The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit

From building phase to harvesting phase to lining up fund sequences, Paul breaks down private equity funds’ capital allocation and limited duration. What lessons can you apply in your privately held service business? Mike Rogers built Killingworth’s Komfort Air. Patrick tried to add carpet cleaning. What guiding parameters should you put in place if you decide to expand? FedEx and ISS show clear ups and downs of expansion. Don’t miss Paul G’s Law of Cross-Selling. You’re convinced you could do so much more if you had access to capital. Stay tuned… Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Without strategy, that list of hopes and desires is just a list. It’s time to put on your thinking caps, and dive deep on this brain-straining exercise. From identifying gaps to growth limitations, you’ll hear all about cause and effect in this week’s Boardroom chat. You don’t want to miss Paul’s Sunday school lesson on strategy. He holds nothing back is his fact-over-fiction viewpoint on KPIs and benchmarking. It’s time to reverse engineer your business for success during this off-season. Bodyweight as a KPI? Sure, why not Fat Pat? Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Is there really a formula to creating wealth? Can it be distilled down to creating, documenting, and following a process?  Credit to John Roberts PhD author of The Modern Firm and Episode 83 guest to give us “People”, “Architecture”, “Routines”, and “Culture”. Add Paul’s “Strategy”, and now you have the S.P.A.R.C.  This week’s chat breaks down Routines. Literally, the why and how of documenting your business processes. It’s this living document that will help build your culture and success as you add employees and branches. In fact, are you currently screening and hiring job candidates? There’s a process for that.  “Thank you for calling Fat Pat’s…” Now what? Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Buyers appreciated the sage advice and a good ol’ Fat Pat case study in Episode 118, but Paul turns the tables. Sellers, take heed. The stage is set for one last push for sellers. Is it 1st Quarter or Bust in this economic environment? M&A is a high-risk, high-reward table if the cards are played right. Take note of the buyer who is helping you avoid running a formal process. Birds and bats and bobcats. Oh my. From cash flow to selling, what does the Wizard have to say about wildlife and other auxiliary services? Does private equity view wildlife with different spectacles than the traditional acquirers? What’s scarier than all of these wild animals put together? Finding the one way to measure customer retention. From psychology to anchoring to overconfidence bias, Paul shares his perennial reference book for both M&A professionals and business owners. Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

With buy-side M&A on the mind, how do you go about grounding a seller whose visions include sugar plum fairies and a whole lot more? Who doesn’t loooooove a good Fat Pat case study? This time, unreasonable exit-minded Fat Pat comes back to reality. Interest rates, yield curve control, NINJA loans; the list goes on. There are a lot of dynamics at play in this economy and valuations, but what-say-you about Mr. Giannamore setting the market price? This Boardroom chat dives into to cash on cash returns, capital allocation, and more. And as you know, at a level even Fat Pat can understand. If that’s not enough, stick around for the conversation surrounding residential pricing and frequency. With expansion on the mind, make sure to email us at thebuzz@potomaccompany.com  Post-synergy or not, we still love you Delores. Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

The Boardroom dives into human resources, but it’s not all warm and fuzzies as former Terminix CHRO David Dart steps into The Boardroom. From his time in the US Navy to present day at Caliber Collision and everything in-between, David shares his experience on building high performance teams. You’ll rethink your strategy and your pay plans as you listen through this episode that takes human resources to an executive level. From onboarding to training, there is no shortage of takeaways from this interview.  Grab a pen and paper and do your best to keep up on David’s emphasis on operational models, organizational design, compensation, capabilities, culture, execution… the list goes on. Before listening in on this conversation, ask yourself - what’s more important: employee turnover or employee retention?  Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Feeling stuck? You’re not alone. It’s all about facts over feelings in this high-speed, low-drag chat between Patrick, Paul, and Seth. Look for fact patterns and listen for the biggest levers that can trigger vast changes in your organization. The barriers are there. The struggles are real. The real question is how hard are you willing to push through them? Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Happy New Year from The Boardroom Buzz! With 2022 in the rearview mirror, what’s the outlook for 2023? With a potential credit event on the horizon, Paul shares his expectations for the economy and the service industry .Is it too early to decide if demand destruction has begun on the residential-side of the industry? With the end in mind, one Buzz listener asks about vehicles. Should he finance or lease, or does it matter? In this zero cash, zero debt valuation world we live in, which way does Paul lean on this issue? And how do the value of the vehicles come into play? Partnerships in pest control are more popular than Taylor Swift’s new album. Merle asks about valuing his business to add a partner. There’s a lot more at stake than the headline value as you’ll hear from someone who deals with this relationships on an intimate level. It turns out that there are a lot less expensive alternatives to equity agreements. Considering adding a partner, or have a similar need for your business? According to Fat Pat, Phil Rinehart is the man. Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

Welcome Scott Fortson of Terminix Service, Craig Heath of Aiken Pest, and Clemson’s not-quite-retired Urban Entomology Chair, Eric Benson PhD. The Clemson Urban Entomology Program needs to raise $5M to keep the urban entomology department at Clemson. No money = no endowment = no department. What is urban entomology? Why does this endowment matter to the industry outside of South Carolina? Who better to ask than Rentokil Terminix’s Director of Technical Services Cassie Krejci, PhD? Cassie steps back in but this time as a co-host to field these questions as she shares her personal experience raising endowment funds while at Texas A&M University. We’re all in this together…. To donate, go to scueca.org Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

As president of Sprague Pest Solutions, Ross Treleven holds the reins of the nearly century old family business. Following in the footsteps of the 3rd generation while literally holding the 5th generation (his newborn Kate is soooo cute by the way), family values come through in this interview surrounding the largest family-owned commercial pest control company in the United States. He is responsible for living up to the family expectations as well as finding success for over 300 employees. No pressure, Ross. From management cadences to leadership development programs, Sprague does a lot well and continues to find ways to improve. Listen for the cost / benefit analysis Ross shares of focusing on commercial-only pest control.  Sprague Pest Solutions by the numbers. $40M annual revenue. 96 years. 300 employees. 20 branches. 10 states. 1 focus. Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd