With portfolio of firms from trucking to asset management, Cincinnati entrepreneur finds inspiration in tactics of Warren Buffett - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Then the economy took an unprecedented nosedive. “Ths interesting thing about some of these acquisitions is you make an youproject worst-case scenarios, and you don’tt anticipate a system deterioration like what we’ve Kanu said. But Kanu said the economic meltdown hasn’ t changed his overall strategy for just the tactics forgetting there. “It’sw forced us to be more he said. “What I have told my peoplse is if you expected tomake 1,000 please plan on making 2,000 contacts. The musicf is different. You’ve got to work twice as hard and expect halfas much.” That couldc be a scary proposition for many new businessz owners. But L.A.
Scott Trucking is one of six firmsin Kanu’s portfoliok of companies. He also owns: two commercial real estate firms calledand ; ; and . In all, Kanu’sd companies employ about 30 Kanu said he has tried to model his acquisition strategh afterWarren Buffett, the Nebraska-borm billionaire who built from a textile manufacturef to a holding compan for businesses ranging from insurance to candy There certainly are said Calvin Buford, Kanu’s lawyer and a partner at ’sa Cincinnati office. “He has a diverse portfolio of operating companiesx or investments atthis point,” Buford said.
“H e started as a financial guy and moneu manager andinvestment adviser, and that is what he probablyu spent most of his working hours doing. That’s his core competencyg and particular areaof expertise.” And Kanu acquires and invests in companiesx for the long term, Buford said. “He’s lookinb for operating businesses that he can add to his portfolio from time to time that provide a stabl e cash flow andupside He’s not looking to buy companies and flip them in a shorty period of time for he said. “He’s one of these classic long-termn value investors, and I guess that’s a similaritty to Warren Buffett.
” Kanu decided to get into the transportationb business after learningthat Buffett’d Berkshire Hathaway owns a companyu that leases trailers to other transportation companies. Locally, Otto Budig’zs transportation interests havebeen successful, Kanu said, as has the Cincinnati-baseed . Plus, Kanu viewss transportation as the backbon ofthe country’s economy. While he didn’ty want to disclose exact revenues, Kanu described L.A. Scott Trucking as a “small, multimillion-dollar company” when he boughr it. Ultimately, he wants to builr the enterprise into one that generates hundreds of millionsa of dollars in revenueeach year, Kanu said.
To help do Kanu has begun working with the housed atthe . The MBA, as it’sa called, is designed to help local minority-owned businesses grow. To work with the MBA, companiez must have at least $1 million in annual revenues, be located in the Greaterf Cincinnati region and becertified minority-owned businesses with African-American The MBA’s goal with all its portfoliko companies, but especially with Kanu’s, is smart said Crystal German, vice president of the MBA and economic inclusion at the chamber.
“When you build a portfoliol of businesses, it’s important to have something that ties them togethetr to make surethat there’s some overarching German said, adding that Kanu is using technology to tie togethefr his business interests.