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Owned and Operated Growth

What 3 Acquisitions in 90 Days ACTUALLY Looks Like

📅 April 9, 2026 ⏱️ 44:57 🎤 John Wilson, Jack Carr

Chapters

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  • 0:00
    Triple Acquisition Strategy
    John Wilson shares his experience of acquiring three businesses in 90 days, highlighting the substantial growth and improved profitability achieved.
  • 3:24
    Organic vs. Inorganic Growth
    John emphasizes that best-in-class companies excel at both organic growth through strong marketing and sales, and inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions.
  • 7:42
    Acquisition for Expansion
    Acquisitions can facilitate expansion into new trades or geographies, offering an easier path than starting new ventures from scratch.
  • 13:40
    Leveraging Built Infrastructure
    The key to successful rapid acquisitions is having mature, robust internal infrastructure like accounting, HR, and marketing teams to support the integration of new businesses.
  • 20:45
    The 'Yes Man' Approach
    John describes his 'Yes Man' philosophy, being prepared with bandwidth, capital, and infrastructure to seize unexpected acquisition opportunities quickly.
  • 30:27
    Acquisition Details & Impact
    The acquired businesses ranged from $1.5 million to $6 million in revenue, leading to a 50% revenue growth for Wilson Plumbing in Q1 and a significant boost in EBITDA.
  • 38:42
    Importance of Leadership & Integration
    Successful integration hinges on strong leadership, intensive coaching of new managers, and centralizing key functions like call centers and dispatch.
  • 50:12
    Hub and Spoke Model
    John discusses the strategy of connecting geographically dispersed branches with a hub-and-spoke model to share infrastructure and capacity efficiently.
  • 56:36
    Target Acquisitions & Distress Deals
    Future acquisition targets are plumbing-focused businesses under $5 million in the Midwest, including distressed deals where the existing infrastructure can drive rapid ROI.

Speakers

J
John Wilson
Host — CEO of Wilson Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, and Electric
J
Jack Carr
Host — CEO of Rapid Plumbing, Heating, Cooling

Key Takeaways

✦

Develop a strong internal infrastructure (accounting, HR, marketing) before pursuing aggressive acquisition strategies to handle integration smoothly.

✦

Prioritize acquisitions that either expand into new services or new geographies, using them to leverage your existing operational strengths.

✦

Build relationships within the industry; personal connections can lead to unexpected and favorable acquisition opportunities.

✦

Be prepared to act quickly when acquisition opportunities arise, ensuring your business has the financial and operational bandwidth to say 'yes'.

✦

Focus on centralizing key business functions like call centers, dispatch, and marketing across all locations to maximize efficiency and profitability.

✦

Look for businesses that complement your existing services, especially those with high gross margins (e.g., plumbing) to uplift overall company performance.

✦

Consider distressed businesses if your team has a proven track record in turnarounds and can quickly implement your processes to achieve profitability.

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