One Year, 3x Revenue, and a Clear Path to $15M

Today's guest wants you to open your mind to project-based businesses, even project-based businesses in construction. Our hero, Enrique Rodriguez, bought Mac General Power Solutions, an electrical contractor that does work for commercial, industrial, and wastewater-type projects. It was small, about $1.4 million in revenue, less than $250,000 in SDE.

But in just nine months since closing in September 2024, Enrique has built it up to a projected $4 million in revenue for 2025, $750,000 in SDE. And he gives us the playbook, the how and the why a project-based construction business like this can grow so fast. Now, there are elements to both Enrique and Mac General that would be hard to replicate.

Enrique has years of experience in construction and electrical and in the very same metro area as the business. So the business buyer fit here is 98%, as he says. Meanwhile, the business focuses on the types of jobs that require specialization, expertise.

This is not installing light switches in a house. It would be especially difficult for a non-trained electrician to own and grow this business. So while you can't copy-paste Enrique's path here into your own search journey, there is still much to learn.

Listen for how he systematically pursues revenue. Listen for how having multiple jobs at a time allows him to Tetris them together to smooth out revenue and keep his crews working and generating revenue. Listen for how he kept on his seller, even though he made decisive firm changes to the business immediately upon taking ownership.

Okay, here he is, Enrique Rodriguez, owner of Mac General Power Solutions. You know how easy it is to get emotional pursuing a deal and how dangerous that is. Well, tomorrow, Tuesday, Chelsea Wood of Acquisition Lab is hosting a webinar on how to resist certain temptations by committing to the math and logic of dealmaking.

Topics to include why seller financing can often create a hidden cash crisis, how bigger deals can look better but leave you with less free cash flow, what kinds of multiples different buyers can realistically support, and more. That is tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22nd, noon Eastern. The webinar is The Math and Logic of Dealmaking.

Link to register is right at the top of today's show notes or on the Acquiring Minds homepage, acquiringminds.co. Then Thursday, SBA loan broker Heather Anderson returns for an office hours on working capital in SMB acquisitions.

Regular listeners of Acquiring Minds know that working capital is such a pitfall for business buyers, even for entrepreneurs who know to be paying close attention to it.

So come get a tutorial on this invaluable topic. Heather will be joined by Chris Williamson of Cain Crossing, a leading financial due diligence provider in our space. So you're going to learn from two pros with deep expertise in working capital and how it can make or break your acquisition.

That webinar is this Thursday, July 24th, noon Eastern. The webinar is Working Capital in SMB Acquisitions. Link to register is right at the top of this episode's show notes or on the Acquiring Minds homepage, acquiringminds.co.

Welcome to Acquiring Minds, a podcast about buying businesses. My name is Will Smith. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs.