0:05

Welcome to the How of Business with

0:07

your host, Henry Lopez, the

0:09

podcast that helps you start, run and

0:12

grow your small business. And now here

0:14

is your host. Welcome to

0:16

this episode of the How of Business. This is

0:18

Henry Lopez. And I'd like to welcome back on

0:20

the show, Patrick Lang. Patrick, welcome

0:22

back to the show. Thank you

0:24

so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. You

0:26

know, Patrick is back to share

0:29

even more information and insights on

0:31

the HVAC business, the heating, ventilation

0:33

and air conditioning business in which

0:35

he has a lot of experience

0:38

and he helps people buy and

0:41

sell those types of businesses. So

0:43

if you're interested in that business, or maybe

0:45

you have a business in that industry that

0:47

you're looking to perhaps exit at

0:49

some point, Patrick is the guy

0:51

for you. You know, according to

0:54

the air conditioning contractors of

0:56

America, the ACCA, in

0:58

the US, the HVAC services market

1:00

is predicted to grow to over

1:02

$35.8 billion by 2030. And

1:07

this growth is fueled by various factors,

1:09

as we'll get into with Patrick, but

1:12

some of it is, you know, the

1:14

demand for more energy efficient units and

1:16

also booming construction. So

1:18

that need and that service,

1:21

not to mention people needing to service their

1:23

existing units, as you know,

1:25

probably as a consumer, as a homeowner

1:27

or someone who's had their AC service,

1:30

the demand is incredible. And there's really

1:32

a lot of opportunities in this space,

1:35

in this industry. And so we're going

1:37

to get into that again, on this episode. If

1:39

you want to learn more about the How A

1:41

Business, including the show notes page for this episode,

1:44

and to learn more about my one on one and

1:46

group coaching programs, just

1:48

visit thehowabusiness.com. I

1:51

also encourage you to please subscribe to

1:53

my show wherever you might be listening, so

1:55

you don't miss any new episodes. Let

1:58

me tell you a little bit more about Patrick

2:00

again, Patrick. Patrick Lang is with Business Modification Group.

2:03

Business Modification Group is the name of his

2:05

company, and he specializes in the sale and

2:07

acquisition of heating and air

2:09

companies. Patrick has been an

2:12

entrepreneur his entire life, buying,

2:14

growing, and selling businesses in multiple

2:16

industries, including owning a

2:19

residential heating and air company. Patrick

2:21

is considered an expert in the field of business

2:24

brokerage, having earned multiple

2:26

awards for transactions and dollar

2:28

volumes of businesses sold. Patrick

2:31

decided several years ago to focus exclusively

2:34

on heating and air companies after seeing

2:36

a need for someone with

2:39

very specific knowledge in the industry, as

2:41

well as the ability to market these businesses in

2:44

an effective manner to help his clients achieve

2:47

predictable results. So

2:49

since he made that transition, he has

2:51

sold more heating and air companies than

2:53

any other broker. This is what

2:55

he specializes in. In addition

2:57

to facilitating the sale and purchases of

2:59

heating and air companies, Patrick

3:02

also provides valuations for

3:04

these businesses. So what is a potential

3:07

HVAC business worth for someone buying it, for

3:09

someone trying to sell theirs, and

3:12

who are interested in learning that current value

3:14

in the business, of their businesses

3:16

rather, in the market, as well

3:18

as strategies to increase the potential selling

3:20

price. Patrick lives in

3:22

Florida, in Horseshoe Beach, Florida. And

3:25

so once again, Patrick Lang, welcome

3:28

back to the show. Thank you so much, Henry. It's really a pleasure to

3:30

be here again. So we're gonna

3:32

get right into it this time if you're interested

3:34

in the very interesting journey Patrick

3:37

had to becoming what he does now, doing what he

3:39

does now, being a broker. Go

3:42

back and listen to episode 413. We

3:45

also talked about, of course, buying and

3:47

selling HVAC businesses. We're

3:49

gonna revisit a couple of those topics but

3:52

get into some other topics and insights but

3:55

episode 413, if you're interested in this

3:57

subject, if you're interested in buying.

4:00

or selling an HVAC business, I would encourage you to

4:02

go back and listen to that episode. But

4:04

we're going to dive right in. Because we're

4:06

recording this at the end of the first quarter

4:09

of 2024, Patrick, I'd like to

4:11

start with kind of revisiting 2023. It's

4:14

been a couple years since you were on the show. What

4:17

were some of the highlights, some of the trends

4:19

that emerged last year in the industry? Yeah,

4:22

great question, Henry. You know, there's quite a

4:24

few, so kind of looking, separating it. So

4:27

from the industry side of heating and air

4:29

and then kind of the brokerage world side,

4:32

we saw several different things. There's

4:34

energy efficiency moves

4:36

that are being pushed. They're coming out with a

4:39

new refrigerant for air conditioners. There's

4:42

the electrification of America we see

4:45

where they're now, most

4:47

of the country is recommending switching from

4:49

furnaces to heat pumps. And

4:51

so all of those things open up opportunities in the

4:54

heating and airspace. On

4:56

the brokerage side, we've still seen

4:58

a lot of activity. There's been a lot of private

5:00

equity interest in the space still. We

5:03

thought we'd see a drastic slowdown when

5:05

interest rates and inflation got

5:07

so high. But

5:10

surprisingly, I typically

5:12

do around 20 transactions a year.

5:14

And last year I sold 23 heating

5:17

and air companies. So we

5:19

stayed busy and helped a

5:21

lot of people both get in and

5:23

get out of the business. So

5:26

things have definitely been active. And

5:29

what's been of those things, some

5:31

of those, I'm sure, the energy efficiency component

5:33

of it, those things, the

5:36

move again, like you said, to heat

5:38

pumps for all of those efficiency reasons.

5:41

Is that some of the things that are continuing to

5:43

happen in 2024? What

5:45

are you seeing emerging this year? Yeah,

5:48

absolutely. I was just at a conference last

5:51

week where they're talking about

5:53

the new refrigerant that's coming out. There's

5:55

some changes. There's some changes in efficiency.

5:58

So, yeah, there's uncertainty. The in

6:00

the marketplace which had think a great

6:02

the lot of opportunities for those looking

6:04

for. The. The.

6:07

You talk about equity investors in

6:09

this of this is another classic

6:11

industry that's rather fragmented and and

6:13

good and in and challenging Fragmented

6:16

meaning that there's really. Me:

6:18

To my knowledge, I like a

6:20

you're going to educate me here.

6:22

Not too many have any national

6:24

brands that dominate the space rights

6:26

is still predominantly independently own operators

6:28

in regions and in cities. Is

6:31

that true? Yeah. Very true

6:33

aside from where. Private.

6:35

Equity is you. Been in the

6:37

space for several years now and

6:39

so there. There are a few

6:42

companies doing billion and a half

6:44

two billion dollars in sales nationwide,

6:46

but they haven't rebranded themselves so

6:48

you're sick. They're. Buying up these

6:50

fragmented businesses in town and and often

6:52

time leading the names in place. Because

6:56

he does. He think of yourself or

6:58

other places you live in your town.

