the other guy is saying.”
Matt: I’m guessing that’s probably when you realized, I’ve got to learn how to do website due diligence here.
Mohit: That’s right. But this was still the early days, to be honest, 2012-2013.
But then I got a hang of it. And slowly, I just started building up my portfolio to bigger sites. I was buying 4-5 figure websites. And that’s how it all started basically.
That experience didn’t stop Mohit (because he now has a portfolio of 4-5-6 figure websites, all generating cash flow)…
Matt: Your strategy was website flipping, and you were doing it pretty quickly. Would you say generally within 12 to 24 months, you were flipping those websites?
Mohit: Between 6-9 months.
Matt: Wow, so you did it really quick!
Mohit: These are small deals, so 6-12 months tops.
And then in 2013, I went to the US. I had always wanted to go to the US. I had a lot of friends over there. I had some money now, so I thought, “Let’s do it.”
Mohit’s friend saw the success he was having with buying and selling websites, and gave him $12,000 to invest…
Mohit: I was staying with a friend in Manhattan, who was working with an investment bank, and had some money saved up. He was interested in what I was doing, so he said, “I have some money to spare. Let’s buy a website for me. I don’t have the time, so you can manage it.” And I thought, “Well, why not?”
That $12,000 started BlackBook Investments 8 years ago…
So, we bought him a website. It was about $12,000, and that was about 8-9 years ago. Actually, it’s still in our portfolio today with one of our investors.
Matt: That’s cool.
Mohit: So, we bought that, and it worked out pretty well for us. He got interested, he got his friends and family involved, and we bought more sites within that group. That’s basically how BlackBook was started.
The idea never occurred to me that I can do it for others (managing websites). But because there was a need, and because I was offered to do it, I realised I could do it for others as well. So that’s how BlackBook was founded.
Since then, Mohit has produced great returns for his investors…
Matt: That’s really interesting. You weren’t just flipping websites, but you were taking other people’s money quite early.
So, once you’d proven you had the skill, people were willing to give you money to invest. And obviously, I take it was very successful for you and your investors.
Mohit: Yes, that’s right. Especially because the multiples were really low back then too. You could buy a website for 1-1.5 x annual profit, so it was a no-brainer. I just needed one year to keep the site and I would’ve been paid back because I grew it in the meantime. It meant the returns were really good.
While Mohit has made himself (and his investors) a lot of money by flipping websites…
He still prefers the buy-and-hold strategy for buying websites for passive income.
Matt: Once you got going with this strategy (bringing on investors’ money), was your goal still to sell the websites quite quickly? Or did you tend to hold them a lot longer?
If you look back now over your 10-year journey, how did you see it evolve for yourself? Are you still a fan of quick flips? Or have you found that you more prefer to hold them now? And did your investors influence that at all?
Mohit: To be honest, I’ve always been a buy-and-hold guy. I want the cashflow.
Initially, I wanted to flip websites because I wanted to build up a cash reserve, so that I have enough money to buy bigger sites. That’s why I needed to flip quickly. But now I’m in a comfortable space, I’m happy to hold good assets.
“If your websites are generating income at 40% to 50%, you should keep them for as long as you can.”
It doesn’t make sense to sell something that’s generating income at 40%, 50% annually. Why would someone sell that? It just doesn’t make sense to me. So I am a buy-and-hold guy. I still keep sites for as long as I can.
And most of my investors are also on similar tangents. They want the cash flow too. But sometimes, we have investors who want the capital gain, and they are not bothered much about the cashflow. So then the strategy is different for the sites that we buy for them.
It all depends on each investor. My personal preference is to buy and hold for cashflow.
Why Mohit is using other people’s money to buy more websites…
Matt: So, how did you grow the business? Like you said, you just raised $4 million. That rolls off the tongue so easily, but I’m sure it wasn’t like that in the early days.
When you have investors come in, they want to see you’ve got this really great team behind you. They want to know you’ve got runs on the board. Some of our audience may be reading this interview thinking, “Well, how can I now start to build this out?”
When Mohit started BlackBook Investments, he bought and managed all the websites himself…
Matt: Was that the next big step in your evolution – building out your team?
Mohit: Well, for about 4-5 yeas I was doing it all by myself.
Matt: Wow.
Mohit: It was like that until 2016. I didn’t have too many sites. I was actually happy doing what I was doing. Back then, if I could reach $5,000 a month, I’d be more than happy. That’s all I needed, and life was good.
