Will Schryver
@Will_Schryver
Former Investment Banker turned Home Services SMB Owner | Founder & Managing Partner, Longboat Partners | Marine Corps Veteran
I can’t believe I can say this. The NFL is back next week.
“Gross profit dollars, not margin %, pay the bills” - Overheard from a former client
Hire slow, fire fast. Learned this lesson the hard way.
How I passively own an HVAC company. General contractor threatens to call the cops on me. Technician rams the new $70,000 van into a concrete pole at the gas station. $174,000 in aging AR 90+ days past due. Service tech quits via text after 10 days and threatens to sue…
It’s competitive out there in HVAC. We bid a low margin $7,500 replacement install. Another company outbid us by $3,500.
Not all private equity is bad. There are a lot of really good people in PE (with operators) that are trying to preserve what a founder has built and take it to the next level. And yes they’re doing this for their LP investors to generate a good return on their investment. But…
Don’t sellout to PE regardless, they are trashing the trades as a whole with their shady practices, I’m all for making money but you can do so without misleading people…
If you own an HVAC, Roofing, Plumbing, etc home services company, please do not accept an earnout from a private equity-backed company. If it’s necessary to close the deal, please give me a call before you sign anything. Trust me these earnouts have teeth and the PE guys have…
Earnouts in Private Equity Transactions Primer
Owning an HVAC company on a random Friday. Operations Manager took a personal day off. Customer Service Rep took a day off. All customers calls come directly to me and the techs call me every 20 minutes.
As a banker, I thought I had an idea why my clients wanted to sell and monetize what they built. As an operator, I know with 100% confidence why my clients wanted to sell and monetize what they built.
I love taking work from my HVAC competitors. “I found you online due to your extensive and glowing Google reviews. I’ve had an incredibly bad experience with another HVAC company in the Bradenton, FL area.”
I love working with owner / operators. They’re built different. They think different.
Operate as if you’ll sell tomorrow with the mindset that you’ll never sell.
If you own an HVAC, Plumbing, or Electrical company and you’re thinking about selling in the next 6 - 12 months and you’re contemplating acquiring a small add-on to capture the multiple arbitrage, it’s going to be tough to get full credit from private equity. I would recommend…
This blows my mind
Insane Chart. 50% of global GDP comes from just 3 regions.
HVAC owner getting an unsolicited offer from private equity
Shut the fuck up
Growth opportunities from a broker: “Just add more trucks to help grow the business” Mkay … if it were only that easy buddy.
3 HVAC install estimates on the board today by 9:45am. Not a bad start to the week.
Can someone explain this to me like I’m 5 years old how this makes sense
