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Should you stay sector-agnostic in ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition) or plant a flag with a clear buy box brokers, CPAs, and attorneys can remember? After a month sidelined by a home flood, searcher Chris Barr returns to his acquisition entrepreneurship journey—refining a small-business acquisition thesis around B2B services, GovCon janitorial contracts, and Florida/Palm Beach deal sourcing. We dig into search fund tactics, on-market and off-market pipelines, broker outreach, list scraping, AI-assisted follow-ups, and how to position for SBA 7(a) financing, LOIs, diligence, and close.

From tier-1 vs. tier-2/3 service models to residential vs. commercial focus, Jack and Chris get tactical about building a repeatable deal flow engine in a tight geo, crafting a memorable buy box (ticket size, customer type, contract length), and using light automation without sounding like spam. If you’re refining your acquisition criteria—B2B/government contracting, janitorial cleaning services, niche add-ons (e.g., AeroSeal), high-margin home services, or local trades—this episode hits playbooks for valuation, negotiation, seasonality, staffing, and lender selection so you can source better deals, faster.

💡 What You’ll Learn
• How to create a “tight buy box” brokers/CPAs/lawyers can remember and route deals to
• The case for B2B and GovCon janitorial (set-asides, contracts, and people leverage)
• Tier 1 vs. Tier 2/3 plays (e.g., niche add-ons like AeroSeal) and which fits a “nice-wage, simple, local” plan
• Residential vs. commercial: ticket size, sales motion, and capacity caps
• On-market vs. off-market engines: re-engaging brokers, list-scraping, and thoughtful personalization
• Using AI for workflow and follow-ups—without sounding like a bot
• Why timelines slip (and that’s normal): guilt, resets, and staying in the game
• Picking the right SBA lender for trades acquisitions

💼 Special Thanks to First Internet Bank!

Looking to buy or expand a business? First Internet Bank is a National Preferred SBA lender specializing in acquisitions for the skilled trades. Their SBA loan program offers up to 90% financing for business acquisitions, partner buyouts, and commercial real estate—plus optional lines of credit to fuel future growth. Unlike traditional lenders, they take a “how can we” approach, making deals happen for both first-time buyers and experienced operators.

👉 Special Offer: Mention Owned and Operated for a reduced good faith deposit and a complimentary deal review + buyside prequalification.

Connect with Alan Peterson from First Internet Bank here

💼Shoutout to Avoca AI!

Looking to train your call center and improve technician performance? Avoca AI helps teams identify issues, improve call quality, and drive results from start to finish.

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More Ways To Connect with O&O

• John's YouTube Channel
• Weekly Newsletter
• Owned and Operated

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John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

John sits down with Harmony Brownwood, CEO & founder of GreenWorks Inspections & Engineering, to unpack how she grew from zero connections in 2009 to one of the largest independently owned inspection companies in the U.S.—now operating across six states with 11 locations, 2,500–3,000 services a month, and a runway from ~$15M toward $20M in annual revenue. Harmony shares the mindset work that kept her going for 16 months without a sale, the systems that let her scale beyond herself, and why “happy clients + happy team” is the non-negotiable core KPI.

They get into how GreenWorks blends home inspections, structural engineering, and environmental services; why market flatness forces true market-share plays; and the playbook for entering new states by leading with engineering/environmental before residential inspections. You’ll hear how she measures client experience (NPS, “happy calls,” QC + AI on 80k+ reports), builds SOPs that actually stick, and keeps standards sky-high while still being beloved by realtors, investors, and homeowners.

If you want a concrete blueprint for scaling a people-powered, service-heavy org—without PE money, franchising, or letting quality slip—this one’s for you.

🎙️ Host
John Wilson

🎙️ Guest
Harmony Brownwood

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💼 Shoutout to Quick Staffers LLC

Need trained HVAC & plumbing CSRs at a fraction of the cost? Quick Staffers LLC specializes in placing top-tier global talent with the best SOPs and scripts.

🔥 Get $1,000 off your first placement HERE

💼 Extra Special Thanks to Service Scalers!

We’ve been partnering with Service Scalers to maximize our Local Service Ads (LSAs) and optimize our Google My Business profiles, and the results have been incredible. With hundreds of thousands in sales and 900+ calls in a single week, GMBs are now our top-performing organic lead channel.

Want to learn how Service Scalers can do the same for you?

🔗Check Them Out Here

🔗 More from Us
https://www.ownedandoperated.com/

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More Ways To Connect with O&O

• John's YouTube Channel
• Weekly Newsletter
• Owned and Operated

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John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

John sits down with Zac Dearing (Mantel) to break down how top HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies are moving from “proposal tools” to true shopping experiences that help homeowners buy with confidence—and help teams close more, faster. They dig into hard data from Mantel’s platform and homeowner survey: why Tuesdays are the biggest sales day, how response time and proposal view time (“eyeball time”) predict closes, and why a 10-point jump in proposal strength correlates with ~$960 higher average ticket.

They also cover remote/virtual selling (and what a high-fidelity, open-cart experience can look like), pricing transparency (69% of homeowners try to find a price online…only 15% find something clear), extended-warranty strategies, and what changes between a $10M shop and a $100M shop (hint: ruthless simplicity). If you want a concrete playbook for modern sales—benchmarks, coaching levers, and systems that scale—this one’s for you.

💡 What You’ll Learn

• Shopping-Experience Selling: How Mantel helps contractors present interactive options, not lectures—and why FSM “order recorders” miss the moment of influence.
• KPIs That Move Deals: Response-time and proposal “eyeball time,” plus how to use them to coach sellers.
• Proposal Strength → Revenue: Why better option range, add-ons, and personalization lift ticket size (~$960 per +10 points).
• Benchmarks That Matter: Calibrating close rate, average ticket, attach rates—and avoiding dirty denominators.
• Remote/Virtual Sales: When to use it, how big firms are testing it, and the emerging “open cart” follow-up model.
• Simplicity at Scale: The shift from 2–3 sellers to 30–40+, standardization vs. autonomy, and raising the floor without capping the ceiling.
• What Homeowners Actually Want: Clear pricing, reputation, comfort, utility savings > brand logos—and how to price extended warranties for real adoption.

🎙️ Host
John Wilson

🎙️ Guest
Zac Dearing — Mantel

Homeowner Shopping Attitudes Survey 2025


💼Shoutout to Avoca AI!

Looking to train your call center and improve technician performance? Avoca AI helps teams identify issues, improve call quality, and drive results from start to finish.

🔗 Schedule a demo

💼 Shoutout to Quick Staffers LLC

Need trained HVAC & plumbing CSRs at a fraction of the cost? Quick Staffers LLC specializes in placing top-tier global talent with the best SOPs and scripts.

🔥 Get $1,000 off your first placement here

Send Us Mail!

More Ways To Connect with O&O

• John's YouTube Channel
• Weekly Newsletter
• Owned and Operated

Leave a Review

John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.