In this episode of the M&A Launchpad Podcast, hosts Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa interview Brittney Orellano, who shares her inspirational journey of starting a real estate property management company and later acquiring a garage and gate service business in Kansas City. Brittney discusses the challenges of balancing entrepreneurship with family life, including working with her husband while raising four children. Like many in this M&A space, Brittney discovered the world of ETA through the teachings of Codi Sanchez and other M&A podcasts. After starting a company, she decided that an acquisition would be her next challenge. Brittney and her husband currently own and manage both SCUDO RE + PM (property management company) and Radio Controlled Garage Door & Gate (garage door and gate service company).
The conversation dives into the logistics of acquiring a business, including financial structuring, seller financing, and the integration of new technology. Brittney reveals the ups and downs of her entrepreneurial journey and offers invaluable insights and lessons learned. The episode also highlights Brittney’s excitement for AI implementation in her business and her passion for continued growth.
In this podcast episode, we discuss:
- Starting VS Buying a Company
- Diving Into New Industries
- Acquisition Challenges
You can connect with Brittney by Email: brittney@rcgdg.com
Additional Resources:
- Work with a Trusted Quality of Earnings and Financial Diligence Partner who focuses solely on Business Acquisitions: Schedule a discovery call with Patrick of O’Connell Advisory Group—Your Dynamic Quality of Earnings Partner
- Access our archive of video interviews on YouTube
- Get in touch with show hosts Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa at – info@equitylaunchpad.com
- Looking to invest in M&A opportunities or partner with an advisor to acquire, scale or sell your business? Visit Equity Launchpad
🎧 Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0KiNmWEjYMGkBa3Ib9fcoh?si=da43c12d36714d80
🎧 Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-property-management-startup-to-acquiring-a/id1740382586?i=1000688656787
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Transcript
00:00 all right on today’s episode we
00:01 interviewed Britney orlano who started a
00:04 property management company and then
00:05 went on to go buy a garage and Radio
00:08 Service Company and really talked about
00:10 the ups and downs and the difficulties
00:11 of that coupled with really working that
00:14 with her husband and having four kids
00:16 and so lots of interesting nuggets on
00:18 this one so Casey what were some of your
00:19 takeaways you know entrepreneurship is
00:21 is one of those things that that I’ve
00:23 been my whole life I love it you know
00:25 but I you know I did not have to have
00:27 four children right in my mind it just
00:30 being able to be a part of
00:31 Entrepreneurship the stress that it
00:32 takes to be married to have kids and
00:35 then to go out and buy a company and go
00:37 through that process it’s an
00:39 unbelievable Story I mean at the end of
00:41 the day no one else has a has a reason
00:43 why they can’t go out and do it I mean
00:45 she went on a search in November and
00:46 ended up buying her company in January
00:48 yeah I mean you’re driving about a
00:49 three-month search and just get it done
00:52 type attitude it’s nice to have a dual
00:54 partnership husband and wife but is it I
00:56 mean you also have the challenges of
00:58 being married I completely agree with
00:59 and we talked about you know how they
01:00 bought that with just 5% down right how
01:02 they ended up structuring that working
01:03 that then also just kind of some of the
01:05 changes you do make that first year and
01:07 some of the changes you avoid making
01:08 right and ultimately as many
01:10 entrepreneurs learn the hard way is that
01:12 first year is usually not the Home Run
01:15 year right typically it takes you that
01:18 year of just letting the dust settle
01:20 keep things as is make small changes get
01:23 a handle on the business and then you
01:25 can start to kind of propel yourself
01:27 forward from there all right we’ll go
01:28 ahead and get hopped into this one
01:34 all right guys just take one second here
01:35 real quick when you’re buying a business
01:37 ensuring the financial health of the
01:38 company is critical and that’s where a
01:40 quality of earnings partner comes in
01:42 quality of earnings gives you confidence
01:43 in the financials of the company that
01:45 you’re purchasing it aims to protect
01:47 your investment and ensure that you’re
01:48 stepping into a profitable business on
01:50 day Patrick of okell Advisory Group is
01:52 your Dynamic quality of earnings partner
01:54 he’s here to help you buy the right
01:55 business on your timeline Patrick’s
01:57 entire practice is focused on business
01:59 acquisitions your Niche is his niche in