Matt: That’s right. Especially when you’re a young guy. That’s freedom, isn’t it?
Mohit: That’s freedom. Especially in a country like India, that’s a one-year salary for a person. If I could make that in a month, I’m set for life.
Matt: So, you earn a year’s salary every month from passive websites with investors’ money backing you. That’s a pretty sweet ticket in those early days.
Mohit: Exactly. So that was a mix of my own sites and investor sites bought with their money. But I was managing it actually. That was not passive in the sense because I was the one doing the work. These are active sites that need active management.
Matt: Okay. Yeah.
…But he realised he needed to outsource the website management to continue to grow his company…
Mohit: But then it occurred to me that I had achieved my goal fairly quickly. So, if I were to grow from here, where to next?
Matt: Well done, by the way. See, you got to celebrate. You got to look back at your 10-year journey and go, “Man, I did it.”
Mohit: Yes, thank you.
Matt: So that was your first goal. Then what happened?
Mohit: I realised that if I continued to do this, eventually I would get bored. So I thought, “Okay, let’s see if we can do something that can help others.”
I already knew that there was a demand for this service where I can manage sites for others. And there is a lot of money out there chasing returns.
Matt: There still is.
Mohit: So I thought, “Why not scale BlackBook and offer this as a service to a wider audience rather than just friends and family?”
Of course, I didn’t have enough capital to buy all the sites myself, so that was the logical next step. If I were to buy more sites, I would’ve needed to take outside money. And then if I were to take outside money and buy more sites, then I would need a team because I was maxed out. I wouldn’t be able to manage all the sites myself.
BlackBook now employs over 20 people, with emphasis on SEO and Content experts
Mohit: So, in 2016 I started building a team one person at a time. Today, in 2021, we have about 20 full-time people working with us on our team. We’re managing between 15 to 20 big assets at any one time. That’s because we don’t want to scale it super-fast. These things take time to scale and you want to go nice and slow.
So basically, I went all-in with BlackBook. I’m getting more investors in, buying bigger websites and managing bigger websites.
Matt: And then you just incrementally added more and more team members into your organization?
Mohit: Yes, as we went.
Matt: And do you have your own content writers? Do you outsource that, or do you have an in-house team of writers?
Mohit: We do both. We produce more than half a million words a month so we can’t have everything in-house. We need experts on some of our sites.
We work with agencies, with freelancers, and with our in-house writers.
Matt: And similarly with SEO, you’ve got your own in-house expert. But I presume you work with agencies as well. How do you do the SEO across the sites?
Mohit: SEO is all in-house right now. We do consult with freelancers when we need to. But SEO is the core of what we do (along with content of course). So, we have in-house SEO experts with us full-time and that’s how we’re keeping it for now.
And then we have tech people, admin people, server managers etc. also on our team.
When choosing online businesses for his investors, he has two rules (ignore these at your own peril)…
Matt: What sites do you prefer to buy for BlackBook investments?
Actually, let me rephrase that slightly differently. What have you found work the best for these passive website investors that you’re looking after? What websites have you found the best over the last 10 years and what’s your preference?
Mohit: The types of sites I buy is dictated by what I’m trying to achieve.
Rule #1 – Don’t Lose Money
Mohit: There’re two things that I’m trying to achieve for our investors. You would think that the first is that I’m trying to get a good return for them. But that’s not it actually – I’m trying not to lose money for my investors. That’s the first goal – Don’t lose money.
Matt: Yes. That’s Warren Buffett’s first rule. And the second rule is – Don’t forget rule one.
Mohit: Yes, look at the first rule. Don’t lose money.
Matt: Look at the first rule. That’s right.
Mohit: It’s one thing to give them a return of 15% or 12%. But I don’t want to lose their money because taking other people’s money is a huge, huge responsibility. I can be reckless with my own money, but I can’t be reckless with my investors’ money.
So don’t lose money. Even if you’re not able to make them money, don’t lose their money. Okay, that’s rule number one.
Matt: Good rule.
Rule #2 – Know the Expectations of the Investor
Mohit: The second rule that’s worked well for me (knock on wood), is to look at what their expectations are. Let’s try to achieve that because when a person invests, they’re not thinking about just trying not to lose money. They’re thinking about getting 20%, 25% etc.
When I take on an investor’s money, I’m thinking not to lose money for them. So that’s my first goal.
Now I go to what their aim is, which is to get some return. Typically, we buy sites (and I’ll come to the returns part after this…). We try to buy sites that are established, have a few years of history, have a few years of earnings, and have been built with white-hat SEO methods.
