Tech consultant -> $1.25M / yr HVAC Business with 6% Down

Hey - Helen here,

I wanted to share one final SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview as you are closing out the holidays and thinking through your 2026 goals.

Arman wanted out of tech so badly he almost made a $150,000 mistake.

He'd been an agile coach at companies like Accenture and American Airlines for years.

He had been making great money but he knew his role was a ‘luxury’.

The kind of job that gets cut first when budgets tighten up.

So he started looking for a way out before the wave of tech layoffs came for him.

He found a program that promised to do everything for him. Find the business. Handle the closing. Get the financing. All for $150K.

The type of offer that gives the online business acquisition world a bad rep. All the reward of business ownership without the work. But it was enticing and he signed the contract.

Then, the company decided to back out of the Done for You promise and tried to change the terms. They lost Arman’s trust and he ended up turning to SMB Deal Hunter Pro.

It was a lot less Done for You and a lot more Done with You.

We’d hand-hold him through every step of the process, from deal sourcing to 1:1 M&A advisory all the way to close.

In return, he would do the work of finding his own dream business and learning the skills he’d need to acquire and run it.

Why? Because our goal is for you to succeed AFTER you close on a business as well as during the search. Here’s Arman’s take:

12 months later, Arman closed on a $5.2M HVAC and weatherization company in the DC area.

Here's what makes his deal interesting:

🔥 He only put 6% down 

🔥 EBITDA grew from $1.1M at LOI to $1.6-$1.7M by close (bringing his multiple down from 5x to ~3x)

🔥 It was the only company in the entire state that could service 100-200 unit apartment complexes at scale

🔥 He got laid off from his tech role the day after his deal closed

But the path to close wasn't smooth. In the interview, Arman breaks down:

→ How he handled SBA rule changes mid-deal that required him to ask sellers to change from 2-year standby to 10-year standby on $400K of seller financing (and the exact approach he used so they didn't walk)

→ Why the bank delayed closing from July to October and how the advisors kept him sane

→ The "oh sh*t" moment when he took over and realized the previous owner had left zero deals in the pipeline for the business for the rest of the year.

→ Why he believes 2026 will be his new company’s biggest year ever

Watch the full interview here 👇️ 

And when we asked him to give advice to those planning on buying a business in 2026, here’s what he had to say:

Arman leaned on our battle-tested deal team to help him…

• Source his deals on and off-market (personalized exactly to his needs)

• Navigate every step of the process from the first broker call till closing day (one on one)

• And ultimately help him not just buy a business, but one he can grow and succeed with…

So, if you want to buy a $1M+ business in the next 6–12 months, but don’t want to spend years spinning your wheels alone, let’s talk.

👉 Learn more and book a call to see if you’d be a good fit

Talk soon,
Helen Guo

P.S. We're 2 days from our January 1st price increase. In the last year, we've helped members close over $115M in deals, doubled our M&A advisor team, and built an off-market marketplace with hundreds of listings no one else can access. If 2026 is the year you stop thinking about buying a business and actually do it, book a call before the deadline.