02:02 over the past decade Patrick’s helped
02:03 more than 200 buyers like yourself
02:05 successfully purchase and operate
02:07 enduring profitable businesses in fact
02:09 Patrick’s helped some listeners of this
02:11 show so if you’re buying looking for
02:13 help with the quality of earnings
02:14 Financial due diligence Network capital
02:16 and more head to oconnell advisory
02:18 group.com or just click the link in the
02:20 show notes hey Bry welcome to the show
02:22 hi thank you so much for having me
02:24 likewise so go ahead and let’s tell
02:27 people a little bit about your
02:27 background so where are you base and
02:29 kind of maybe share a little bit about
02:30 what you have going on today and then we
02:31 can kind of Dive Right In into kind of
02:33 how you got there sure so background we
02:36 are in Kansas City my husband and I
02:38 started a real estate and Property
02:40 Management brokerage at the end of 2013
02:43 that’s how we kind of got our kicks in
02:46 this entrepreneurship world I think it’s
02:48 always been ingrained in us but that was
02:50 our first legit Venture that is still
02:52 running and operating today and then as
02:55 far as how I got to where we are today
02:57 we started pursuing acquisition sometime
02:60 around the end of
03:02 2022 got it and then you you ended up
03:04 buying a business already
03:07 correct yes so we purchased a garage
03:10 store and gate company in Kansas City
03:13 all right Al so then let’s dive in so
03:15 you know I guess for that most people
03:18 right don’t even get to start the first
03:20 business you started a business you
03:22 still have it today it’s still
03:23 functional and I guess maybe the
03:24 question for still married and still
03:26 married right and then I think the
03:29 question that I have that I think a lot
03:30 of listeners have too is why did you
03:32 decide not to continue to grow that and
03:34 go buy another
03:36 company yeah so we’ve been asked this
03:39 and I wish I had like a logical answer
03:41 so I don’t know if my answer is logical
03:42 or it pencils but at some point you know
03:45 you just have to understand who you are
03:48 and what we want our life to look like
03:49 and so I think logically that probably
03:52 would have been a good a good move but
03:54 we both just get Restless when we solve
03:56 a problem like so we’re always in
03:58 pursuit of solving a problem always used
04:00 to some layer of chaos and so I think
04:03 when we hit a stage of life where it
04:05 felt like almost early retirement in the
04:07 sense that we really didn’t have anyone
04:09 coming to us we didn’t have any big
04:11 hairy problems we were trying to figure
04:12 out it was cool for about a year and
04:15 then in the second year we were just
04:17 going crazy we’re like we got to get
04:19 after something so for us doing more of
04:22 the same or continuing to build in the
04:24 sandbox we were already so used to and
04:26 we felt like we kind of cracked the Cod
04:28 on that business and got it to a sweet
04:29 spot thought it just didn’t get our
04:31 juices flowing it wasn’t something that
04:33 we sat at the table and got excited
04:35 about whereas when we started
04:37 considering acquisition it’s just that
04:39 kind of undeniable like we just were
04:42 immediately pumped and it felt like we
04:43 were fired up again for the first time
04:45 in a while did you read a book did
04:47 someone come home and say oh my god
04:49 let’s get into entrepreneur like
04:51 acquisition entrepreneurship what what
04:53 sparked that yeah so I would say two
04:56 parts so one part that kind of opened
04:57 our eyes to it was we were getting
04:59 approached a lot um by people wanting to
05:01 acquire our property management business
05:04 and so that was really the first time I
05:05 was like us like us you know we’re these
05:08 random property managers in Kansas City
05:10 you know I didn’t even know we had
05:11 something that could be sold honestly
05:14 and so that was the first thing that
05:15 sparked my like oh this is kind of like
05:16 real estate you can hold on to it you
05:18 know and build equity and it’s something
05:21 more than just how we’re paying the
05:22 bills so I would say that’s what kind of
05:24 open my eyes to it I still kind of
05:26 categorized it as something that people
05:28 who have Equity you large funds or you
05:32 know or big players I kind of put it in
05:34 my mind it’s like that’s for people who
05:36 are not like us so then I did hear a
05:38 podcast I heard Cody Sanchez Cody
05:41 Sanchez on a personal finance podcast
05:43 and it just like I said I was like oh my
05:46 gosh yeah because like so we can sell
05:49 and buy I don’t know why it didn’t click
05:51 before or why I wasn’t thinking that way
05:54 um but I literally came home from
05:56 hearing that podcast I was at the gym
05:58 pretty much like kicked the kitchen door
06:00 down into the house and I was like I got