Matt: That’s good.
Mohit: No shady techniques or anything that will put those sites at risk from Google or any other search engine. Yeah. So fairly sites with a good solid foundation basically, with good solid few years of history.
The difference between buying online businesses Vs buying websites (and why Mohit has shifted to the latter)…
Mohit: And recently, in the last 12 to 18 months, we have been focused more on buying businesses and not websites. Now it’s difficult to make, but there’s a distinction here.
Consideration #1 – The business doesn’t rely on one entity for its success
A business is something that can stand alone and not be dependent solely on one entity.
Mohit: If Google does an algo update and your site gets crushed, I don’t think that’s a business. If Amazon decides to drop their commission and you’re pretty much done, that’s not a business. So those are websites.
Consideration #2 – Longevity of the business through different seasons
Mohit: And there’s a monetary distinction also. We like to buy websites that are usually five figures, low six figures, even mid six figures…somewhere around that. But when you start getting into high six to seven-figure territory, you are not thinking of buying just a website because that’s a lot of money. You want to buy a business that’s going to serve you well for years to come. You don’t want to lose your $1 million business overnight.
Consideration #3 – Business has diversified income
Mohit: So, we try to buy businesses now that have diversified income sources, that have diversified traffic sources, and that we’re pretty sure will not evaporate overnight. They might get hit, but they won’t go away. And like I said, they should have a few years of history (or have at least been around 3-4 years etc.), with diversified revenue sources, and not dependent on one revenue source.
That’s a risk. I take that risk with my own sites, which are up to low six figures. But I do that because I need to be experimenting. I don’t experiment on our investor sites, but I need to still learn, and I learn by experimenting. So, I experiment on my own sites, and then I try and apply the results to the investor sites.
And we don’t have any particular niche that we are focused on, to be honest.
Matt: Okay.
BlackBook currently buys content websites but will be buying Saas Websites next year (here’s why)…
Mohit: We do content sites for now, and that’s what we do.
Matt: So, you stick to mainly content sites then?
Mohit: For now. We will be getting into SaaS next year most probably because there’s a lot of demand for that.
Matt: Yes, that’s a growing trend, isn’t it – buying SaaS websites? But up until now, it’s all always been content sites. That’s your bread and butter?
Mohit: Yes. Because that’s what I understand.
Here’s how you can outsource your website investing…
Matt: So, what you have here is a really interesting model. You’re basically buying and selling websites for passive income for investors.
For our readers out there – if you don’t want to run a website yourself, you could invest into digital assets with a company like what Mohit runs, BlackBook Investments. And basically, you can get on the bandwagon of buying and selling websites. But they’re passive so you’re buying and selling a passive asset.
When you should spread your money (and risk) over multiple websites VS putting all your capital into one website…
Matt: Obviously, the returns aren’t going to be as high versus if you bought a site outright. But Mohit, what returns are you getting for your investors?
Mohit: So, before we get to that, we work on two different kinds of models. One is one-to-one with the investor, and the other is a pooled group buy. Structure-wise, it’s like a fund. But essentially, it’s pooled money by multiple investors. We’d go and buy using that money.
For the first option, the minimum to work with us one-on-one is USD$100,000. And there are reasons for us to have that minimum.
For the people who don’t have USD$100,000 lying around, we had to come up with another product (another service), which is a group buy option. For this option, you can get in at $25,000. We just did it for the first time this year and we might do it next year also, depending on the demand.
So it’s USD$25,000 minimum to get in and your money is pulled with other investors’ money. We then go and buy multiple websites using that money. Your risk is hedged because now your money is spread over multiple websites.
Matt: Yes. That’s true.
Mohit: And you’re investing less also. You can invest up to as much as you want, but the minimum is $25,000. Whereas in the first case, you probably will be buying one site for $100,000 so you’re spending more money and you have one site, so the risk is there.
Matt: Then you basically manage that site for the client, for the investor.
Mohit: Yes.
How Mohit works with new investors (The BlackBook Process for buying websites)…
Matt: That’s been your model all these years, isn’t it? In a nutshell, that’s what you do?
Mohit: So basically, when an investor approaches me, I sit down with them. I talk to them. I learn their criteria:
- What kind of returns?
- What kind of investor they are?
- What kind of returns are they targeting?
- Are they after cash flow or capital gains?
And then we make a strategy on what to buy for them. We go out and look for deals and present them the ones that we think are good.
