Dream Fulfilled: Buying a $2m, 50-Year-Old Business

December 20, 2022
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S

quare peg in a round hole.

This is how Fraser Voll had always felt professionally, until a friend told him about buying a business.

It was a lightbulb moment for Fraser, the same one that so many of my guests have when they first learn about acquisition entrepreneurship.

Flash forward, and Fraser is the new owner of a 50-year-old janitorial business in Niagara, Ontario, that does $2m in annual revenue.

Fraser Voll in front of RJS truck

Listen closely to the section where we discuss the earnout that he structured for his acquisition.

The business had 2 big risks — customer concentration & recent COVID growth — and Fraser was careful to structure his deal to mitigate them.

You're also going to learn about commercial cleaning businesses, which are a perennial favorite among searchers.

In an industry with notoriously tight margins, Fraser's business is doing $600k to $800k in SDE on its $2m in revenue. He explains how they're able to get these enviable 35% margins.

By the way, for 2 other great acquisition stories about commercial cleaning, see episode 72 with Chris Munn and episode 78 with James Maxwell.

OK, enjoy this awesome story of a dream fulfilled with Fraser Voll, the new owner of Regional Janitorial Services 👇👇👇

Sponsors

Oberle Risk Strategies logo

August Felker is a 2-time successful searcher — first with a traditional search fund; the second time around, he did a self-funded search.

Today August runs Oberle Risk Strategies, an insurance firm with a dedicated practice group for searchers and acquisition entrepreneurs like you.

If you've got a business under LOI, Oberle will provide complimentary due diligence on that business's insurance and benefits program. A great, no-risk way to get to know August & team.

They love helping searchers; they've worked with hundreds. Oberle is a specialty insurance brokerage for searchers, by a former searcher.

Check out the Search Fund Team at Oberle.

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Dream Fulfilled: Buying a $2m, 50-Year-Old Business

When Fraser Voll first learned about buying businesses, he couldn't stop reading about it. That passion paid dividends.

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Key Takeaways

Introduction

Listen to the introduction from the host
S

quare peg in a round hole.

This is how Fraser Voll had always felt professionally, until a friend told him about buying a business.

It was a lightbulb moment for Fraser, the same one that so many of my guests have when they first learn about acquisition entrepreneurship.

Flash forward, and Fraser is the new owner of a 50-year-old janitorial business in Niagara, Ontario, that does $2m in annual revenue.

Fraser Voll in front of RJS truck

Listen closely to the section where we discuss the earnout that he structured for his acquisition.

The business had 2 big risks — customer concentration & recent COVID growth — and Fraser was careful to structure his deal to mitigate them.

You're also going to learn about commercial cleaning businesses, which are a perennial favorite among searchers.

In an industry with notoriously tight margins, Fraser's business is doing $600k to $800k in SDE on its $2m in revenue. He explains how they're able to get these enviable 35% margins.

By the way, for 2 other great acquisition stories about commercial cleaning, see episode 72 with Chris Munn and episode 78 with James Maxwell.

OK, enjoy this awesome story of a dream fulfilled with Fraser Voll, the new owner of Regional Janitorial Services 👇👇👇

Sponsors

Oberle Risk Strategies logo

August Felker is a 2-time successful searcher — first with a traditional search fund; the second time around, he did a self-funded search.

Today August runs Oberle Risk Strategies, an insurance firm with a dedicated practice group for searchers and acquisition entrepreneurs like you.

If you've got a business under LOI, Oberle will provide complimentary due diligence on that business's insurance and benefits program. A great, no-risk way to get to know August & team.

They love helping searchers; they've worked with hundreds. Oberle is a specialty insurance brokerage for searchers, by a former searcher.

Check out the Search Fund Team at Oberle.

About

Fraser Voll

Fraser Voll

Show Notes

When Fraser Voll first learned about buying businesses, he couldn't stop reading about it. That passion paid dividends. 

Topics in Fraser's interview:

  • What working for a boutique M&A advisory taught him about buying businesses
  • Anatomy of a self-funded search deal WITHOUT an SBA loan
  • How to get a good multiple (3x) on a $600-800k EBITDA business
  • What Fraser bought: revenue, margins, price, terms, etc.
  • Getting comfortable with high customer concentration
  • How to de-risk buying a business whose revenue doubled in prior 2 years
  • How to structure an earnout
  • Janitorial industry: how to achieve high margins, retain labor, and more
  • Search in Canada
  • Why small business became more attractive than software

Links & how to reach Fraser:

Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:

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Episode Transcript

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