06:03 it I I know what we got to do and I
06:05 might die if we don’t do this like I was
06:08 just so
06:09 excited that’s awesome so uh just before
06:12 we get into the deep stuff of the
06:14 business what I find is after I because
06:16 I was also inspired by a book and things
06:19 like that but then you go do it and you
06:20 realize it’s a lot harder than what they
06:23 told us on the podcast yeah hands down
06:27 hands down yeah and question for you did
06:30 you I guess why not sell the property
06:32 management company and or why not buy
06:35 another property management company and
06:36 turn it into hey we’re just going to
06:38 start to consolidate and buy other
06:39 management companies because you you you
06:41 know that space and you’re good at it I
06:43 know I know I you know we might have
06:46 that like I wish that we were the
06:48 personality we’ve learned this about
06:49 ourselves where I wish there was one of
06:51 us that was like slow and steady RS the
06:53 race but we have always been like jump
06:56 and build a plane in the air and we’re
06:57 both wired that way so in hindsight
07:00 there’s a lot of things I will say that
07:02 we did pursue acquiring other small
07:04 local property management companies but
07:06 the lift to get those stabilized to
07:08 where we were at again it just would
07:10 require a lot of time and effort into
07:13 something that you know we’re so
07:14 grateful for that business and have a
07:16 lot of respect for that business but it
07:18 just wasn’t something that we were
07:20 excited about felt like a lot and we
07:22 knew the time constraint it would take
07:25 for us to do that what was you I feel
07:27 like that was a two-part question I only
07:28 got you one yeah I know and then one not
07:30 sell then maybe it’s the other part
07:31 right oh yeah we still talk about that
07:34 we’re like should we have I I don’t know
07:36 I think it felt like a safety net like
07:38 if everything else goes wrong that’s a
07:40 debt-free business that’s cash flowing
07:42 that we can that’s our day job so we can
07:45 it just kind of felt like a safe space
07:47 hindsight I think it could have been
07:49 nice to have that Capital to inject into
07:52 this new Venture I think that that’s
07:54 something that we’re recognizing now I
07:57 think the amount of capital we thought
07:58 we were going to need you know
07:60 expectation versus reality were pretty
08:02 far apart so yeah I just don’t think we
08:05 could have estimated we probably could
08:07 have if we’ taken more time but at the
08:09 time we didn’t have the tools to
08:10 estimate how much actual Capital we
08:12 would need no it’s it’s those are all
08:15 great questions and it’s ve it’s very
08:17 well thought out I think that you know
08:19 one of the things and Ferris Molen this
08:21 way a lot he talks to us about Buy and
08:24 Hold right it’s it’s having these
08:25 businesses they generate cash and it’s a
08:28 great asset right so when you sell it
08:31 you know you gotta you’ve got to take
08:33 that capital and you’ve got to put it
08:34 somewhere else to grow and so it’s kind
08:37 of like you’re like hey I mean we got a
08:38 great business I don’t have to show up
08:40 to work every day there it generates
08:42 cash that’s a pretty good Safety Net in
08:44 my opinion I mean a lot of the people
08:45 that are listening to our call today are
08:47 thinking about their first business
08:48 right they’re going hey yeah instead of
08:50 going and starting and doing all that
08:52 groundw work I’m gonna shortcut buy an
08:54 existing business right right so now
08:57 you’ve done both so here’s the here’s my
08:59 question um is it just as much work to
09:03 start it from the ground up or to the
09:05 business that you bought are are you
09:07 like if you look back I mean are you
09:09 like man we’re doing almost the same
09:11 amount of work yeah I think uh who I am
09:14 today you know I was in my 20s early 20s
09:17 when I started the first business I had
09:20 um we had just had our third kid under
09:23 six so I and we had no money we were
09:26 literally I mean interested us is we’re
09:28 like okay low beard entry this is
09:30 something we could do just on the hustle
09:33 um which is pretty much all we had to
09:34 offer at that point so when I look back
09:37 and I’m like okay if we had Capital at
09:39 that point doing a startup could it
09:41 potentially have gone you know a lot
09:44 faster I don’t know um I do know that
09:46 we’re working really really insanely
09:48 hard now but it still to me does not
09:51 compare as a cash strapped young couple
09:55 uh bootstrapping a startup it’s just to
09:57 me it does it’s night and day I’ll take
09:60 this all all right so talk to us about
10:02 the Journey of finding this acquisition
10:03 so it sounds like you listened to Cody
10:05 Sanchez uh you got excited come home
10:08 tell the husband hey I’ve got it all
