Jason Sisneros

Personal Biz Exited x26 Turning Small Businesses Into Sellable Assets 28+ Years Helping Owners Scale & Exit. Chairman | Podcast Host | Built To Exit

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

The data center buildout is going to be the most significant physical infrastructure cycle this country has seen since the interstate highway system.

HVAC, concrete, and commercial construction all benefit. But the biggest premium, is electrical.

You can't run a data center without electricians. You can't expand the grid to handle the load without electricians. You can't retrofit the next decade of commercial buildings without electricians.
The trade most owners have ignored for years is about to become the most valuable trade in America.

If you own an electrical contracting business right now, you are sitting on an asset whose value curve is about to bend sharply upward.

Lower supply, higher demand, decade-long tailwind. That math moves multiples, and the sophisticated buyers wno understand the macro will pay for it.

If you don't own one, this is the clearest acquisition thesis in front of us right now.

Yes, there are real concerns about data centers.
There is also a real opportunity for the people who build the country.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

At 12, I was delivering drugs.
At 17, my adopted father tried to kill me and my mom.

Most people would call that a tragic story, but I see it as the best upbringing I could have had.

It showed me exactly the man I refused to become.
Then I found people who were happy, had money, gave back… and I just asked one question.

What do I have to do to get there?

Stop everything I was doing and start over.
I’m grateful God gave me chance after chance, because I refuse to be anything less than who He is calling me to be.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Business is important, but it is not the foundation.
Our marriage is.

And that means she does not get the tired, irritated, leftover version of me while everyone else gets the polished version.

She gets my patience, attention, and loyalty.
She gets my best.

That rule has served us really well in eight years of marriage, and I think more couples in business need to hear it:

Don’t sacrifice the person you’re building the life with for the life you’re trying to build.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

You can be the best roofer, plumber, or HVAC tech in your market.

That skill built your business.

But skill alone doesn’t build an asset.

Most trade owners never learn the business side: the financials, the systems, the structure that makes a company worth buying.

That gap keeps them working in the business instead of building something they can walk away from.

Every business will either die or be owned by someone else.

Build it like someone’s going to buy it.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

https://t.co/L2wZssb66g

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Most owners spend their whole career afraid of never getting out.

They should be more afraid of getting out wrong.

Your business is either a wealth transfer to you or a wealth transfer from you. Prepare accordingly.

New in Forbes: “Why a Bad Exit Is Worse Than No Exit.” Link in reply.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Exit planning is not a phone call you make when you're tired.
It's a multi-year process that starts long before you want out.
Start it the year you don't need to.
That's the whole secret.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

93% of businesses listed for sale never sell.
Of the 7% that do, half fall apart after closing.
The owners who win at the table aren't the smartest or hardest-working.
They prepared for a different game.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

I went bankrupt three times before I learned the difference between working hard and building something a buyer would pay a premium for.
The lesson cost me everything, but it doesn't have to cost you the same.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Rule of thumb buyers use: if one client is more than 20% of your revenue, that's a concentration risk, and it comes straight out of your offer price.
Diversify before you sell, not during.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

The "I know a guy" exit kills more deals than bad businesses do.

Your brother-in-law's attorney is not your exit team.
The wrong advisors cost more in missed worth than their fees ever will.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Your business speaks one language: finance.If you can't read what your numbers are telling you, you're running a company blindfolded and calling the bruises bad luck.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Well worth a listen - https://t.co/r46vBOvvHQ

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

The data center buildout is going to be the most significant physical infrastructure cycle this country has seen since the interstate highway system.

HVAC, concrete, and commercial construction all benefit. But the biggest premium, is electrical.

You can't run a data center without electricians. You can't expand the grid to handle the load without electricians. You can't retrofit the next decade of commercial buildings without electricians.
The trade most owners have ignored for years is about to become the most valuable trade in America.

If you own an electrical contracting business right now, you are sitting on an asset whose value curve is about to bend sharply upward.

Lower supply, higher demand, decade-long tailwind. That math moves multiples, and the sophisticated buyers wno understand the macro will pay for it.

If you don't own one, this is the clearest acquisition thesis in front of us right now.

Yes, there are real concerns about data centers.
There is also a real opportunity for the people who build the country.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Most owners think they own a business.

If it can't run without you, you own a job... and it's the most stressful one you'll ever have. The paycheck just looks bigger.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Most owners are off by a mile on what their business is actually worth.
Some by half.
The number in your head is not the number on the offer. Get a real valuation before a buyer hands you theirs.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Are you building a business that owns you?
Or one you can exit?

Those are two completely different businesses.

The first one needs you in the seat to produce revenue.

The second one runs without you and can be sold on your terms.

You can't accidentally end up with the second one. You build for it on purpose.

So which one are you building?

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

A hard truth about revenue: if clients only stay because of their relationship with you, a buyer sees risk, not worth.

The more your revenue depends on you, the more they discount the offer.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Buyers don't pay for what you think your business is worth.
They pay for machines.
Documented processes, clear roles, predictable outcomes.
If your business lives in your head, it dies at the negotiating table.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

Every business that lasts more than 25 years is run on biblical principles.

Whether the owner reads the Bible or not.

Treat your people well. Keep your word. Serve someone besides yourself.

Mega-corps with political access can ignore that and get away with it. They have scale instead.

The rest of us don't. These values aren't optional. They're the architecture.

Call them whatever you want. They came from somewhere.

[Jason Sisneros @Jasonsisneros]

There are three kinds of exit.

Involuntary (bankruptcy).
Dictated (the buyer sets the terms).
Custom-Tailored (you set price, timing, and terms).

Most owners back into the first two because they never defined the third.