7:00

You may know of a heating and

7:02

air company, but you drive forty five

7:04

minutes away. Nobody's ever heard of them,

7:07

right? And so when they're making these

7:09

acquisitions arm, they're keeping that brand reputation

7:11

in place in and simply growing it.

7:13

Interesting injury. Or course. you know if

7:15

I'm looking at it because I'm primarily

7:18

going to look at this conversation. From

7:20

from buying a potential business I'll be see

7:22

you how both sides because because I think

7:24

about you know most of my audience or

7:27

folks that are looking to start a business

7:29

or probably get into this business. A.

7:31

Bad. So I'm gonna look at from that

7:34

perspective primarily. That. Of obviously

7:36

it always that situation presents I

7:38

think an opportunity for us as

7:40

business owners because. Dummies

7:42

or isn't one dominant player that I'm

7:44

gonna have to. That. I'm going

7:47

to have a hard time entering a market.

7:49

it gets out. Conversely, the could be a

7:51

very dominant local player. This been around for

7:53

a long time, but my point is that

7:56

is it's another dinner and other industries. I

7:58

might have to fight a giant. It's

8:00

established and has feud national

8:02

advertising and marketing budgets. That's

8:04

not usually the case in

8:06

this industry. Absolutely

8:09

correct Yeah N N n one

8:11

of them a trip that track

8:13

lot of people to the space so

8:15

eat when you're a I saw lot

8:17

of smaller companies and smaller in the

8:20

industry would be companies doing a million

8:22

two million dollars in sales and and

8:24

often They've been in business for twenty

8:27

or thirty years and they have incredible

8:29

reputations within their client base in very

8:31

loyal customers. So when somebody buys a

8:34

business like that, they're buying those

8:36

twenty or thirty years of relationship right?

8:38

And. The and maintaining that and so

8:40

the outside market until they start really

8:42

looking at growing isn't much of a

8:45

factor, because if you've done a good

8:47

job, taken care of your customers, they're

8:49

often extremely loyal. Yep!

8:51

That's and as were really dive into moment

8:53

you into more of the advantages but I

8:56

see that mean anything in the home services

8:58

space in particular. but here this is the

9:00

type of service. Reviewed.

9:02

If you will take care of the customer that.

9:05

That's. The Key or I media to be

9:07

technically competent and will get into. Also you

9:09

know the licensing requirements. All the things are

9:11

a given but but athena the day I

9:13

think what the homeowner wants what I want

9:15

is a homeowner. We just last year had

9:17

to replace our our Ac system at our

9:19

home is somebody who I can trust, who's

9:21

going to show up, who's going do a

9:23

good job, Who who I feel is not

9:25

gonna you know, rip me off all of

9:28

those things. Are. What I'm looking for

9:30

an are willing to pay for that. As a homeowner,

9:33

Yeah. Absolutely most people don't know

9:35

anything about their air conditioner know,

9:37

So they're they either. You're inviting

9:39

somebody into your home which is

9:41

a big step in and often

9:43

times from a replacement standpoint it

9:46

can be expensive and so going

9:48

with somebody you trust is extremely

9:50

important and and that's where buying

9:52

up and existing business that's gonna

9:54

good job taking care of those

9:57

people. you're buying trust off the

9:59

up getting. got to

10:02

be at the top of the list if I'm

10:04

looking at a business to buy in this space

10:06

is that reputation, those loyal customers. That would be

10:08

the number one thing I look at when we,

10:11

like I said, we had to replace where we live

10:13

right on the coast. And so ACs

10:15

get a beating because of the salt air.

10:17

So it was at 15 years our AC

10:19

was and so I had to be replaced.

10:21

And of course, it wasn't

10:24

just replacing the outside component, the inside component

10:26

had to match and all of that that

10:28

had to go. So it was an expensive

10:31

replacement. But the way that we went about

10:33

it was by asking, there's

10:35

a Facebook group here that's local to our

10:37

community, asking people who do you

10:40

know that's reputable. And that's how

10:42

my wife primarily, because she usually handles

10:44

those things, went about deciding who we

10:46

were going to go with. And

10:49

that's quite often, you know, studies have

10:51

shown that typically it's the woman of

10:53

the house that is

10:55

making those decisions. And you'll see

10:58

a lot of companies now in the heating and air

11:00

space that their branding

11:02

typically was very technical. And now

11:05

it's more trusting and warm and

11:07

fuzzy. And you'll see different logos

11:09

and animals and and they're appealing

11:12

to a different segment of the

11:14

market. Yeah, yeah. In fact, that

11:16

brings to mind, I had a

11:19

client reach out to a listener reach out female reach

11:21

out to says, you know, this is a male dominated

11:23

industry, but I really want to get into it should

11:26

they tell me I shouldn't because then, you know, I

11:28

don't have that experience. It's like, no, no, no, I

11:30

think it'll be a huge advantage to you to be

11:32

a female owned HVAC business

11:34

to the point that we're discussing.

11:37

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a member, there's an

11:39

organization called Women in HVAC. That

11:42

is obviously primarily run

11:45

by women in heating and air.

11:48

And I obviously, I

11:50

think they there's opportunity to

11:52

improve what

11:55

historically has been a male dominated industry.

11:57

But I Think they're making great strong.

11:59

getting. They really are doing a great

12:02

job in the that. In.

12:04

In for every reason should continue

12:06

the Up agreed Agreed Okay I

12:08

am curious educationally from a lame

12:11

as person the new refrigerator explained

12:13

that to me and non technical

12:15

terms. what is this and why.

12:18

Yes, The refrigerant is similar to

12:20

the oil inside of a car

12:22

and refrigerant as well as sheets

12:24

and cools the home till it

12:26

to without getting extremely caught. Complex

12:29

it expands and contracts and heat

12:31

and cool the house Armed for

12:33

years we have was called Or

12:35

twenty two. The government near infinite

12:37

wisdom decided that it was having

12:39

an impact on the ozone layer

12:41

and switch to a for Ten

12:43

gasoline called Gases Refrigerant is Free

12:46

on and they made a switch

12:48

to for. Ten probably ten years ago

12:50

and have to look. but somewhere around

12:52

the time we started outlawing equipment that

12:54

was built using our Twenty Two and

12:57

now they're doing away with this for

12:59

ten and going to a new refrigerant

13:01

that is supposed to be better for

13:03

the environment and the older equipment is

13:06

not going to be able to run

13:08

on. So when there's an issue there,

13:10

the government has put a phase out

13:12

for for ten gas and would that

13:15

say that have gone, there's none left.

