You've heard me talk about Rob Brooks before. He bought an HVAC company doing $220K in EBITDA and grew it to over $1M in 14 months - 2.4x revenue, 5.8x profit, with marketing spend nearly flat. It was all people, process, and technology. No magic, no massive ad spend, just relentless execution across the right levers. A lot of trades owners have reached out asking how he did it. So we're launching a program to help more of them do the same. Here's what it is: a 12-week accelerator for HVAC and plumbing business owners doing $1M or more in revenue. Limited to 10 owners. Rob and I are the only two people on the calls - no junior coaches, no account managers, no one to hand you off to. I meet with you weekly one on one. Rob joins every other week with the full group to share what's working right now at his company. The program covers seven areas that were central to Rob's transformation: 1. Accurate accounting - far more impactful than it sounds 2. Operating metrics - everyone shares weekly to learn from each other 3. People and culture - hardest, but crucial 4. Pricing, proposals, and selling - the quickest path to increasing profit 5. Marketing that's worth it - a small number of the highest ROI levers 6. Technology - a game changer when done right 7. Cash flow - small tweaks that add up quickly in the bank account These aren't modules or videos - they're live conversations about your actual numbers. It costs $5,000 to join, and we guarantee you'll make at least that much in additional profit during the program or we'll refund everything. For owners who make meaningful progress, we're also offering up to $500K in growth equity investment from Entrepreneurial Capital. This first cohort is focused on HVAC and plumbing - but if it works the way we expect it to, we plan to expand to other trades and service verticals. If you're an owner in a different industry and want to be notified when we open up new cohorts, reply to this email and let us know what you're running. For questions, visit entrepreneurialcapital.com/trades. If you run an HVAC or plumbing business and want peers who measure rather than flatter, apply here. Partner Perspective: Caleb Basile, QoE Prep: Three Things Searchers Need to Stay Competitive Right Now I sat down recently with Adam Markley - searcher, holdco operator, fund manager, fractional CFO, buy-side sourcing expert, and ETA educator at the University of Colorado - to ask him a question a lot of you are probably asking yourselves: what does it actually take to stay relevant as a buyer in today's market? Adam's answer carries weight because he's earned it the hard way. Four SBA deals with personal guarantees on the line. A UK operator who emptied the bank accounts. An SBA-backed deal with supply chain and labor issues so severe he covered loan payments out of pocket for nearly two years. A seller he had to sue for fraud. He keeps the physical paperwork from one of his personal guarantees on his desk as a reminder of his guiding principle: "If it's not good enough for me to sign a personal guarantee, I can't ask you to sign one so I can invest." With PE pushing multiples up and banks getting more selective, here's what Adam says searchers need to do to stay competitive: 1. Your investment thesis has to actually be you. Searchers have an advantage over cookie-cutter PE firms - lean into it. Ground your thesis in your experience and network, not a scattershot approach across unrelated industries. 2. Capitalize the deal to grow it, not just to close it. Most buyers way underfund what happens after close. Adam suggests pre-funding 12 months of anticipated CapEx, 12-18 months of growth initiatives, and stacking three to four months of extra debt payments on top. Growth is expensive, and you will make mistakes. 3. Actually operate the business. If you can't sell what you're buying, Adam would argue you shouldn't buy it. Getting in the field builds trust with the team you've inherited and makes every change you want to make afterward land better. I wrote up the full conversation on my Substack here - worth a read if you're actively searching in this market. And as always, if I can help you as you diligence a deal, please reach out to me here. Plus: - ETA Broker Jackie Ossin Hirsch shares a practical answer to one of the most common first-time sponsor roadblocks: proof of funds. The short version - build real relationships with capital providers who will write letters demonstrating their willingness to fund a worthy deal, because bankers want to see preparation, not magic money. And if you need a support letter, we're happy to provide one to searchers and sponsors we know - hit reply and let us know. Full post here. - We just closed our fourth investment of the year (a residential sprinkler business)! Details on that close are here. If you’re working on a deal and we have yet to connect, please reach out - we’d love to support you in your search.redacted