🎙️-$350k → $13M/Yr: From failed acquisition to HVAC rollup | Nathan Lenahan

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

Your first business acquisition wipes out your life savings.

Your brother has to sell his house to cover the debt. You sell a property just to get back to zero.

Most people would never touch a business deal again.

Nathan Lenahan bought 4 more and built a $13M/year HVAC business.

His story involves 5 acquisitions, 1 catastrophic failure, and 4 wins that took him from broke to $13M/year.

Here's what makes it worth watching...

🔥 He lost everything on his first $350K acquisition of a Diesel Repair business in 2018. (The seller stole from customers, violated non-competes, and falsified the lease)

🔥 He was making so little on his first HVAC acquisition that he started a recruiting business that did $350K year one, $600K+ year two. He’s now working 3-4 hours per week on it.

🔥 He grew his HVAC business from ~ $1M to $13M in revenue in ~3.5 years.

Here's how…

And some of his most insightful lessons:

❓ The 5 deadly mistakes he made on his first deal

❓ His integration playbook after 4 HVAC acquisitions

❓ Why he's spent "more time on compensation plans than anything" (and how he's evolved pay structures every single year)

And unforgettable moments like...

👉️ Dive into the story with Nathan

And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Alumni Spotlight

For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro case study breaking down Ben’s acquisition of a $3.2M high-end cabinetry business in 7 months.

Ben had already had a successful run as a serial entrepreneur. So, it begged the question, why would he decide to buy a business vs start another one?

We dive into that along with the ups and downs of his acquisition.

His story tackles how he…

🔥 He found his deal within a week of really starting his search with us but…

🔥 Right before signing the LOI, the seller walked away from the deal over an accounts receivable debacle, and then…

🔥 We helped Ben get the seller back to the negotiating table and into diligence. But just as things were looking better, Ben faced significant issues getting the deal financed…

And these were his words for the community after he closed…

So, if you want me and my team to work with you to find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash-flowing business in the next 6-12 months, you might be interested in the Pro program.

👉️ Learn more and book a call

COMMUNITY PERKS

• Ready to buy and operate a $1M+ business? Get expert help at every step.

• Want to invest passively in SMB acquisitions? Get access to investment opportunities.

• Get a personal introduction to my preferred SBA 7(a) lender, non-SBA lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, or legal counsel

• Raising capital for your deal? I’ll connect you with investors from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

• Interested in selling your business? I’ll help you connect with buyers from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

THAT’S A WRAP

Want me to interview you for my podcast? Hit reply.

See you next week with some new deals!

-Helen Guo
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Disclaimer

This publication is a newsletter only and the information provided herein is the opinion of our editors and writers only. Any transaction or opportunity of any kind is provided for information only; SMB Deal Hunter does not verify nor confirm information. SMB Deal Hunter is not making any offer to readers to participate in any transaction or opportunity described herein.