13:17

If you have a system. That run

13:19

on for ten and he gets a

13:21

leak or something goes wrong. You're not

13:24

going to have an option but to

13:26

replace. Yep, Yep so that the crazy

13:28

challenge for homeowners but increase in opportunities

13:31

for h back suppliers a track businesses

13:33

right in absolute to new growth of

13:35

course new installations but and it provides

13:37

that opportunity. A that's the point and

13:40

if week dive now into those advantages

13:42

of this business. that steady demand for

13:44

various reasons is one of the reasons

13:47

as as such up. A viable

13:49

business, isn't it? absolutely you know

13:51

i often joke i live in florida and

13:53

i owned a heating and air kept me

13:55

in florida people often ask me why i

13:58

had no experience in the trade why

14:00

I bought a heating and air company. And I said,

14:02

I don't know a husband or a wife dumb enough

14:04

in the state of Florida to tell their significant other

14:06

they're not going to fix the air conditioning in the

14:09

summertime. So what used to be a want, I

14:11

think because of our changes over time

14:13

have it's become a need that

14:16

people are unwilling to do without air

14:19

conditioning in the summer and in

14:21

most of the country heating in the winter. And

14:24

so it proved during

14:26

COVID and other recessionary

14:28

times that it's resilient

14:30

that no matter what's going on, people

14:33

are going to spend money to

14:35

fix those two things. Yeah. Yeah. And

14:38

then of course, we're talking

14:40

about, I've been mostly sharing examples from

14:43

a residential perspective, but there's a whole

14:45

commercial side to it. You

14:47

know, we think of any commercial space,

14:49

say an office or retail location. People

14:53

are not going to come to you if you don't have

14:55

air conditioning, right? And in fact, some of those buildings aren't

14:57

even designed to be able to open the windows so you

14:59

really don't have a choice. Absolutely.

15:01

And air conditioning also includes

15:03

the refrigeration. So every grocery

15:05

store you go into and every milk cooler

15:07

you take something out of and where the

15:09

eggs are, all of that is refrigerated. You

15:12

know, if you think of your average

15:14

grocery store or big box retailer

15:16

that could have, you know, a

15:18

couple hundred thousand dollars of food in a, in

15:22

refrigerator, it has to stay running. And

15:24

so there's opportunities for those who knew how

15:26

to fix it to

15:29

do pretty well for themselves. There's

15:31

also a recurring revenue, which of

15:33

course has become such a popular

15:36

model in many industries is

15:38

the recurring revenue I can see it in, I've

15:40

been part of it as a business owner in

15:42

the commercial side. So when I've had

15:45

businesses where I've had commercial HVAC

15:47

systems and they need regular maintenance,

15:49

I've had recurring service

15:51

contracts there. Is that emerging

15:53

on the residential side as well, or

15:55

what's going on there with that type

15:57

of recurring revenue? Absolutely.

16:00

Have really and has been for years.

16:02

So typically most companies will offer a

16:04

preventative maintenance agreement is what they're called

16:06

arm where it's typically to visit he

16:08

for so they come out the spring

16:11

and go through your air conditioner. And

16:13

make sure everything's ready to go for season and

16:16

then come back again in the fall. And

16:18

make sure your heater your furnace is ready

16:20

to go so that. You

16:23

know, fourth of July weekend a minor

16:25

part doesn't burn out. They could have

16:27

been replaced two months ago on a

16:29

on a visit like that. It often

16:31

also reward them for their loyalty. They'll

16:34

get discounts ah, I'm on things they

16:36

purchase for services they purchase. They'll also

16:38

give them an opportunity for priority placement.

16:40

so if you're club member, have a

16:42

maintenance agreements you and you call in

16:45

with an issue. you'll get in front

16:47

of the line for lack of better

16:49

term so there's different ways to do

16:51

it. but it's definitely. Something that big

16:53

and prevalent the industry and for a

16:55

lot of good reasons that it helps.

16:58

That helps during slower times if you

17:00

have been it's agreements in place and

17:02

you can be out service in those

17:04

customers When it's seventy degrees outside nothing

17:06

running a rake and it helps you

17:08

from a business owner standpoint but it

17:10

also helps educate the customer so you

17:12

do you think of most the time

17:14

when things break it's often during extreme

17:16

weather conditions so the extremely hard extremely

17:18

cold and yours is breaking a so

17:21

as everybody elses. so that technician. It's

17:23

your house fixes, it goes on to the

17:25

next one. It doesn't spend a lot of

17:27

time educating, are talking about options are were

17:30

or working with you and by having a

17:32

maintenance program in place they're able to spend

17:34

time going to your system and saying is

17:36

every room the same temperature you having airflow

17:39

issues anywhere, any noises and that you know

17:41

they're able to look for other things. Allergies

17:43

does it better. Filtration makes sense so it

17:45

helps a customer become more educated and it

17:48

helps the business world of Cel opportunities and

17:50

at the end of the day the customers.

17:52

Paying for their own loyalty if I'm been

17:54

paying you as the business owner. but sake

17:56

Two hundred dollars a year to come to

17:59

my house twice. What My

18:01

system breaks on calling the guy or girl

18:03

that I'm paying two hundred dollars a year

18:05

to be watching out for. And right though,

18:07

so they're paying for their own. Okay on

18:09

some level, but it's certainly deepens the relationship

18:12

with the client. It helps for better education,

18:14

better alternative than often the catch things prior

18:16

to them happening when they're not an emergency.

18:19

You. Know them that makes sense makes

18:21

us or the another advantage is

18:23

it we've touched on already is

18:25

a diverse clientele rates a residential

18:27

commercial different segments with a commercial

18:30

you mention refrigeration so. Similar.

18:32

In most markets, certainly in the south

18:34

in particular because of of the heat.

18:37

I. Mean there's all types of segments within

18:40

the industry that I could specialize in

18:42

or diversify across. The

18:44

absolutely to the biggest problem really

18:47

facing the industry Henry is is

18:49

lacking qualified talent and so training

18:51

people becomes a key priority. So

18:54

most bigger companies choose to focus

18:56

on one second on the market.

18:58

One of the it's he either

19:01

it's residential or whether it's commercial

19:03

or whether it's refrigeration or. There's

19:06

all sorts of different niches out there.

19:09

Having employees that are extremely cross changes

19:11

a challenge in today's market in reality

19:13

as. You know, most industries

19:15

are struggling to get you know

19:17

qualified talent, so the heating and

19:19

air is no different. and so

19:21

some time smaller companies and and

19:23

specially in smaller towns like Ali

19:25

then there's not a lot of

19:27

big commercial work. So the person

19:29

who does residential often do like

19:31

commercial offices. That kind of stuff

19:33

may som. but but they're not

19:35

doing big commercial work. Big Schiller's

19:37

and high rises know I suck.

19:39

If not here yet doesn't exist,

19:42

I'm in and so they're able.

19:44

To cross train on the small

19:46

variations that there are, but typically

19:48

the recommendation is that kind of

19:50

stay in your lane just because.

19:53

It's easier to develop, train,

19:55

and educate your talented and that's

19:57

once again one of the.