10:10 solved this is what we’re g to do so
10:12 then that was in 2022 right beginning of
10:15 2022 that was the end so that was
10:17 probably November I think it was
10:18 November 22 okay and so then you got to
10:21 then go into a searching so talk to us
10:23 about the the how this all went down
10:25 what were you imagining buying versus
10:27 what did you find okay so my original
10:30 plan was was a property manager uh
10:32 management company rollup because we
10:34 learned that if you do a rollup you
10:36 potentially don’t have to put the same
10:38 amount of equity down so that and and
10:40 that’s what we knew so that was kind of
10:42 the first idea after reviewing a few
10:46 companies like I said it just felt like
10:48 you know this this isn’t the Avenue we
10:49 want to go so then we thought about like
10:51 a hub and spoke model like okay let’s
10:53 stack some service businesses that we
10:56 could be the main customer as a property
10:58 management company know that we could
10:59 feed workor into so I looked at our
11:01 property management reports of what
11:03 vendors we spend the most money on and
11:05 started pursuing those reached out to
11:07 some of our vendors in the property
11:08 management company and just said hey
11:11 this is probably awkward but if you ever
11:13 want to get out of the BD you know I’m
11:15 your guy give me a call so it was a very
11:18 aggressive approach I put I once I heard
11:20 that one podcast I downloaded every uh
11:23 you know acquisition podcast I could
11:25 find and everyone kind of the general
11:28 consensus was that it Tak a really long
11:30 time to acquire a business so I felt
11:33 like if we’re going to want to acquire
11:34 within the next year we have to be
11:36 aggressively searching but where we
11:39 ultimately found it was on Biz by cell
11:42 oh nice and it was in your backyard yeah
11:45 yeah it’s 20 minute door to door for my
11:47 house got it so tell us a little bit
11:48 about this business how big is it you
11:50 know what was the what was the asking
11:52 price what’ you buy it for and then how’
11:54 you structure it yes I don’t remember
11:56 the original asking price because there
11:58 was like a land PL and a billboard and a
12:01 few other things that were tied into
12:02 there that I think is actually the
12:04 reason it wasn’t acquired because it
12:06 skewed a lot of the numbers um but the
12:08 asking price was a little over a million
12:11 I want to say when we started getting
12:13 interested um it was generating just
12:15 under 2 million and I want to say that
12:17 SD was around 350 and so we ended up
12:21 closing under a million and yeah it’s a
12:23 it’s a garage door uh we specialize in
12:26 custom uh garaging gate Solutions so we
12:28 can do and repair so we can install or
12:31 repair any type of garage or B got it
12:35 and so maybe just for the audience
12:36 understand so it’s it brought in about
12:39 two million of Revenue right and the
12:41 bulk of that is installing new garages
12:43 or is it repairing it was a it was a
12:46 pretty clean split um so yeah it was a
12:49 pretty 5050 which to us kind of felt
12:52 similar to what we were used to with the
12:54 brokerage of sales versus property
12:55 management is you kind of have your you
12:57 know recurring revenue and then have
12:59 your big hits which was how this was set
13:01 up so it just made sense to me that way
13:04 okay and then you know and then you
13:05 bought it for roughly a million um I
13:07 guess how did you structure it right did
13:09 you bring that cash did you take on debt
13:11 did you try to do something with the
13:12 seller and was the seller sophisticated
13:14 I mean what’s kind of the this
13:15 background there okay so the way we
13:17 structured it so we again so we we
13:20 started our search in November we were
13:23 under Loi in
13:25 January um and then we closed at the end
13:27 of April so there was not a lot of time
13:30 for us yeah she does not mess around I’m
13:34 tell I was literally having this
13:35 conversation today with Casey about you
13:37 know like there’s a deal that we’re very
13:39 close we think we’re close on I mean we
13:41 are and we we have the opportunity to
13:42 buy it but we have to accelerate and I
13:43 was telling him let’s just skip the LOI
13:45 go straight to PSA no I was telling him
13:47 I’m like look the guy is 82 years old he
13:50 it takes him three minutes to move
13:52 across the facility We’re not gonna move
13:55 on this and he’s like that’s why we need
13:56 to just go right to PSA I’m like God
14:00 yeah I mean that you know probably more
14:03 appreciation for my husband who’s
14:04 married to me that I I am I am a very
14:07 like driven aggressive person so when I
14:09 have my mindset on something that’s
14:11 definitely not a shortcoming in that um
14:14 so yeah so the deal structure was um
14:17 again this is where my husband comes in
14:19 he grew up in Queens so he’s got a
