This Week’s Breakdown (in 10 Seconds):
Adam is a former PwC consultant who left to buy his own thing.
He bought a 30-year-old gas station infrastructure business in 2020.
Five years later, profits had doubled.
Revenue grew about 50%, from $17M to $24M.
Then he sold to private equity.
And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
Hello SMB Deal Hunters!
Most first time business buyers are terrified of acquiring a business and then realizing they missed a hidden red flag.
Adam Vandermyde got to run the business for 6 months before he bought it.
He spent nine years in strategy consulting at Deloitte and PwC, a few months from making partner.
Then, a Boston private equity firm recruited him into a marketing and advertising agency they'd just bought. He led corporate development and became COO of a $150 million company.
He'd spent years acquiring companies for other people's portfolios, but he wanted one of his own.
So, when his brother-in-law, a business broker, called him about a 30-year-old company in Southern Utah that built and serviced gas station infrastructure, Adam took the meeting.
Then, he said no.
His current CEO had just doubled his equity, and he'd never worked a day in fueling infrastructure.
But the sellers weren’t ready to give up.
A previous deal had just fallen through. The sellers refused to publicly market the business, so their pool of buyers was small. They couldn't afford to lose Adam too.
So, they came back with something Adam had never seen before…
They offered to hire Adam as CEO at a salary, sign a letter of intent that locked in the purchase price, and let Adam run the business while he decided whether to close.
Any value Adam created during that time would stay with him.
Adam took the deal.
He ran the company, looked for skeletons in the closet, and figured out exactly what he had.
Six months later, he closed.
The sellers financed 50% of the deal. Adam covered the rest with an SBA loan and his own equity.
The business was doing $17 million in revenue and $1.1 million in profit.
Adam flipped the model from construction-first to service-first.
Five years later, profits had doubled.
Revenue grew about 50%.
$17 million → $24 million.
He sold the business to private equity.
Adam will tell you it was the hardest thing he's ever done.
He'll also tell you it was the best decision he ever made.
Member Spotlight
For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview breaking down Nielson's acquisition of a commercial landscaping business in LA County.
The business does $2M+ in revenue and cash flows $700K a year.
Nielson spent 15 years in commercial banking watching business owners up close. He decided he wanted to be one.
So he joined the Pro program. A few months later, he closed.
It took 12 months of negotiation and they walked away from each other twice.
The result?
🔥 He earned 60% seller financing with no SBA loan, structured across 3 years with two balloon payments
🔥 He bought a business with 17 employees and mostly 4-6 year government contracts
🔥 He and his wife both quit their jobs, and now run the business together
He spent 15 years watching other people do this. Now he's doing it himself.
"You guys have been through various acquisitions and I'm going through my first one. Everything that we discussed, you guys already knew it. You guys lived it."
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.
P.S. When we asked Nielson why he loves this industry, he said: "Whether the economy is doing well, whether we're in a war or not, grass and trees still grow and they still need to be maintained." That is recession-proof, low-tech, and contracted years out. Which is exactly the point. 👉 book a call here.
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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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.