20:00

The issues facing this industry and so

20:02

many others? yeah no that makes a

20:04

lot of sense either when a dive

20:06

into that that challenge in a moment

20:08

or bit more the labour challenge but

20:10

just to wrap up on advantages that

20:12

we planted touched on here of the

20:14

of the business. And

20:16

we can have hinted to but the

20:18

resiliency from an economic perspective I'm not

20:20

gonna say as recession proof that a

20:22

know that anything is but it certainly

20:24

is resistant because like you said. Regardless,

20:27

Of economic conditions. It's.

20:30

Pretty be pretty hard for me to live without air conditioning

20:32

and my hope of. Yeah, absolutely.

20:34

And and as opposed to other things

20:36

that could break in your home, you

20:38

know you don't have to be a

20:40

master plumber that if you pipe leaks

20:42

and you're saying you probably kid go

20:44

to Home Depot or Lowes or local

20:46

hardware store and get that fixed rate.

20:48

Most air conditioning parks you need a

20:50

license to buy and sell, you don't

20:52

have the ability to fix it yourself

20:54

in and once again most people don't

20:57

have the knowledge to do that. It

20:59

would outlier a special skill, but you

21:01

could probably mill your own lawn if

21:03

things got tight. You to clean your

21:05

own pool of things got tight, fix

21:07

your own leaky faucet of things get

21:09

tight, but if the air conditioner breaks

21:11

chances are you've got call somebody which

21:13

is certainly one of the one of

21:15

the advantages and and another that is

21:17

often overlooked. You. Know that there's

21:20

typically it's done an asset intensive business

21:22

so when you look is the major

21:24

purchases done in the heating and air

21:26

space it's typically just some trucks or

21:29

Vance right palm a site which which

21:31

I could find the answer. Lisa begin

21:33

Not usually a huge capital investment up

21:35

front on that part of it, right?

21:38

He. absolutely and if you look at the

21:40

company that generating two or three million

21:42

dollars in sales they probably have less

21:45

than two hundred thousand dollars in assets

21:47

and so i'm it's it's it's great

21:49

when when you're looking at growing your

21:51

business obviously it makes it a little

21:53

more challenging from a financial standpoint when

21:55

you're looking to buy one which often

21:58

leads death be a financing cookeville on

22:00

cash flow as opposed to assets. But

22:02

it's certainly one of the few businesses you can

22:04

generate a lot of cash flow with very few

22:07

assets. Yeah, well said. That's a great

22:09

point. All right, let's dive into

22:11

some of the challenges or potential challenges that

22:13

we have to consider with the Nature Act

22:15

business. And one that you've been educating

22:17

people quite a bit

22:19

on recently are the licensing requirements. So

22:22

let's just start on a high level there. What are

22:24

we talking about when we say licensing requirements that

22:27

we need in this business? Yeah,

22:29

absolutely. So most states, and I think there's

22:31

only three or four that

22:33

do not, most states have a state heating

22:36

and air license that someone

22:38

at the business needs to have in

22:40

order for the business to operate. So it

22:43

doesn't, in most states, it doesn't necessarily need

22:45

to be an owner. It could be an

22:47

employee. What it's

22:49

called is qualifying the license. So that

22:51

person says, my license is going to

22:53

be with this business. And

22:55

so that's the biggest hurdle

22:59

oftentimes to non-industry

23:01

people getting into the industry.

23:05

And specifically, what makes it a bigger

23:07

problem is when they're using SBA financing.

23:11

Because oftentimes, a seller is

23:13

open to letting you use their license until

23:15

you get their own. So they'll stick around

23:17

and say, hey, I'll be here and I'll

23:20

help you qualify the

23:22

license until you're able to sit in the exam and

23:24

get your own. The problem with

23:26

that is SBA says the

23:29

seller has to be gone in under 12 months.

23:32

So if your state, we'll use Florida as

23:34

an example, says you need four years of

23:36

experience before you can sit for the exam,

23:39

and that seller can only be there for

23:41

12 months, well, after 12 months, you don't

23:43

have a license. So it creates

23:45

a problem in the SBA lending process.

23:48

So having that worked out before you

23:50

get to the bank is going to

23:52

be extremely important. Because

23:54

you're going to need somebody to

23:56

license it. Now, some states like

23:58

New York, Minnesota, They have

24:00

a local municipality license, so it's not

24:02

a statewide license. It's done in

24:05

each municipality a little different So that's

24:07

certainly easier in those states when it

24:09

comes time to purchase a business using

24:11

financing but At

24:14

the end of the day there's going to be some

24:16

sort of licensing that somebody's going to need to have

24:18

and each state Is going to be a

24:20

little different all right? Let's walk through this a little

24:22

bit more because I want to make sure I understand it So a

24:24

couple of different scenarios. I see if I am Have

24:28

been a technician somewhere I might or

24:30

be on the path to licensing or

24:32

can get there pretty fairly quickly and

24:35

Now I'm ready to own my own business

24:37

then then that's a that's a very common

24:39

path I have to suspect and

24:41

I end up then being the owner and

24:43

the person who carries the license right that's

24:46

a common Situation I have to imagine exactly

24:49

hundred percent otherwise Let's

24:51

say it's my daughter who wants to

24:53

buy an HVAC business And she has

24:56

not only doesn't have the background but possibly

24:58

no desire necessarily to

25:00

be the technician She

25:03

would solve this by either partnering with

25:05

someone who does have that qualification has

25:07

a license or having

25:09

one or more key employees That

25:12

carry the license that would be how I

25:14

would do it otherwise is that correct? Exactly

25:18

so the one thing and

25:20

once again there only needs to be one license

25:22

holder and most heating and air owners currently are

25:25

Technicians turned owners right right like their

25:27

boss right so they just went and

25:29

they started their business Sure and buyers

25:31

often come and say what doesn't

25:33

somebody else there have a license and

25:36

the answer most of the times No, why

25:38

would they mean one the owner has it

25:40

if the owner dies the business dies anyways?

25:43

So there's no reason to have anybody else have

25:45

a license many owners are also

25:47

scared of Their

25:49

technicians getting licensed because they believe it

25:51

may create their own competition So

25:54

if that technician gets licensed now they can

25:56

start their own business and now they can

25:59

become a competitor So it's kind of

26:01

been a back and forth between

26:03

owners and employees. But

26:05

what you described is very true. We see

26:07

a lot of scenarios where there's a partnership,

26:09

somebody with a technical ability and somebody with

26:11

some business sense and they go in together.

26:14

We've also seen it where you could hire

26:16

a general manager that has a license or

26:18

an employee that has a license. So there's

26:21

lots of ways to work around it. The

26:24

key is, and if you're planning

26:26

on using SBA anyways, the key is, is

26:29

to have that worked out before you get to

26:31

the bank because as we know, Henry, the bank's

26:33

number one concern is getting paid back, right? At

26:35

the end of the day, they want you to

26:37

be successful, but they want you to be successful

26:40

so they can get their money back. Well,

26:42

if they're worried that you're not going to have a

26:44

license and not be able to go fix air conditioners,

26:47

then they're going to be worried about giving you

26:49

that money. And then one

26:51

other thing, and I don't want to stay

26:54

on the point too long, but you just

26:56

use your daughter's example. So she hires an

26:58

employee as the license holder.