14:21 little bit of that New York finagle
14:22 Let’s Make a Deal happen you know in way
14:25 so we ended up doing so we put in 5%
14:29 we did a seller carry for the other 5%
14:32 on standby right it was like a standby
14:34 right perfect yep and then 40% seller
14:38 financing and then the rest was an
14:41 beautiful that’s a great structure Yeah
14:43 question uh why did you uh do the 40%
14:45 seller financing versus just roll that
14:47 into the SBA so the interest rates when
14:49 we were getting ready to close increased
14:52 significantly from the beginning of our
14:54 search in those few short months to
14:56 closing and so we kind of got hit with
14:58 reality looking at the numbers of like
15:01 wow this is not what we projected so we
15:03 got a more favorable interest rate and
15:05 we kind of liked that he would have skin
15:06 in the game yeah it’s a great idea and
15:08 does the billboard and the real estate
15:10 was that included or are yall renting no
15:13 okay no yeah we’re renting and he sold
15:15 the got it and so so now you’re at what
15:18 almost two years into it yeah right you
15:21 know kind of maybe tell us what happened
15:23 right so what were there certain things
15:24 that you saw that was just loow hanging
15:26 fruit that you’re like we’re gonna make
15:27 this change this change this change did
15:29 you make those changes and kind of what
15:31 has been the net result of all that so
15:33 oh yeah I mean I would stay up at night
15:35 with excitement about all the cool
15:36 things I was go that I was telling
15:38 myself I was going to do so some of the
15:41 things that we actually did that I
15:42 thought we were going to do is integrate
15:44 technology and software in processes
15:46 that’s something I’m really passionate
15:48 about is you know wherever we can
15:50 automate do that as quickly as possible
15:52 so when we took over they were all paper
15:55 on everything from the bid process to
15:58 the final invoice getting mailed so that
16:00 is something that we did pretty quickly
16:02 I tried not to but it was just
16:05 impossible for us to keep up with and we
16:07 desperately needed to improve our cash
16:10 flow from you know me having time to
16:12 print out invoices and mail them so that
16:14 kind of made software get bumped up the
16:17 list other things I mean I think we were
16:19 really focused we not handy people my
16:21 husband jokes he can’t change a light
16:23 bulbs so we were pretty terrified about
16:25 losing team members which we heard
16:27 happens a lot so I think employee
16:29 retention was number two of importance
16:32 to us is we can’t lose everybody because
16:34 who’s going to do the work and how many
16:37 employees at that time I want to say
16:39 there were seven or eight okay maybe
16:42 nine there might have been nine and
16:44 we’re at six right now so yeah I would
16:47 say just focusing on that I don’t know
16:49 it’s kind of hard to remember what was
16:51 done and it’s all been kind of a blur
16:54 but I would say those are probably the
16:55 two things that I I thought we were
16:57 going to do that we fortunately were
16:58 able to successfully to some degree pull
17:01 off other than that everything else was
17:03 like pump the brakes and I just need to
17:05 like watch and learn because nothing was
17:08 kind of how I anticipated it got it yeah
17:11 there’s a lot of that that theory of do
17:13 nothing for the first year right and
17:16 it’s really hard to do because when we
17:18 closed on H&M similar Times May in May
17:21 you know we just there was we had a a a
17:23 key person leaving the company that did
17:26 a lot of the back office off you know
17:28 admin so switching out all that stuff
17:30 getting all that stuff that was just
17:31 light stuff but then it was about eight
17:33 months in we brought in an operating
17:35 partner and we might I mean I’ll tell
17:38 you we moved quick and we started to
17:40 make some changes on on some things
17:42 getting the Erp in getting away all this
17:44 stuff and it paid off but we also had a
17:46 very slow year and so it kind of like
17:48 it’s always that like you’re so close
17:51 and then it’s like oh I did the Right
17:53 Moves and it it’s never perfect right
17:55 it’s just a it seems like a big roller
17:57 coaster ride I think we’re feeling
17:59 feeling that a lot we almost had that
18:01 identical conversation yesterday like
18:03 you just you get this win and then it
18:05 feels like almost immediately something
18:08 happens that kind of takes it from you
18:10 or it’s like okay this thing we’ve been
18:12 working on or this idea we had it’s
18:14 coming to parision and then kind of an
18:16 out of left field gut punch comes and
18:18 you’re like and here we go you know the
18:21 ups and downs of being an entrepreneur
18:22 that’s that’s that’s a good point though
18:24 it’s like because you you had the same
18:27 probably experience in your property