When they give us the green light on any particular deal, we then go and do further due diligence on that website. We also negotiate the deal on behalf of the investors, and do the transfer etc. We do everything end-to-end.
The website is purchased directly in the sense that they are going to be the buyer. They don’t send money to BlackBook. The seller receives the money directly from the buyer (from the investors), and they know what they’re buying and from whom they’re buying.
And as a facilitator, I don’t take money. You don’t send money to me.
Who’s a good fit for BlackBook Investments and who isn’t?
Matt: Just say someone had a website that they put a deal together. They could contact you and say, “Look, here’s a deal and you could manage it for a fee.” You’ll manage the deal for them. That’s what you do?
Mohit: Yes.
Matt: There you go.
Mohit: But so far, we’ve been more of an investment company rather than a website management company. We get more people who want to buy a website (put money in) and then have us manage it; rather than people who already have a website and then want us to manage it.
Matt: Basically, your bread and butter (or your specialty), is that you’re set up for passive website investors.
Mohit: Yes, that’s right.
Matt: That’s pretty much what you do?
Mohit: That’s pretty much. You have some money lying around. You want to invest in websites?
Matt: Really well done. That is so cool what you’ve done there.
Mohit: Thank you.
What it means to be an Operator for EF Capital…
Matt: I love that model, and it’s cool how it’s evolved into this two-way thing, because now you’re one of EF Capital (Empire Flippers) preferred suppliers.
At our recent 3 Day Digital Summit event, Justin Cook (CEO/Founder of Empire Flippers) spoke and said they were only going to pick 6 operators this year and you are one of the 6.
Mohit: Yes, I think we ended up at 5 in the first round. We are just finishing the race for the second round. We’re going to end up with 4 operators for the second round, and I’m a repeat operator in the second round basically.
Matt: So it’s 4 operators. And how much have you raised in that round?
Mohit: We raised $1 million in the first round because it was capped at that. I was told that my deal actually raised $1.2 – $1.3 million. But they had to send money back to investors because the structure was so that they cannot take more than $1 million.
In the second round, they did arrange $1.5 million with a 30% buffer. So I think we’re sitting at $1.2 million right now and with a few days to go before the race.
Matt: Congratulations.
Mohit: Thank you.
Matt: You must be very happy with that too. And I’m sure next year, you’ll do it again with EF Capital. And for our readers – if you haven’t checked that out, go to EF Capital and you’ll see Mohit’s name on there. He is one of four people that are EF Capital approved operators. That’s absolutely fantastic.
Mohit: Operators, yes.
The dangers of thinking too small…
Matt: Let’s think about our readers out there who are just starting out. When you look back over these 10 years, are there any classic big mistakes that you wish you hadn’t made?
Could you share the mistakes for anyone new to buying and selling websites? Are there any classic big ones that you think someone needs to be aware of when they first get into this?
Mohit: For me personally, I think I should have scaled faster. For what I achieved in 10 years, I think I could have achieved in 5-6 years. But I was so laid back and wanted to take things at my own pace.
In hindsight, I could have done it faster, but I have no regrets. I’m happy where I’m at today. That’s one thing. That applies to me. It does not mean that it will apply to everyone.
Matt: I absolutely love that answer. Don’t think too small. In this market, that’s particularly relevant and that’s probably why you’re saying it. And I’m sure you know what’s coming too in this space. It’s just going to get bigger and bigger. That would be the biggest mistake I think for all of us, is thinking too small.
With big capital being investing into digital assets…there’s no room to think small
Mohit: Yes, I was certainly thinking small. I was running a website here and there, maybe a couple of websites, and making a few grand a month, but that was small thinking. It applied to me at the time, but I should have thought bigger.
This industry (the market) is huge. For Empire Flippers alone, they have billions of dollars in committed capital. They have access to that capital, but there are not enough deals to go around.
Private equity are also getting interested in this space so they’re looking at deals now too. It’s only going to get harder from here, to be honest, and we’re sitting right at the cusp of it.
It’s not exactly the wild, wild west anymore, but it’s still the early days for website investing. I think it’s going to mature even further over the next 5 to 10 years, and there’s a great opportunity right now to get into the game.
So, if anyone is thinking about it, don’t wait.
Matt: That’s right. And I think that’s a big mistake. A lot of people sit on the sidelines and watch what we’ve all been doing for the last decade. And now they ask, “When was the best time to buy?”
Mohit: Yesterday.
Matt: And that is probably the biggest mistake.