27:01

My advice to owners is always

27:03

eventually get your own license. Even

27:05

if you don't want to turn a wrench

27:07

or fix an air conditioner, you'd

27:10

never want to be in a spot where

27:12

you're held hostage by a license. Right. Right.

27:14

That makes sense. Makes sense. But, but just

27:16

to clarify, the SBA will accept that as

27:19

a solution that I've got a key employee

27:21

or an employee that has

27:23

the license. That is acceptable to the SBA or

27:25

is it a gray area? So

27:27

it really depends on what bank. To the

27:29

SBA, it is absolutely acceptable. It's going to

27:32

be up to the bank's discretion

27:34

on whether they want to lend that way. But

27:37

it'll also be tied in, do you

27:40

have any other business experience? Right. What kind

27:42

of collateral do you have? Sure. There's a

27:44

lot more that goes into it. Sure, other

27:46

factors, yeah. Yeah. How many other people, are

27:49

there other people potentially in the business that

27:51

could become license holders as well if something

27:53

happens? Because once again, let's use the state

27:55

of Florida as an example. If

27:57

you and I are partners and I'm the license

27:59

holder. And I get run over by a

28:01

bus yesterday, you're out of business. Right.

28:05

But you know similarly this – I

28:08

get it, but similarly this – I

28:11

see it as rather archaic, this

28:13

old philosophy of only I will have

28:16

the license as the owner. First of

28:18

all, this sphere of competition, while I

28:20

get it, I think you've got to

28:22

look at it differently, especially in this market now. I

28:25

think of it as – that'd be great if

28:27

I have an employee who delivers value

28:29

to me for a period of time and then goes

28:31

and set up their own business. Great for them, right?

28:33

I've got to start looking at it that way, especially

28:35

to attract the right kind of people,

28:37

because that's what a lot of individuals

28:39

want to aspire to do anyway. Not

28:42

everybody, but some of them do. Number

28:44

one. Number two, what happens if I do get

28:46

hit by the bus then there is no business?

28:48

So what am I leaving for my

28:51

family and the other stakeholders of the

28:53

business, right? So there's

28:55

equal exposure there, yeah? Yeah, and

28:57

we're starting to see a shift in that mentality.

28:59

Yeah, I have to think so, yeah. That

29:02

is happening, but it's slow. Slow, yeah. And

29:05

it's not typically happening with the heating

29:07

and air guy who's been in business

29:09

30 years. Of course not.

29:11

And is looking to get out. It's

29:13

the 30-year-old who's starting the business and looking to

29:15

grow something and looking to take care of people.

29:18

It's certainly a different mentality when it comes to

29:21

employees today than it was 30 years ago. And

29:24

I would agree that that view is short-sighted,

29:26

but that's the reality of what it's been played out.

29:28

Oh, yeah. I get it. I understand it. The

29:31

other thing that appeals to

29:33

me about the whole concept of somebody

29:35

coming into it without being the technician,

29:37

this is classically what Michael

29:40

Gerber writes about in his

29:42

book, The E-Myth. The

29:44

E-Myth is the most recommended book ever

29:46

on this podcast. And he talks

29:49

just about that, you know, working on the business, not

29:51

in the business. When you're a technician, you easily

29:54

get sucked to being, well, I'm the only one that can

29:56

go do that service call. Oh, I have to be in

29:58

the field. And while that's

30:01

fine, it doesn't give you

30:03

what we have highlighted is really the more

30:05

important part of this business, beyond being technically

30:07

competent, obviously, is the customer

30:09

service side of it and building the business.

30:12

When we get bogged down being the technician,

30:14

it's hard for us to do those other

30:16

things that grow their business. What are your

30:19

thoughts on that? I

30:21

absolutely agree, and I was at a –

30:23

he and Eric mentioned last week, and

30:25

I spoke on that exact topic. Typically,

30:27

the biggest barrier to growth I see is

30:29

the owner not getting out of their own

30:31

way. They believe that they're

30:34

the best technician or the best salesman

30:36

or the best CSR or the best

30:38

whatever. If you're the best,

30:40

best, best, and every Google review has your name

30:42

on it, then you don't have a business often.

30:44

You have a job. And

30:47

so where I see people who

30:49

achieve incredible levels of success are

30:52

often ones that can't fix an air conditioner. And

30:54

even that was the case with me when I

30:56

bought a heating and air company. If you called

30:58

me today and your air conditioner was broke and

31:00

when I left your house, it's still going to

31:02

be broke. I can't fix it. And

31:05

so it made me focus on

31:08

delivering a good experience to the customer.

31:10

Is our pricing properly? How do our

31:12

uniforms look? What does

31:14

our marketing say? What kind of training are

31:16

we getting for our employees? So

31:18

all these other things, I and

31:20

others had to focus on ways to

31:23

add value to the business and help the business

31:25

grow because I couldn't be turning wrenches. And

31:27

I think for me, that's the first

31:29

business that I've owned that I couldn't be

31:32

necessarily the technician, we'll call it. And

31:36

I see people achieving great levels of

31:38

success with that now. And once again,

31:41

if you show me a company, a heating and air

31:43

company that's at $1 million or less in sales, it's

31:45

because the owner is in the field still turning wrenches.

31:48

And every time, every one I've looked

31:51

at, I've sold 120 of them. I

31:53

see them all day every day, and

31:55

that's the reality. And there's actually an

31:57

addition of the eMyth for the heating

31:59

and air company. owner. Oh, that's right. That's right.

32:01

There's a bird. I forgot about that. Goodrich from

32:04

Gettle did that book and it's

32:06

a great read for applying the

32:08

e-myth to the heating and air

32:11

world. Wonderful, wonderful. Well said.

32:13

Thanks for sharing that. This

32:16

is Henry Lopez, briefly pausing this

32:18

episode to invite you to schedule

32:20

a free coaching consultation with me.

32:22

I welcome the opportunity to chat

32:24

with you about your business plans

32:26

and offer the guidance and accountability

32:28

that we all need to achieve

32:30

success. As an experienced small business

32:32

owner myself, I understand the challenges

32:34

you're experiencing and often it's about

32:36

helping you ask the right questions

32:38

to help you make progress towards

32:41

achieving your goals. Whether it's

32:43

getting started with your first business or

32:45

growing and maybe exiting your existing small

32:47

business, I can help you get there.

32:49

To find out more about my business

32:52

coaching services and to schedule your free

32:54

coaching consultation, please

32:56

visit thehowabusiness.com. Take

32:58

that next step today towards finally

33:00

realizing your business ownership dreams. I

33:02

look forward to speaking with you

33:05

soon. I

33:07

want to address specifically the labor shortage. Like

33:09

you said, we've touched on it already. We've

33:12

actually shared, I think, some ideas on

33:14

how to address it, including

33:17

perhaps taking a different mindset

33:19

of what if I

33:21

attract somebody with the promise

33:23

and the commitment that I'm going to help them get

33:26

to a point where they might start their own business

33:28

someday, right? Looking at it that way, as

33:30

opposed to thinking somebody's going to be with me forever.