18:28 management starting it right and it’s
18:31 just hard you know and and one of the
18:33 things we do on this podcast different
18:34 than you know others we’re very like we
18:37 want to be realistic with people that
18:38 are thinking about buying a business
18:40 because you are signing a note right and
18:42 in some states you’re you know there you
18:45 don’t have Homestead like in Texas you
18:46 have Homestead so they can’t take your
18:47 home uh it is a big it’s a big deal
18:50 financing is a big deal um and you never
18:53 know until you close you can do all the
18:55 due diligence in the world and then you
18:58 close then all all the skeletons come
19:01 out yeah you’re like I didn’t see that
19:04 or you’re like okay so you’re making
19:06 that note for the next acquisition
19:07 you’re like I will never do that
19:09 again you learn got I’ve got a list I’ve
19:12 got a list on that for sure yeah well
19:14 quick question um on the seller on the
19:17 seller financing what were the terms how
19:19 long you know did you have you been have
19:21 you paid that off yet or did you did you
19:24 structure anything creative
19:25 there no so his note is the same l as
19:29 the SBA financing um by rule I think
19:33 that that’s a rule with SBA yes yeah I
19:36 was gonna say I don’t think we had a
19:37 whole lot of Leverage there and then his
19:40 portion again just by their terms is
19:42 that we can’t pay that
19:44 up I keep want to call it carrye what’s
19:47 the proper term for sell a note the
19:51 portion that he’s holding till the end
19:52 the other 5% yeah oh the his Equity that
19:55 he rolled no no no no no no it was a
19:57 standby sorry standby standby standby I
19:60 need toint that all these terminologies
20:02 right like it’s a standby yes got it and
20:05 that that allows so that’s the cool
20:06 thing um that allows for the 5 per down
20:09 payment so you know he carries five
20:12 can’t ever be paid off I think you can
20:14 go to two years now they’ve made all
20:16 these little like it depends on the bank
20:18 you go to that kind of does that but you
20:21 you then can go to 5% which is
20:22 incredible especially with the 40%
20:25 seller carry if he gave you guys a
20:27 reasonable interest rate on that then
20:29 that Blended rate overall is is not as
20:31 power because you’re probably at what 10
20:33 and a half on your SBA I think it’s y so
20:36 so so dumb question and I’m gonna ask
20:38 because the listeners are if I have the
20:39 question the listen have the questions
20:41 because I’m not an SBA Guru what does
20:42 this standby Casey walk me through it
20:45 yeah so a standby basically the seller
20:48 agrees to not take any payments or
20:50 principal anything on that seller note
20:53 let’s just say no on that 5% not no on
20:55 that 5% yeah so of the 40% seller carry
20:59 you might have got 45 but say of the 40%
21:02 seller carry 5% of that cannot be paid
21:06 off until the end there’s no interest no
21:08 principal like there’s no payments
21:09 whatsoever on it it just stands by okay
21:12 what that allows then is the buyer only
21:15 has to put 5% down obviously it has to
21:18 Debt Service and cover so if the company
21:20 quadruple is in value he’s still only
21:22 getting that same dollar
21:23 amount it’s it’s really a note it’s
21:27 really a note with zero
21:29 anything just it’s just a principle
21:31 think about the idea of SBA though SBA
21:33 is to try to spar people to buy
21:34 companies right now there’s no question
21:36 they need more young people buying
21:38 companies from old people that is a
21:39 definite so they came up with a
21:41 methodology to get the down payment
21:43 lower there’s probably no Rhyme or
21:45 Reason why they did that I love my
21:46 loopholes but they they but so now you
21:48 can sit down with the seller and go look
21:51 this is how we have to structure it this
21:53 is the way we can get it done and you
21:55 can get yourself a 5% down payment which
21:58 on a million dollar purchase you guys
21:59 put in
22:01 $50,000 okay so it’s fantastic so then
22:04 so fast forward your you’re two years
22:05 into it are you feeling great about it
22:07 was it uh you know are you happy you did
22:09 it right and are you guys continuing to
22:11 grow it or are you thinking okay we’re
22:13 gonna go get another third business I
22:15 what’s kind of the focus
22:17 now to be focused on the now and one
22:20 thing at a time so that is something I
22:22 am really working on so I’m not allowing
22:25 myself to like think about future plans
22:28 of acquisition just want to really nail
22:29 this one thing um I’m definitely happy
22:32 that we did it I think that the timing
22:36 we had some personal things that were
22:38 kind of overlaid that would have been
22:40 difficult regardless just loss of family
22:42 members that all kind of happened in a
22:44 row quickly after the acquisition that
22:47 kind of stretched us to a point we
