oday's guest was a franchisee before he decided to buy a business.

So I wanted to get his perspective on franchising vs. owning an independent business.

One difference I'll call out: Trip Biesanz sorta fell into his franchise. The opportunity found him.

Meanwhile, years later when he decided to do a search, his experience was just the opposite.

The search was hard, long, and basically fruitless after 18 months — at which point he decided to engage a buy-side advisor. We spend a good amount of time on this piece of his story; Trip is a huge proponent of Calder Capital, the firm he used. (Who yes, introduced us, but no, is not sponsoring this episode!)

Listen for the key pivot point in Trip's story where he narrows his criteria from industry agnostic all the way down to just construction, and how that narrowing made all the difference.

If you're struggling in your search, ask yourself: perhaps tightening your focus would help. (Which is counterintuitive to new searchers.)

Trip also discusses what it's like to own a construction business from the inside, including if you don't know the trade. Listen for his advice on how to lead a team who knows much more than you about the service being delivered. His advice is sound probably for any industry, not just construction.

OK, here he is, Trip Biesanz, owner of G&C Glass, Mirror & Construction.