The short version, which isn’t that short.
I started my career in finance and accounting at manufacturers, from Eaton, a Fortune 500 company, to GKN Aerospace, where I helped build the accounting department for a $20M subsidiary. After my MBA at UC Irvine I ran FP&A and cost analysis for two private equity backed manufacturers, then consulted on program finance for L3 Technologies.
I liked that world. A P&L is black and white. Numbers don’t have an opinion, and they don’t call out of work. But I wanted to own something.
In 2018 I set out to buy a business. I looked at more than 80 of them: a flower shop, a bounce house manufacturer, an oil change station, a private jet scheduling system, franchises, independents, absentee and owner operated.
Senior care was one of the first I looked at, and I dismissed it because I had no passion for it. Then I came back to it. It was recession resistant (seniors still need care when the economy turns), and I didn’t see Google or Amazon disrupting it. I bought an established franchise in Los Angeles that had been operating and cash flowing for more than 13 years.
Here’s what I missed: I evaluated it purely on the numbers and completely missed the human side of the day to day. I wrote about that search at the time in How to Buy a Business, before I ever thought I’d be an advisor.
Overnight I had about 60 caregivers plus an office staff. Within weeks I let go of the person I expected to be my most important hire. It was painful, it pushed me way out of my comfort zone, and it forced me to learn every corner of the business. That’s when I felt like a real entrepreneur.
The business of senior care isn’t only taking care of seniors. It’s taking care of your employees. The uncle who passed away for the third time in two months. The childcare that fell through. The missed bus. I learned to handle all of it, and I learned to lean on people. Promoting my office manager to general manager was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Over six years we grew through the pandemic, employed more than 1,000 caregivers and helped more than 300 seniors age safely at home. We grew revenue from under $500K to over $2M.
Why sell something that’s working? For me it was a few things at once. I wasn’t intellectually challenged anymore; I’d become the HR department. After COVID, labor costs pushed prices up and more families simply couldn’t afford care, which was heartbreaking. And with a son born during COVID and a daughter born in 2023, I realized I couldn’t separate the business from the rest of my life. For me, business was life.
A few setbacks helped me decide, too. An accidental fire on a caregiver’s shift at the home of one of our biggest clients (thankfully the client was fine), and my right hand in the office out for an extended stretch. You learn what a business really depends on.
In 2024 I hired the broker with the highest valuation and the lowest fee. It bit me. I ended up finding and negotiating with my own buyer, a neighboring franchise owner, while still running the company. We closed, and the business sold at a 274% increase in value. But I learned exactly what an owner should never have to go through alone.
Today I’m a business broker and M&A Advisor with Iconic. I help owners in every industry prepare for and navigate their exit. I’ve worked with owners in services, healthcare, pickleball and recreation, publishing, physical therapy and more.
I’m your quarterback. I manage the moving pieces, the buyers, the lenders, the landlord, the attorneys, the emotions, so you can keep your eye on running the business.