22:49 probably haven’t been stretched to since
22:51 we started our initial bootstrap
22:53 business but I think the lessons we’re
22:55 learning I think our attitude and and
22:57 our perspective on is even if we can’t
23:01 pull this off and we’re going to try our
23:03 hardest we’re going to learn as much as
23:04 legally possible and if it doesn’t pan
23:07 out how we want what we have learned we
23:08 will absolutely use again hopefully in
23:11 the future um so we’re looking at it as
23:13 there’s not a way to lose because we
23:15 have learned more in this two years than
23:18 I could have paid anyone to teach me
23:20 that’s beautiful it’s a great attitude
23:22 because because it it is tough um yeah
23:25 but let me ask you this so are you guys
23:27 so in your in your business right so are
23:30 you there every day um are you are you
23:32 kind of like split time between property
23:35 management and the company how what’s
23:37 the what’s kind of the the schedules yes
23:39 so initially we were both in the office
23:42 physically there every day I am now um
23:45 almost exclusively working from home um
23:47 our property management company’s been
23:49 remote since the beginning so there’s
23:51 nowhere to go there so anything that I’m
23:53 doing on the property management side
23:55 with my team would just be a virtual
23:56 meeting or a phone call and then on The
23:58 Grudge door side I only come in if
23:60 there’s kind of a major you know thing
24:02 that maybe is my idea that we’re
24:04 integrating or something I just need to
24:07 land um otherwise I’m working from home
24:09 my husband is still going every day he’s
24:12 still physically there um but he’s
24:14 trying to scale back his hours got it
24:17 and anything on the the garage door side
24:18 you’re excited about kind of for next
24:20 year saying hey we think we’re going to
24:21 grow 30% next year and here’s why yeah I
24:25 mean there’s all I’m always excited so
24:26 even when it’s challenging I have to
24:28 keep my focus on where we’re trying to
24:30 go otherwise you get bogged down and
24:32 where you’re at right now so I mean I
24:34 think the clarity that I have now I
24:37 could not have learned without this year
24:39 and a half so I feel clearer than I have
24:41 ever felt on the players we need to kind
24:45 of propel us toward our vision of where
24:47 we’re trying to go as far as gross
24:48 revenue so I feel great about our team I
24:51 feel great about um our our vision I
24:54 feel great about our our numbers this is
24:56 the most dialed in I’ve been that was
24:58 kind of an that it took me a really long
25:00 time to unpeel you know our margins on
25:03 every type of job and and who’s doing
25:05 what and you know how are we attributing
25:07 that to who or what venue so feel like
25:12 I’ve got everything sorted I’m clear and
25:14 so now it just becomes an execution game
25:18 which is not where we have been
25:19 previously previously it’s just been
25:21 let’s keep the wheels on so I feel like
25:22 we’ve passed that stage and now we’re
25:24 like okay let’s get excited about
25:26 actually growing and trying to go beyond
25:28 where we’ve been trying to be yeah it’s
25:30 great because that’s kind of the you say
25:32 the wheels are on so I kind of say like
25:34 you know with our with our first
25:35 acquisition H&M it’s like you know the
25:36 plan the plane is is not completely
25:39 landed yet you know we’re on our way the
25:42 we’ve got two engines out you know tail
25:44 Wings failed you know we’re we’ve
25:46 scraped the runway once but we’re not
25:48 completely down you know but I feel like
25:50 we got the Erp in we got all these
25:52 things in line to be able to then just
25:55 have good timing good production see
25:57 those no numbers so
25:59 it does take time it certainly takes
26:01 time and to anyone who’s getting into it
26:03 I would say to fully have that
26:05 expectation of whatever the plans are
26:07 you know kick that can down the road
26:09 maybe at least 12 months to give
26:11 yourself time to understand the business
26:13 the current structure the current
26:14 processes where improvements needed um
26:17 where you need to just leave some things
26:18 alone just to get yourself some clarity
26:21 yep oh and it takes time and it’s tough
26:24 like that’s the biggest thing I mean it
26:25 stuff takes time you have to let it
26:27 happen you have to spend the energy to
26:29 kind of get in there and peace meal
26:31 together and drag it sometimes to where
26:33 you need it to get to right
26:36 so all right perfect well we can go
26:38 ahead and go move on to our rocket round
26:40 where we ask listeners the same three
26:42 questions all right so first question
26:45 Britney what do you like to do in your
26:47 free time hands down hang out with my
26:50 kids that is you know be as lazy as
26:53 possible and do nothing and schedule
26:55 nothing and just chilling with my kids
