Fire, Covid, Exit: 5 Years in a $12m Events Business
02/15/24 • 105 min
Register here for the webinar, How to Raise Equity to Buy a Business
Will Wright bought a big event rental business in December 2018. When Covid hit, he turned crisis into opportunity.
Topics in Will’s interview:
- Benefits of a traditional search fund
- Feeling like a “wartime president”
- His brutal first year as owner
- Value of a strong company culture
- Scrambling to fulfill contracts after a large warehouse fire
- Layoff and salary cuts during Covid
- Building and strengthening the business during Covid
- Creating an incentive strategy for employees
- Texas as an attractive place for business
- How sailing prepared him for leading people
References and how to contact Will Wright:
- Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia
- Peerless Events and Tents
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Register here for the webinar, How to Raise Equity to Buy a Business
Will Wright bought a big event rental business in December 2018. When Covid hit, he turned crisis into opportunity.
Topics in Will’s interview:
- Benefits of a traditional search fund
- Feeling like a “wartime president”
- His brutal first year as owner
- Value of a strong company culture
- Scrambling to fulfill contracts after a large warehouse fire
- Layoff and salary cuts during Covid
- Building and strengthening the business during Covid
- Creating an incentive strategy for employees
- Texas as an attractive place for business
- How sailing prepared him for leading people
References and how to contact Will Wright:
- Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia
- Peerless Events and Tents
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Previous Episode
Taking a Blue Collar Biz from $900k to $2.4m in Earnings
Register here for the webinar, How to Raise Equity to Buy a Business
Adam Borcz bought & unlocked growth in a niche-y, 35-year-old blue collar business, almost tripling earnings in 4 years.
Topics in Adam’s interview:
- Adam’s experience working for a fundless sponsor
- Pros & cons of having the federal government as a customer
- Doubling his work force in a “tough labor market”
- Why overhead doesn't need to scale with labor force
- Doing nothing for the first six months as owner
- Why he invests in traditional search funds
- Personal risk and work involved in self-funded search
- Being on the right side of the SBA loan
- Tying profit sharing to gross profit
- Adam's decision to hold the business indefinitely
References and how to contact Adam:
Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:
- Contact [email protected] or visit Aspen HR
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
Next Episode
8 Figs or Bust: Transitioning a Big Plumbing Business
Register here for the webinar, How to Raise Equity to Buy a Business
Get $200 off your ticket to the M&A Launchpad Conference in Houston on May 11th:
- https://www.malaunchpad.com & enter code ACQUIRINGMINDS
Peter deBaptiste bought a 35-person plumbing business with 2 very technical, hands-on owners 1 hour away from his house.
Topics in Peter’s interview:
- Building operational skills in a start-up
- Acquiring Joe Cole Plumbing
- His disappointing first day as owner
- Buying from 2 co-owners
- Surprises in employee turnover
- Losing clients to a former employee
- What he likes about the plumbing business
- The complexities of working capital in construction
- Why he recommends holding off on strategy
- Underestimating his salary needs
References and how to contact Peter:
- Joe Cole Plumbing
- Episode with Peter's friend, Morgan McCauley:
Taking the Plunge into Extreme Ownership
Learn more about Walker Deibel's done-with-you buy-side advisory:
Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:
Connect with Acquiring Minds:
- See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
- Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
- Follow Will on Twitter
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