Most sourcing ends at "here's an owner who replied." Ours ends after a real conversation. Before an opportunity reaches you, a trained M&A operator has spent 30+ minutes on the phone with the owner, understanding the business, the numbers, the motivation, and the risks, and written it up. You spend your time deciding, not qualifying.
We don't move an opportunity forward until we can answer the questions you'd ask on your own first call. Every handover is built from the same interview.
What it does and how it makes money, how long it's operated, team size and key roles, and how dependent the business is on the owner day-to-day.
Annual revenue and a sense of SDE/EBITDA, only ever what the seller actually shared and never estimated, the two-to-three-year trend, and whether the books, P&Ls, and tax returns are current and clean.
Why they're weighing a sale now, the timeline that feels right to them, whether they have a number in mind or are open to a valuation, and whether they're already talking to other brokers or buyers.
Customer concentration, key-person dependencies, lease terms and remaining runway, and any legal issues, liens, or red flags.
What the right buyer or transition looks like to the owner, whether they're open to an earn-out or staying on versus a clean exit, who else is involved in the decision, and our recommended next step.
A written brief with a clear recommendation: intro call, valuation conversation, or NDA. You open a decision, not a lead.
Illustrative and anonymized, a representative example of the brief a buyer receives. Identities, contacts, and financials are shared only under engagement.
Owner: [withheld until intro] · Company: [withheld] · Location: suburban Ohio metro · Industry: HVAC / mechanical, commercial and residential service.
Full-service HVAC, roughly 65% recurring commercial service contracts and 35% residential replacement. In operation 22 years. 18 employees: 12 field techs, 2 dispatch, an office manager, and a lead estimator who runs most commercial bids. Owner still handles sales and key accounts; a service manager runs day-to-day dispatch.
About $4.2M revenue (owner-stated). SDE roughly $700K to $800K (owner-stated, not yet verified). Revenue up modestly three years running. P&Ls and tax returns current; outside bookkeeper, CPA for taxes.
Motivation: burnout, plus a recent partner buyout that left him solo and wanting to de-risk. Timeline: comfortable moving over the next 6 to 12 months. Valuation: no fixed number, open to a valuation conversation. Prior process: has not spoken to any broker or buyer, and deleted two earlier cold approaches.
Customer concentration: largest account about 15% of revenue, on a multi-year contract. Key-person risk: the lead estimator matters, and the owner believes he'd stay. Lease: leases the shop and yard, about 4 years remaining with a renewal option. Legal: none disclosed.
Ideal buyer: an operator who'll keep the crew and the name, not strip it. Structure: open to a short transition or earn-out for the right buyer, prefers not to stay beyond a year. Decision: sole owner, wants to loop in his wife. Recommended next step: intro call, since the relationship is warm and the timing is real.
We'll size your market and show you the kind of owners we'd be interviewing on your behalf, on a 20-minute call. Complimentary, yours to keep.
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