26:58 is my happy place in my free time for
27:00 sure you said you have you had two
27:02 children three we got four now four
27:04 girls four girls and you’ve been able to
27:06 do all this four girls you said yes a I
27:10 got two girls they they keep you busy so
27:12 oh yeah yeah all right next question
27:15 most memorable moment in your business
27:17 Journey I’m gonna St in the first
27:20 bootstrap business hitting a place of um
27:23 the business growing a little bigger
27:24 than us I think that is one that was
27:28 just a moment for us of like we’re not
27:30 really needed and everything’s working
27:33 and growing and operating as it should
27:35 and everyone knows what they’re supposed
27:36 to be doing that was just coming from a
27:39 complete startup to that was just a
27:41 moment that’s outstanding and and so
27:43 what is your favorite tool or resource
27:45 you like to use okay so right now I’m
27:47 all in on AI which is ironic with a blue
27:51 collar business um but it’s pretty
27:54 exciting and a lot of these field
27:55 service management softwares are rolling
27:57 out um really cool AI stuff to just make
28:01 us a lot more productive um and kind of
28:03 take off the task that we don’t need to
28:04 do so I would say that’s what give a few
28:06 examples of just some of those tasks and
28:08 things that are kind of getting
28:09 streamlined for you absolutely um
28:11 answering service so AI answering
28:13 service to um that can actually put the
28:17 call into our system and assign it to
28:20 the correct user and do it within
28:22 certain windows and know our schedule
28:23 blocking so almost essentially taking
28:25 over dispatch to a degree that’s why the
28:27 one I’m most exced excited about then
28:29 just you know the written responses you
28:32 know doing all your thinking for you on
28:34 the technician responses to customers or
28:38 uh emails and you know and everything it
28:41 it whips up for us question for the
28:43 dispatching one is that already rolled
28:44 out and is it working as well as you
28:45 want it to or is something you’re still
28:46 work on getting rolled out it is rolled
28:49 out I would say I’m an early adapter so
28:52 on those type of things so I’m down like
28:54 take the ride through the bumpy first
28:57 iteration of it I wouldn’t say perfect
28:59 but I would say it’s actually performed
29:02 better than a remote team member who we
29:03 had answering the calls so as far as
29:06 just being able to run kind of a
29:08 diagnostic on the call about what
29:10 exactly is needed and then really
29:12 thorough detailed information we get the
29:14 entire call transcript and writing and
29:17 all that so I would say it’s performing
29:20 good enough awesome it’s incredible you
29:23 got to use those tools those things are
29:25 no my my background software and it’s
29:26 been really in I feel like
29:29 the whole AI ecosystem that’s starting
29:31 to get built up is getting me kind of
29:32 rejuvenated of just getting back into
29:34 more into the software space I mean I’ve
29:36 been buying chrome plating companies and
29:38 buying real estate instead of that but
29:40 there’s just a lot of really cool things
29:42 that are enabled and starting to get
29:43 enabled so it’ll be fun to see kind of
29:45 where the next five years goes so I’m
29:47 hoping someone does something similar on
29:49 the property management side for you
29:51 know maintenance calls or you know
29:53 leasing calls or things like that that
29:55 would be really incredible I haven’t
29:56 been able to find it yeah so tell Ferris
29:59 when you do he’ll love that well I’m
30:01 guessing you know we use like real page
30:03 I’m what’s gonna happen is the property
30:04 made of softw Are Gonna Roll out their
30:06 own iteration of it that you pay for and
30:08 so that just yeah that probably that’s
30:10 that I’m guessing how that’s going to
30:11 work out I think about self-managing
30:13 landlords you know I mean that’s a game
30:15 changer for them in my opinion um if it
30:18 can route to a vendor and stuff so
30:19 anyways cool stuff cool perfect well
30:22 brettney thank you for being on the show
30:24 how can somebody get a hold of
30:25 you uh email I I’m old school that so
30:29 that’s my favorite way to be contacted
30:31 so it’s just my name Brittney at rcg
30:35 dg.com is what we inherited so it’s
30:38 short for radio control garage dooring
30:40 gate as our company we’ll put that in
30:42 the show notes excellent Ry so not great
30:45 story a mother all that you’ve done
30:48 incredible that’s exciting completely
30:50 agree I appreciate that thank you so
30:52 much for the opportunity you bet thank
30:54 you Britney thank you for listening to
30:56 the m&a Launchpad podcast if you’ve
30:58 enjoyed today’s podcast and would like
30:59 to support us please leave us a rating
31:01 and a review after you listen I’m Casey
31:03 mchu and I look forward to talking with
31:04 you next week
