rades businesses are a popular option for entrepreneurs buying businesses.

But usually the acquisition entrepreneur doesn't have experience doing HVAC servicing or plumbing.

They're going to rely on the team that they acquire to actually deliver the service being sold by the business.

That's the pattern we see over and over.

Well today's guest took a different approach.

Matt Railla was working as a rookie business broker, and he had this listing that generated a ton of interest, but no buyers could ever get serious about it.

It was a termite inspection business in LA.

Retiring owner. Nearly half a million dollars in SDE. Deep network of referral business built over years. And a seller he'd built a lot of mutual trust with.

Matt Railla in front of house being fumigated by Top Termite
Top Termite’s chief fumigating officer, Matt Railla

So finally Matt asked himself:

What if I buy this business?

Now, doing so meant being willing to do the work himself. To learn the trade. To become a termite inspector.

Which, if you don't know anything about that particular business, means crawling under houses with the bugs and rats.

But of course that's not the end goal.

This is but the first chapter in building a termite inspection empire in LA County and beyond. And it's valuable to hear why Matt is deciding to work so in the business for a few years, rather than racing to be working on it.

Here he is, Matt Railla, owner of Top Termite.