33:33

That's one approach. Is there one or

33:35

two things or something that you're seeing

33:38

operators out there doing to

33:41

address and alleviate this challenge,

33:43

not only of attracting people, but

33:46

then of retaining them? What do you see that's

33:48

working out there? Yeah, a

33:50

couple different things. The first is

33:52

the most successful I see are

33:54

hiring for attitude and training for

33:56

aptitude. So they're not

33:58

necessarily looking for for a heating and air

34:01

technician. They're looking for somebody who's

34:03

friendly, who's nice, who can show up to

34:05

work on time, who doesn't have,

34:08

have all sorts of issues when they come to work

34:10

every day and they're teaching them how

34:12

to fix air conditioners. And as a

34:14

result, they're giving that person

34:17

an opportunity at a career to, to

34:20

take care of their family and achieve their goals. And

34:23

typically they're more loyal and don't come with 20

34:25

years of bad habits. And

34:27

so, because right now everyone

34:30

knows about the shortage in the space and companies

34:33

are hiring, hiring away, stealing

34:35

away employees from one another

34:39

and the employee has all the

34:41

leverage and they're leaving, you

34:43

know, for a shinier new van or a

34:45

new ladder kind of thing, you know, anything

34:47

they want, they're leaving for.

34:49

And so oftentimes

34:53

seeing companies that, that bring somebody in,

34:55

train them the way they want them

34:57

to be trained, they're able to build

34:59

a better technician based on their

35:02

desires and,

35:04

you know, one that

35:06

that is, that has skills on

35:09

talking to people and talking with homeowners

35:11

and, and explaining things in a way

35:13

that's maybe not as complex, you know,

35:15

kind of the old school grumpy technician,

35:17

you know, I'm just here to fix

35:20

it and leave as opposed to delivering

35:22

a good experience. And so, so that's

35:24

the first part on the getting, the

35:27

getting the employees and getting them

35:29

started. And I think the retaining

35:31

is, is realizing that people have

35:33

a choice. They have a choice

35:35

of where they want to work. You know, I think

35:37

before when

35:39

I was growing up, certainly in my

35:41

working, early working years, it was different,

35:43

you know, I was talked to much

35:45

differently than, than I think employees are

35:47

talked to today. I probably

35:50

needed it in my life, but I

35:52

don't know that it would be as well received today

35:54

as it was 20 years ago. And,

35:56

and so I think

35:59

there's some. Somebody who does

36:01

a lot of coaching and consulting, a gentleman named Tommy

36:03

Mello, who owns A1 Garage

36:05

Doors, and his biggest thing

36:07

that I've ever seen and seen the

36:09

take away and people achieve results from it

36:11

is tying the employee

36:13

into their own goals. Now,

36:16

what do they need to do with your business to

36:18

achieve what they want to achieve? And

36:21

designing the entire system around if you

36:23

do X, you get Y that you're

36:25

looking for. And

36:27

building a system around that, and I'm

36:29

seeing quite a few people implement it

36:31

with incredible results. And

36:33

it's a complete mind shift, right? It was, you

36:36

need to be happy you have a job, and if you don't like it, we're

36:38

going to fire you to come to work, and

36:40

how can we help you achieve your goals? Yeah,

36:43

I love that. I love that. All

36:45

great takeaways. And to that point there, that's exactly

36:47

what we're talking about. Your goal might be that you

36:49

aspire to start your own business someday. That's great. Let

36:52

me help you get there. In the interim,

36:54

we help each other. We deliver value for

36:56

each other and for our customers, right? And

36:59

so that's the point I was talking

37:01

about. So thanks for articulating that, is

37:04

that mindset as opposed to I'm going to

37:06

keep this employee as an employee, well, they

37:09

might have aspirations that I could help them

37:11

achieve. So it's a win-win for everybody, right,

37:13

if I can help them do that. And

37:16

not to go off too far in the tangent,

37:18

I've talked about this often on this show, this

37:20

whole thing about people don't want to work or

37:22

they have choices. Thank

37:25

goodness. What happened is this generation figured

37:27

out what we couldn't

37:29

figure out, which was that we were beholden

37:32

to a corporation

37:34

or a company, and then they let us go whenever

37:36

they wanted to, right? That was

37:38

the part that didn't get talked about. And

37:41

so they see that differently now, this

37:43

viewer generation, and I think they're right

37:45

to do so. We need to match

37:48

that and understand, like you

37:50

said, that they have choices.

37:53

And so it's a different mindset. And

37:56

then what you said initially about

37:58

attracting hiring friends. attitude,

38:00

train for aptitude, love that. That

38:03

is, that's such a, the right

38:05

approach, I think, in what I'm

38:07

seeing. Again, we're not trivializing the

38:09

technical aspects of this job, but

38:12

you can train people on how to do

38:14

that. It's hard to train

38:16

people on having a good attitude and

38:18

on delivering the right level of service,

38:20

right? Absolutely. I think,

38:23

yeah, I think learning how to fix

38:25

an air conditioner is a teachable thing.

38:28

Sometimes teaching somebody

38:30

how to be a good person

38:32

is a harder thing. Agreed. I

38:34

think so. So I think it's finding the

38:36

good people and then

38:39

giving them the educational opportunities, whether

38:41

it's schooling, training, whatever it

38:43

may be, and then an environment for

38:45

them to produce it. All

38:48

right, I'm going to take a left turn here. Why, if

38:50

I'm looking to become an HVAC

38:52

business owner at a

38:55

high level, why should I consider buying

38:57

an existing business versus building my own

38:59

from scratch? Great

39:01

question. A few different reasons.

39:04

And I've bought and built

39:06

businesses, so this is not

39:08

just a broker who sells businesses. I

39:11

have as well. So we both have been there. We've

39:13

seen the benefit of building our own and buying

39:15

existing businesses, yeah? Yep. I

39:18

think the first side is the

39:20

mathematics. Using SBA financing offer, you're

39:22

buying a cash-loading business from day

39:24

one with the trucks, with

39:26

the website, with the phone number, with

39:29

the customers, with the employees. And

39:32

you could absolutely build that, but it would take time. And

39:34

this is slingshotting you forward

39:37

to you're stepping right into

39:39

a running and profitable business. And

39:42

to me, many of the businesses being

39:44

sold, many of the technicians that own

39:46

business today are great technicians and

39:49

not incredible business owners. And

39:51

so specifically for somebody with some

39:53

outside business experience, there's an incredible

39:56

opportunity for low-hanging fruit to

39:58

be able to come into a business in a day-to-day. things

40:01

that can improve the customer

40:03

experience, improve the bottom line,

40:05

improve the environment

40:07

for the workers. So there's a lot of

40:09

low-hanging fruit in those things where you could

40:11

take a business that's doing a million or

40:14

two million in sales and quickly catapult it

40:16

to two million or four million dollars in

40:18

sales where if you started just

40:21

with you, specifically if you

40:23

have no trade experience, you've got to go hire

40:25

a technician and then you've got to find a

40:27

way to make the phone to ring for that

40:29

technician to have something to do and it's

40:32

a much slower process in my

40:34

opinion. Yeah, yeah, you're buying that

40:36

time that is so valuable, right?

