Inspired Or Acquired

Devin Wanzor has bought and sold more than 10 businesses. He joins the podcast to share his journey from being an SBA lender to being part of a sign manufacturing roll up to buying a high end liquor store and recently buying a business close to his passion for flying planes. We also discuss how he's improved profitability as an operator and his unique perspective helping others with financial due diligence.

Devin Wanzor on X: https://twitter.com/DevinWanzor
Devin Wanzor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-wanzor-5459a31/
Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Chris Edwards recently sold his flooring business in Steamboat, Colorado. He bought the business just 3.5 years prior then quickly grew revenue 50% and grew EBITDA 100%. He's an amazing example of what's possible in acquisition entrepreneurship. Our conversation dives into the hard lessons, growth levers, and his decision to sell. 

Chris Edwards on X: https://twitter.com/toph_edwards
Chris Edwards on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-edwards-44664052/
Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

'POV Husband' is a genuine, funny follow on TikTok and Instagram. Prior to becoming a content creator he worked in banking and bought a business to escape his 9-5. He ended up buying a fast casual restaurant in 2020. Then they quickly bought a 2nd and 3rd location with real estate. In 2022 they decided to sell 2 of the locations. We discuss how much they made on the sale, why restaurants sell for lower multiples, and what businesses he's debating next. 

POV Husband on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pov_husband
POV on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pov_husband/?hl=en
POV Husband YouTube video on restaurant profitability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd4wrWpwHdI&t=28s
Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Matt Cafrelli left a stable career in accounting to dive into the riskier world of acquisition entrepreneurship. He and his partner created a HoldCo to buy some service businesses. Their first acquisition was a window cleaning company in April 2023, followed quickly by a landscaping business in March 2024. We discuss the pros and cons of buying on the small side, future acquisitions, and their long term goals for the holding company.

Matt Cafrelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcafrelli/ 
Clint Fiore and Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter and Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Jesus started Longhill Contracting 7 years ago doing drywall and paint contracting for home builders and multifamily developers. They've grown organically very quickly due to Jesus' servant leadership, his great team doing great work, and housing growth in Colorado. In 2024 they're on pace for $23M revenue and $2.7M EBITDA. We discuss what his company is worth today and where he wants to take it in the next +5 years. 

Longhill Contracting: longhillcontracting.com
Jesus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesus-montelongo-18960163/
Clint Fiore and Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter and Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Mike Pedro and Danielle Pedro started MD Esthetics med spa in 2018. They've grown quickly to 13 locations and $2.5M EBITDA through acquisitions and brand new locations. They recently signed a Letter of Intent to join forces with a private equity group  - so we dive into how the deal happened, picking their PE partner, and their growth plans. This is a fascinating interview to hear from someone in the middle of an acquisition.

MD Esthetics: https://www.mdestheticsus.com/
Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Johannes Hock left private equity early in his career with the aim to build wealth faster through an exit after buying a business. In 2022 he bought DFW Turf and he's quickly grown the business from $5M to $20M revenue and +3 states through organic growth and additional acquisitions. He sees a path within a few years to $50M revenue and healthy EBITDA before an exit. We discuss whether he enjoys the investor or operator seat more, and what might tempt them to sell.

Johannes Hock on X: https://twitter.com/HockJohannes
Johannes Hock's blog: https://buysmallsellhigh.substack.com/
Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/
Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/

Mike Botkin is an incredible story of what's possible in the small to mid sized acquisitions space. He left a great job to buy a very small $780k revenue residential landscaping acquisition. Then he completed 6 more acquisitions and focused on commercial maintenance landscaping. They ended up becoming one of the top 100 biggest landscaping companies nationwide and exited - all within 2 years time. We dive into how stressful it was, how he made it happen, and his decision to sell. We also learn what he's up to now in his next venture.

Mike Botkin on X: https://twitter.com/MikeBotkin_
Canvas Outdoors: https://canvasoutdoors.com/
Clint Fiore on X: https://twitter.com/ClintFiore
Patrick Dichter on X: https://twitter.com/patrickdichter

Ryan Bakke has built Tax Strategy 365 very quickly and his profit margins are 20-30% better than most similar tax firms. This also makes it difficult to place a value on and tough to tempt him to want to sell. We dive deep into the marketing tactics and funnel he uses to grow quickly and where his firm is headed before he tries to sell. 

Ryan Bakke on X: https://twitter.com/LearnLikeaCPA
Tax Strategy 365 website: https://taxstrategy365.com/
Patrick Dichter on X: https://twitter.com/patrickdichter
Clint Fiore on X: https://twitter.com/ClintFiore

Jordan Evans bought his parents small language services business and has grown it very quickly to $12M revenue. He discusses how they've growth through organic growth and additional acquisitions. And he has his sites set on $50M revenue before a possible exit.

Jordan Evans on X: https://twitter.com/JordanPEvans
The Language Network: https://www.languagenetworkusa.com/