Smaller Websites are still in High Demand…
Matt: But now, there are other opportunities for people to get in the market. As everyone is reading here, you don’t have to be the operator or buying these websites yourself. You can go through someone like Mohit and just invest passively into it. So that’s absolutely fantastic.
You’re obviously at this high level now. And like you said, you’re at the cusp of getting even bigger. You’re seeing private equity money come into it now.
For the people reading this, what are the key things that you’re looking for, Mohit? I’m presuming you’re looking for deals. You just mentioned that one.
Mohit: That’s true. I’m looking for good deals. They’re hard to come by, to be honest. Some of the best deals I’ve done have been off market. They were not listed anywhere.
Matt: Yes. So, someone reading this might want to have a private chat to you, Mohit. We’ll share contact details of how they can reach you at the end.
Mohit: Please do. Thank you.
Matt: That’s a really good one. Can I jump in there too? How small a website deal would your organization look at?
Mohit: I am happy looking at smaller $10,000 deals.
Matt: Awesome. I didn’t realize that.
Mohit: It just has to fit our criteria. Like I said, I use my own money to experiment on smaller sites.
Matt: True.
Mohit uses smaller websites to experiment before investing in larger assets
Mohit: So why not? I can’t go and experiment with investor money in their sites. So, I spend my own money to do my own experiments, and I then apply what I learnt with my investors.
Matt: If someone wants to speak to you about selling their website, you’re happy to buy websites anywhere from $10,000 up to what price range?
Mohit: $1-1.5 million.
Matt: Okay, $1-1.5 million. And pricewise, what’s your sweet spot for buying a website?
Mohit: I’d say the sweet spot would be high five figures to low six figures. That’s a space where things can move pretty quickly in that price range.
Matt: Perfect, Mohit. You’re going to have to come and speak to our audience because that’s the sweet spot we’re all into – in that five to just low six figures.
Mohit: I would love to.
Matt: It’s because we have beginners who are building up really good websites. And so over the coming years, that’s fantastic.
The Returns that BlackBook are generating for their Investors
Matt: And then what else are you looking for as well going forward?
Mohit: So just to answer that, I think you asked me about the returns, so I want to answer that also. Typically for investors, historically we have been able to return around 27% – 28% annually over the past 5-6 years. Now, that’s historic data, not what we’re aiming for. And I can back that up.
Recently, multiples have gone really high (3-4 x yearly), and they also get snapped up really fast if the site is good. So, multiples have pretty much doubled in the last 5-7 years. Given that, we’d expect returns to cut in half. But we can’t afford that because that would put us at 12% – 13%. That’s still a good return, but we want to aim for better.
My aim is to return at least 25% annually to investors. It could be 30%, or it could be 20-22% etc. But I would consider myself successful if I’m able to return 25% net of everything to investors on their money invested.
That’s also what we’re aiming for in Empire Flippers Capital. And that’s what we aim for in our own group buy (and one-on-one deals) too. We can only do that by growing the size that we buy. If we buy at 3-3.5 x multiple, you may end up making 25% – 28% in total.
But we have to take a fee. So basically, the fee comes out of our growth. Whatever growth we achieve in a way pays for our fee. So the investor can still pocket 25%+ every year. That’s what we aim for.
How to Contact BlackBook Investments about investing in and buying websites for passive income…
Matt: Awesome. Well, I want to say a big, big thank you for coming along and sharing that. I can’t wait to do an update interview with you next year to see where you go. I can tell it’s an exciting space. I think you’re going to do really well. You’ve obviously got the runs on the board.
Mohit: Thank you.
Matt: You’ve done so well with it. So, the all-important question is, can people reach out and contact you? Is it best if they contact you at BlackBook Investments?
Mohit: Yes, [email protected]. They can just reach out to me via this email.
And if anyone is looking to invest with us, we have a questionnaire for investors to fill in. We can then reach out to them and hop on a call with them to understand their investment criteria etc.
Matt: Awesome. Thanks so much for that, Mohit. It was fantastic having you on today.
Mohit: Thanks for having me Matt. Cheers.
DISCLAIMER
This article should not form the basis of an investment decision. This is not a recommendation or endorsement to invest in Blackbook nor is it financial advice. This is merely an educational style interview with the founder of Blackbook so they can explain what they do and how they operate. Assume we have not done due diligence on Blackbook nor have we independently verified any statements made in the course of this interview. You must do your own due diligence and seek independent financial advice before acting on anything mentioned in this interview.
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