40:38

It's the whole I

40:40

can build them and hope they will come

40:43

and certainly in this industry that we've talked

40:45

about there definitely is a market, an opportunity,

40:47

but I have to start from scratch. I

40:49

have all of that friction. Also

40:51

Patrick, in my experience and

40:53

I'm curious as to what you're seeing with

40:56

SBA loans, a lot more

40:58

challenging to get a loan for a new

41:00

business with no track record than it is

41:03

buying an existing business that has a history

41:05

to show. Absolutely

41:07

and after COVID, the

41:09

reality is SBA lenders love the

41:12

trades. Absolutely love

41:14

the trades because when everybody was on

41:16

lockdown sitting in their house, their

41:18

pipes were leaking, their air conditioner wasn't

41:20

working, they realized that it didn't cool

41:22

the office in their house as well

41:24

as they thought they did and so

41:27

those businesses thrived while everybody else was

41:29

forced to sit at home and SBA

41:32

lenders took notice and

41:34

have have aggressively been

41:37

going after the trade. Since

41:39

we're on the topic of funding, SBA lending obviously

41:41

is one of the principal methods.

41:44

What else are you seeing? A

41:47

seller financing, a combination there. What

41:50

are you seeing as typical funding options

41:52

if I'm buying an existing HVAC business?

41:55

Yeah, there hasn't been much seller financing the last

41:58

couple of years. You know, sometimes the best bank

42:00

will request 10%, somewhere note if

42:02

they're doing an SBA deal. But the

42:04

market is so strong and there's so

42:06

many cash buyers currently with all the

42:08

financial buyers and the private equity groups

42:11

that are in there. Getting

42:13

somebody who's willing to

42:15

finance the transaction has been a challenge

42:18

because they just haven't had to. And

42:21

if you put yourself in a seller's shoes, once

42:23

again, earlier in the, earlier in

42:26

this, we talked about limited assets.

42:29

So if you buy a business for $2

42:31

million and they have $200,000 of vans, let's

42:34

just use that as the example, and

42:36

you default, me as the seller, I

42:39

get a business back that I didn't want. That's

42:42

what I sold. Now, potentially a year

42:44

or two older, if you

42:46

weren't making the payments, chances are you were

42:48

not successful and you probably lost my customers

42:51

and my employees. And so now I get

42:53

used vans. That's

42:56

the extent of what I get back and

42:58

a business that I didn't want, that's

43:00

not performing. So the risk because of

43:03

the low assets makes it challenging for

43:05

a seller to consider,

43:07

especially in a market with so many

43:09

buyers. Explain Patrick at

43:11

a high level, how you help

43:13

people, we'll stay on

43:16

the buy side, but buy or sell.

43:18

How do you help people buy an

43:20

HVAC business? Yeah. So the

43:22

buying, um, a couple of different ways. I have some

43:24

people that come to me and say, Hey, I'm looking

43:26

for a deal in Austin, Texas.

43:29

And we try to find them something there

43:31

and I represent them to the transaction. I

43:33

have others that come to me and say,

43:35

Hey, I'm looking at this opportunity in Atlanta,

43:37

Georgia, and it's a deal that's

43:39

already there with another broker. And

43:42

depending on when they

43:44

came to me and when the broker was

43:46

notified, potentially I can work with them under

43:48

a co-broking type scenario. And then I have other

43:50

people that come to me and say, Hey, you know,

43:53

we want to pay you and we want

43:55

you in our corner. You've done all these

43:57

deals. You know what you're looking for. And

44:00

what we should be looking at,

44:02

and so we do it on

44:05

a kind of a consultancy basis.

44:08

And each of those

44:10

is unique. I have people that

44:12

will send me a deal. They'll send me a deal sheet and

44:14

say hey, take a look at it. I'll look at it and

44:16

say hey, it's overpriced in my opinion. Here's the three things I

44:18

would ask, and I send it back and I never hear from

44:20

them again. I have others that we do

44:22

that and they say hey, but I still want to buy

44:24

it. Where would it make sense? And then we work together

44:27

in putting something together or I help them in the due

44:29

diligence process. I mean, you might get

44:31

engaged even just to do a valuation of a

44:33

business, right? Absolutely. Yeah, just kind

44:35

of hey, what do you – I have some

44:37

that are kind of back of the napkin here.

44:39

What do you think this is worth? And

44:42

I have others that are here's three years

44:44

of tax returns, P&Ls. We want to dive

44:46

through it. Here's their numbers. Here's a summary

44:48

of the business, and we

44:50

go through it that way. So

44:52

yeah, it really just – it

44:54

depends on the buyer, what they're

44:56

looking for, what their needs are.

44:58

And I even have like SBA lenders who

45:01

send me buyers and I say hey, they're looking at this deal.

45:03

Don't know if it's a good deal. Take a look at it

45:05

with them and see if it makes

45:07

sense kind of stuff. So yeah, I help out

45:09

in a bunch of different ways, and it really

45:12

just depends on the needs of the buyer. In

45:14

the traditional sense of I come to you as

45:17

a broker, I want to buy an HVAC business.

45:19

Hope we find one. It's like

45:21

any other business broker in that your

45:23

fee is paid by the seller. Is

45:25

that correct? That

45:27

is correct. Yeah, and on the other

45:29

scenario, so if it's listed with another

45:31

broker, some brokers are willing to co-broke,

45:34

similar to real estate, which is now

45:36

– I guess there's some issues with

45:38

the national exchange. Yeah, and

45:41

so as of right now in the brokerage

45:43

world, in some places that exist, some states,

45:45

brokers don't co-broke. They won't work with another

45:47

broker at all. Some will,

45:50

so it just depends on who you're working with.

45:53

I'll co-broke with any broker in the country. My

45:55

job I believe is to get the business sold,

45:58

and somebody else brings me a

46:00

broker. I'm happy to work with them, not all

46:02

brokers believe that same mentality. And

46:04

so – and then so in

46:06

that scenario potentially, we could do a deal and I

46:08

could be paid by the seller. Or

46:11

once again, some people come to me and say,

46:13

hey, here's what I need you to do. I've

46:15

already talked to the broker. They're not willing to

46:17

co-broke, but I want you to help me with this.

46:20

And we would design – here's what the fee would be for

46:22

me to do that. I see. Why

46:25

do I need a broker? At a high level, why

46:27

can I just do it myself? Well,

46:31

I don't know necessarily what you need. I think you could

46:33

do it yourself. I mean I think at the end of

46:35

the day, you know, you could buy your

46:37

own house. You could do all these other things. My

46:40

belief is it's better with a broker

46:43

because most people, most of my clients on

46:45

either side have never bought or sold a

46:48

business, so they don't know

46:50

what they're doing. And

46:52

for most of them, it's also the biggest

46:54

sale or purchase of their life. And

46:57

so to think that I would go

46:59

spend a million, $2 million,

47:01

$3 million on something that I've

47:03

never done before and not

47:06

had somebody in my corner to me would

47:08

be foolish. As I told you,

47:10

I own the heating and air company.

