150,000 in SDE.

Would you even look twice at such a business?

Scott Walton and his partner did, and they bought it.

And another at around the same time that was doing $250k in SDE.

So the combined SDE of both acquisitions is below the threshold that many searchers would consider.

And yet...

Scott Walton & Matrix Mechanical Group
Scott Walton & Matrix Mechanical Group

Scott doubled the businesses in 2023 and is gunning to double them again this year, which would mean $10m in revenue and well over $1m of profit going into 2025.

And much more of that profit will go directly to Scott as owner versus servicing debt had they bought a $1m SDE business right out of the gate.

One of the benefits of buying small is that you pay far less for the initial acquisition, meaning far less debt service, meaning if you can grow into the desired $1m of profit and beyond, you keep a lot more of that profit a lot sooner.

Today's interview with Scott is how you might do just that.

Some topics today:

  • Hiring a president so you can step out of the business (Scott was very much in the business at first; today his time is mostly devoted to strategic projects.)
  • Improving culture & introducing KPIs at a blue collar business
  • How they solved hiring by creating a full pipeline of blue collar talent
  • How they financed these deals without the SBA (they're in Canada)
  • How Scott gets very personal with sellers to arrive at a successful negotiation
  • Migrating from tech to the trades

A dense and fascinating episode today. Please enjoy.

Here's Scott Walton, co-owner of Matrix Mechanical.