HVAC searcher turned operator

Working on second SMB. Did a traditional search the first time and grew the business to $25M+. Buying and building to grow HVAC and plumbing business.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

This was my SMB outreach funnel for my first acquisition. Searching is rewarding, but also hard as shit.

Emails sent: 133,982
Companies contacted: 34,044
CEO calls: 577
LOIs shared: 22
LOIs signed: 6
Businesses acquired: 1

FYI - This is not great searching. Better to have smaller numbers and higher conversion rates.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@SMB_Attorney LOI

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@StrongpointRich What is the methodology? Please share!

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@noahiglerSEO Expand

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@davidfigeira Stack

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@STLChrisH What are your targets for each?

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@StrongpointRich @patrickdichter @ShelbyGrosch Does direct included sales commissions?

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@StrongpointRich @patrickdichter @ShelbyGrosch @StrongpointRich what’s your target efficiency ratio? Using your calculation method.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@patrickdichter @ShelbyGrosch I've always seen it as Contribution $ / Labor, not Revenue (contribution = revenue - non-labor COGS).

Helps translate it across industries.

Revenue might = Contribution in your line of work though.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@J_M_Vogt @STLChrisH I actually got to speak a few times in Dodson’s entrepreneurial acquisition class. Very cool experience. Also very actionable information. A lot like his book which is a great mini MBA covering all of these topics.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@mediaguyNJ Almost every business under the sun.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

This was my SMB outreach funnel for my first acquisition. Searching is rewarding, but also hard as shit.

Emails sent: 133,982
Companies contacted: 34,044
CEO calls: 577
LOIs shared: 22
LOIs signed: 6
Businesses acquired: 1

FYI - This is not great searching. Better to have smaller numbers and higher conversion rates.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@Sam_Rosati I think the numbers are larger in general. My experience was probably an outlier but I had vastly different numbers.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

This was my SMB outreach funnel for my first acquisition. Searching is rewarding, but also hard as shit.

Emails sent: 133,982
Companies contacted: 34,044
CEO calls: 577
LOIs shared: 22
LOIs signed: 6
Businesses acquired: 1

FYI - This is not great searching. Better to have smaller numbers and higher conversion rates.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

Top priority should be to develop relationships with the key employees. Really get to know them. Make sure they don’t leave.

Step two is learning everything you can about the business. It isn’t time to change anything yet. Just learn. This is an opportunity to show your employees a lot of respect. Ask them about their true opinions about the business. After a couple months they won’t tell you their true opinions so don’t miss the opportunity.

[Jon Matzner @MatznerJon]

We run a service business.

We aren’t perfect.

We’ll try hard.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

If anyone is considering hiring global talent, I would highly recommend @SaganPassport.

I think you can really tell the quality of the organization by how they treat you went things go wrong.

In my case, a candidate search was going differently than expected and @kayvonbina himself stepped in and made it right. Now we have a new team member that everyone is excited about!

It’s an excellent company with great people!

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@GrulkeLamonte That a Mitsubishi 5 port branch box that is still mid installation

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@WeddingVenueGuy So you saved money by using the usps non-profit bulk mail rate?

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@SMB_Attorney That doesn’t sound long at all. Mine was 69 pages excluding exhibits.

Also, I think every page was useful when we later entered litigation.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@STLChrisH Crossing the $150MM mark!

Do you mind sharing the multiple you paid?

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

One time I sent an email to a mayor of a small city in Minnesota asking to buy his city. And, he responded…

It was back in 2018, I was scraping businesses from LinkedIn in bulk and emailing them. For some reason this city had a business LinkedIn page so they got an email.

I was using people in the Philippines to help me find names of CEOs and email addresses. They were paid per email so they found the mayors name and email and didn’t mention anything.

After the first email he didn’t reply, but he got an automated follow up a week later, which he did reply to. He clearly thought the request to buy his city was serious and sternly said that his city was not for sale.

This was both the funniest and lowest point of my search for a business to buy.

It wasn’t until I personally vetted each business that I emailed and cut the volume dramatically that the search became successful.

[HVAC searcher turned operator @tradesearcher]

@BtcPadre @Codie_Sanchez Who said we shouldn’t blame people?