Acquiring Minds

Caroline Chapdelaine seized opportunity when a biomed company needed to sell a $2m unit that made special defense tech. 

Topics in Caroline’s interview:

• About the defense contracting industry
• Buying a business in the defense industry (and why it’s hard)
• Buying a carve-out business
• The unusual terms of a carve-out deal
• Unforeseen costs after purchasing a carve-out
• The benefits of having partners
• Assessing the strategic value of your business to its customers
• Running out of money months after purchase
• Getting an SBA loan against her business assets
• Remotely running a California business from Utah

Links and how to contact Caroline:

• LinkedIn
• [email protected]
• Northstar Photonics

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

• More Staffing

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter

Despite dire warnings against it, Reg Zeller bought a foundry. He's since bought 6 more & sees a clear path to $100m/yr. 

Topics in Reg Zeller’s interview:

• Why he bought a foundry (against everyone’s advice)
• The famous fetal position story
• The importance of a peer group
• His journey from one acquisition to a holdco
• Why searchers should spend 2 years operating the business they buy
• Reg’s plan to get to $100 million
• How to eliminate key man risk
• How Reg found his rockstar COO
• Opportunities in non-manufacturing spaces
• The opportunities in onshoring

Links and how to contact Reg:

• Twitter 
• CaneKast
• The Twitter thread Reg mentioned
• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• HoldCo Conference

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

 Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter

Adrian Pinto returns to reflect on his 1.5 years as owner of a landscaping business that he's grown from $3m to $6m/yr. 

Topics in Adrian’s interview:

• Buying and growing Georgia Scapes
• Growth through acquisition in landscaping 
• Doubling revenue in 18 months
• His B2B sales process
• Competition in landscaping
• Commercial vs residential landscaping
• Maintenance work vs project work
• Due diligence for a landscaping company
• Beyond EBITDA: evaluating size of business to buy
• Risks in acquiring a landscaping business

Links and how to contact Adrian:

• [email protected]
• Twitter
• LinkedIn 
• Georgia Scapes
• Adrian’s first appearance on Acquiring Minds
• Mike Bodkin on Acquiring Minds
• Logan and Bradley on Acquiring Minds

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Michael Horowitz was looking to buy an independent business when a different path opened up. Today he owns 20 Wingstops. 

Topics in Michael’s interview:

• Pros and cons of searching within franchises
• Why Michael was attracted to QSR’s (quick service restaurants)
• Buying 7 Wingstop locations in Ohio
• Writing an operating agreement for 3 co-owners
• Development agreements with franchises
• Operating QSR’s during Covid
• Opening and closing a ghost kitchen
• Daily operations of owning 20 Wingstop locations
• Motivating hourly restaurant employees 
• Michael’s advice for searchers considering QSR’s

Links and how to contact Michael:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Michael Horowitz on Franchise Empires

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

• More Staffing

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Kaustubh Deo reflects on his first year as the owner of a tree business versus his former life in NYC private equity. 

Topics in Kaustubh’s interview:

• Buying a tree service business
• Buyer’s vs seller’s discretionary earnings
• Reflecting on 13 months as a business owner
• Possibility for roll-ups
• Being an outsider in the tree industry
• Change management
• His thoughts on holdcos
• Measuring success for his business
• Life as a business owner vs. life in private equity
• His advice for searchers

Links and how to contact Kaustubh:

• LinkedIn
• [email protected] 
• Kaustubh on Think Like an Owner
• Blooma Tree Experts

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter

Adam Duggins had 650 meetings to find his first business in 2013, not expecting he'd buy 3 more over the next 10 years. 

Topics in Adam Duggins’s interview:

• Meeting with 650 people (in person!) during his search
• How Adam found his partner & structured their ownership
• How Adam became a holdco without meaning to
• How motivating blue collar workers versus white collar careerists is different
• Why Adam prefers working with blue collar versus white collar
• Buying businesses in overlooked geographies
• A bit about each of Adam's 4 businesses: steel fabrication, commercial HVAC, Jet-Hot, boiler services
• What to love about businesses in the construction industry
• Stability vs. growth
• Early mistakes as an owner

Links and how to contact Adam:

• New Page Capital 
• W.C. Rouse 
• Engineered Steel 
• American Industrial Contractors
• Jet-Hot
• Adam’s email: [email protected]

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

• More Staffing

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Bruce Vann returns to update us on his manufacturing business, and a thesis around the roll-up of window blinds stores. 

Topics in Bruce Vann’s interview:

• Buying a stage curtain/shades business
• Profitability of the business
• Their curtain and shades products
• Acquiring a blinds company
• Integrating his businesses
• Bruce’s vision for expansion
• The possibilities for search in window treatments
• The feast or famine nature of the business
• The long sales cycle
• Investing in a ribbon weight machine
• Bruce’s advice to searchers

Links and how to contact Bruce:

• [email protected] 
• LuXout Stage Curtains

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

• More Staffing

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

• Contact [email protected] or visit AspenHR

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter

John Ikalowych shares his traumatic journey of going all-in to buy a hail-repair business, then having to shut it down. 

Topics in John Ikalowych’s interview:

• John’s background in commercial banking
• Buying a car hail repair business
• Losing half his staff just months after acquisition
• The disaster that tanked their finances
• Pivoting from B2C to B2B
• Shutting down the business
• How the business failure changed him
• Closing a business with a personal guarantee
• John’s advice to searchers
• The importance of peer support

Links and how to contact John:

• LinkedIn
• 303-704-2461
• Entrepreneurs’ Organization

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter

Morli Desai left corporate to scratch her entrepreneurial itch, using an SBA loan to buy an ecommerce biz with $1m SDE. 

Topics in Morli Desai’s interview:

• Leaving her corporate job at 40
• Joining the Acquisition Lab
• Purchasing an ecommerce business
• How to approach brokers
• Transitioning an ecommerce business
• Purchasing an Australian entity
• Marketing with PPC
• Assessing risk in ecommerce
• Proprietary vs brokered search
• Inventory management in ecommerce

Links and how to contact Morli:

• LinkedIn
• 4,000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman
• Sam Harris’s app
• Quiet Light
• Market Watch by Centurica
• Joe Mcaleer of Multifunding, LLC
• Joel Ankney
• Amaira Natural Skincare

Overhaul your website with ongoing support & unlimited edits, all for a flat monthly fee:

• Eversite

Connect with A-players who can run your business remotely:

• More Staffing

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
• Follow Will on Twitter

Pawel Kosicki learned about buying small businesses in July. By January, he'd bought one himself with 7 figures of SDE. 

Topics in Pawel Kosicki’s interview:

• Pawel’s background in engineering
• Valuation of a home theater/automation company
• Closing on his very first LOI
• Financing a deal in Canada
• His philosophy on risk in business
• The seller staying on as an employee
• Mitigating risk in a project-based business
• His plans to grow the business
• Projected growth in the home automation industry
• Advice for Canadian searchers

References and how to contact Pawel:

• LinkedIn
• [email protected]
• Sieva Kozinski Twitter thread
• Oakville Sight and Sound

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

• Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

• The Acquisition Lab

Connect with Acquiring Minds: 

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel 
• Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn 
• Follow Will on Twitter