47:12

I can't fix an air conditioner. When my air conditioner breaks,

47:15

I call my son. My son bought me

47:17

out, so him and his wife own the

47:19

business. I call them, and they send

47:21

a technician to my house to fix it. I'm not fixing

47:23

it because I don't do that. I don't fix my own

47:25

car because I'm not a mechanic. Not that there's anything wrong

47:28

with being either one of those. I don't have the skills

47:30

to do it. And so if I'm going

47:32

to be that way on a $10,000 air

47:34

conditioner, I'm certainly going to be that way

47:37

on a $3 million purchase. I

47:39

agree with you. Certainly, we continue to look at

47:41

this through the lens of a buyer. There's

47:45

so many advantages to going through

47:47

a broker, including that that becomes

47:49

another advocate for you, someone

47:52

who guides you through the process, someone

47:55

who could be that middle person, which

47:57

is often very necessary in a negotiation.

48:00

Someone that can help me with

48:02

asking the right questions. You

48:04

know, you at the end of the day, it's

48:06

my responsibility as the buyer to do the due

48:09

diligence, but you're there to help

48:11

me, guide me through that, right? You're

48:13

not playing the role of an attorney. I still

48:15

need an attorney when it all comes down to

48:18

finalizing a purchase contract, but you're

48:20

there to walk me through that, and I

48:22

see that as a very necessary process. Of

48:25

course, I'm probably a little biased. I was

48:27

a real estate broker back in my career.

48:29

I've used brokers to buy and sell businesses,

48:31

so I get the value of it, but

48:33

thanks for sharing those insights. Yeah,

48:36

and I think that's a great point, and

48:38

in addition to that, I think it's beneficial

48:40

to have a broker who's familiar with that

48:42

field. Absolutely, yeah. If you came to me

48:45

to buy a restaurant, I'm going to tell you

48:47

I'm not your guy. There's so

48:49

many moving parts in that, and I'd refer you to

48:52

somebody who I know that does a lot of reference. So

48:55

anybody who's listening, I'm happy to answer any questions, help out

48:57

in any way, but if you're looking to

48:59

buy a flower shop, sending me the flower shop deal, I'm

49:01

probably not the guy for you. But

49:05

if you send me a heating and air company,

49:07

I feel that I've looked at as

49:10

many as anyone and would be

49:12

able to add value in that space, so

49:14

I think just kind of highlighting

49:17

that point as well. Yeah, I agree. All

49:19

right, we'll wrap it up. What's one thing you

49:21

want to stick away from this conversation that we had?

49:23

Again, I focused it mostly looking at it from a

49:26

buyer's perspective, getting into

49:28

this HVAC industry. We

49:31

talked about the advantages and some of

49:33

the challenges, and we talked about, in

49:35

specific, the licensing requirements and making sure

49:37

I've thought through and have a plan

49:39

for that before I take the

49:41

next step. But which

49:44

one thing you want us to take away from this? Well,

49:46

I think it's kind of a broad thing, and

49:49

that's – it is an incredible opportunity even for

49:51

those without any experience in the trades as

49:53

long as you've done your homework like you were just talking

49:55

about, taking care of the licensing stuff,

49:58

looking into that, understanding that aspect of it. of

50:00

it. So, so you don't spin

50:02

your wheels trying to buy a business that you're

50:04

not in a position to buy. But

50:06

for those who do that, I think it's an

50:08

incredible opportunity. It has been an incredible opportunity, and

50:11

I think it will continue to be. Yeah,

50:13

agreed. If someone's interested in chatting with

50:15

you, perhaps engaging you, what's the first

50:17

step in the process? What should they

50:20

do? Yeah, so visit

50:22

my website and

50:25

my YouTube. So you said first step. I'm going to give

50:27

you two, and I apologize. So

50:29

I've got a YouTube channel that I

50:31

probably have 70 or 80 videos on buying

50:33

and selling in the heating and airspace. And

50:36

there's a lot of things that don't get thought of

50:38

that somebody will call me and ask me a question,

50:41

and I'll write that down, and that afternoon

50:43

I'll run outside and do a quick video

50:45

thinking I bet you somebody else has this

50:47

question. So, and there's that

50:49

on my website, but visit my website. There's

50:51

a lot of information, a lot of articles,

50:55

and all of my contact information. They can

50:57

reach out to me directly, email.

51:00

I'm active on LinkedIn, Facebook. Those links

51:02

are on my website as well. Don't

51:05

hesitate to reach out. I'm happy to answer any questions that I

51:07

can. All right. So initially, depending

51:09

on where I'm at, educate, continue to educate

51:12

myself. The YouTube channel is a great place

51:14

to start. And how do I find you

51:16

on YouTube? What do I search for? Yeah,

51:18

just Patrick Lang Business Modification Group. Got

51:21

it. And Lang is spelled? L-A-N-G-E. So,

51:25

and I'll have a link to it on the

51:28

show notes page for this episode at thehowabusiness.com as

51:30

always. So, if you're not where you can write

51:32

this down or you don't remember, just go to

51:34

the Howell Business, search for Patrick or search for

51:36

HMAC, and you'll find this episode

51:38

as well as the previous episode that Patrick was

51:41

on. So, I'll have all of that there. And

51:43

then I can call and

51:45

schedule a consultation with you to discuss this further to

51:47

see if you might be able to help me. Is

51:49

that the next step after that? Absolutely.

51:52

Or directly on my website, you can schedule

51:54

a time. There's a link on my calendar

51:56

where you can schedule time with me directly

51:58

to answer any questions. Either

52:01

way, call the office, which the number's on there,

52:03

or call or book a time on

52:05

my calendar. I'm happy for either one. Perfect.

52:08

Patrick, another great conversation. We

52:11

could keep going and going, and I realize we're

52:13

almost out of an hour here chatting, which is

52:15

fantastic. Thanks for sharing all these insights,

52:17

for being transparent on all of this, and for

52:20

answering all of my questions, and for

52:22

coming back on the show. Thank you so much. I

52:24

had a fantastic time, so thank you so much

52:27

for having me on, and hopefully your listeners will

52:29

get some value out of everything we covered today.

52:31

Absolutely. This is Henry Lopez, and

52:33

thank you for joining us on this episode

52:35

of The Howa Business. My guest

52:37

today, again, is Patrick Lang. I release

52:39

new episodes every Monday morning. You can

52:42

find the show anywhere you listen to podcasts, including

52:44

my YouTube channel, the Howa Business YouTube

52:47

channel, and at my website, thehowabusiness.com.

52:51

Thanks for listening. Thank

52:53

you for listening to The How

52:55

of Business. For more information about

52:57

our coaching programs, online courses, show

53:00

notes pages, links, and other resources,

53:02

please visit thehowofbusiness.com.