How He Bought a Tree Care Company (and Built an Empire)

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-ytIn this episode, Brian Hartman breaks down the year-one cash crunch that nearly killed his first acquisition (despite 96% revenue growth), why he turned down private equity offers ten times a day before saying yes to one that let him keep control, and the operator playbook he's now using to roll up tree care companies across three states.◼️ How he grew his first tree care business from $2.6M to $5.1M in year one and almost went broke doing it◼️ Why long-term contracts hurt operators (and how transactional pricing let him raise prices through 9% inflation)◼️ The minority investment structure that let him keep control of his business while joining a fund◼️ What he learned from a 73-year-old tree climber in Jacksonville that changed how he runs his entire fleet◼️ The first 5 minutes of an owner conversation that tells him whether to walk away from a deal regardless of priceSubscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/Follow Helen: Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/