August 27, 2025 • 42 mins
When it comes to growing a home improvement business, most contractors focus on hitting revenue goals. But what if you could build a company that not only thrives today but is also positioned for a profitable sale tomorrow? That’s exactly what Chris Edelen, former CEO and owner of Safe Showers, did—and in this episode of Digital Marketing for Contractors, he shared his incredible journey with hosts Janet and Caitlyn from FatCat Strategies.
https://fatcatstrategies.com/podcast/special-guest-chris-edelen-planning-your-exit/
Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 00 (00:00):
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors, a
podcast for home improvementcontractors to help you crush
your lead goals and take yourbusiness to the next level.
Join us each episode as we giveyou powerful insights and
(00:22):
practical tips on the bestdigital marketing strategies to
help you grow your homeimprovement business.
Janet (00:30):
Welcome back to Digital Marketing for Contractors, the
podcast that helps homeimprovement Pros grow smarter.
My name is Janet.
I am the founder of Fat CatStrategies and today I have
Caitlin with me.
Caitlin, wow, that started offreally great.
Caitlyn (00:44):
Today's episode is a master class in growth
leadership and building acompany that's not only
profitable but sellable.
Janet (00:52):
Oh, we like those words.
So today our guest is ChrisEdelin and we are so happy to
have him on.
He is not only a client buthe's the former CEO and owner of
Safe Shower a company that hescaled and successfully sold to
Sage Home.
And that's just one of the manymajor milestones in Chris's
(01:13):
career, which is why we're sohappy to have him on the podcast
and have him share some of hisexpertise and knowledge.
Chris has also led or advisedcompanies like Leafguard by
Belden, Kohler, and GibsonPlumbing.
Chris, I hope we got all ofthat correct.
Chris (01:29):
Pretty close.
It's great.
Good afternoon.
It's great to be with you guysand looking forward to the
conversation.
Caitlyn (01:37):
Yes.
So we are so happy to now haveyou on.
Take your experience.
I think you're going out toconsult other home improvement
businesses on growth marketingand preparing them for exit
opportunities.
So we're going to dive on intoall of your experience.
Janet (01:55):
Great.
So, Chris, just to kind of kickus off, why don't you let our
listeners know your full story,your background, the businesses
that you've been involved with,and how you got started in home
improvement?
Chris (02:09):
Sure.
Happy to do that.
Out of college, I went to workfor Corporate America.
I spent 20 years kind of rightat the bottom in the management
training program of publiccompanies.
worked for some very bigcompanies, many of which are no
longer around, Eastman Kodakbeing one of them.
And I spent 20 years doingthat.
(02:31):
And then I had the opportunityand really wanted to run my own
company.
And so I was recruited to joina home services company in San
Antonio that was really on thecusp of bankruptcy.
And I wanted to prove that Icould I wanted to prove to
(02:53):
myself that I could run reallymy own business.
And so I had a equity stake inthe company and became CEO and
had a great team.
It was the company made customwood shutters and other things.
window coverings.
We had quite a different arrayof products.
(03:13):
The year before I took it over,it lost $1.2 million.
And we were fortunate in eightmonths to get it to break even.
And the investors decided thatit was much, they thought it
would take three to four yearsand they decided to sell the
company.
So I was recruited by a prettybig 500 plus million dollar
(03:35):
company and I was divisionpresident.
We were private equity back.
That was really my first forayinto the private equity world.
And when I was running that, wehad moved to Indianapolis.
I was division president.
I had seven company presidentsreporting to me.
And our youngest son wasdiagnosed with a rare form of
(03:57):
leukemia.
about six months after we hadmoved to Indianapolis.
So with lots of prayers andgreat medical care, and after
three and a half years of chemo,if he walked in the room today,
you'd never know he was sick aday in his life.
Janet (04:12):
That's fantastic, I love hearing
Chris (04:14):
that.
Yeah, we're just, we're reallyblessed.
But after the first year of histreatment, the doctors told us
we could move.
So my wife and I agreed that weneeded to be back in San
Antonio.
where our support structurewas, our family, friends, and we
knew lots of people in themedical community.
So I had the opportunity totake over a family business.
(04:35):
I was the first non-familymember to run it.
We had 17 offices across thecountry.
This was LeafGuard by Beldenand one in Canada.
The company was losing marketshare and the bottom line was in
the red.
Not much, but still in the red.
We put together a great team.
We closed a couple problemmarkets and we grew the business
(04:59):
over 300% in the next two and ahalf years and grew it
extremely profitable.
We also entered Costco.
We were one of the first homeservices companies to be selling
through Costco.
We were in 216 stores atCostco.
And, you know, it was, we werealso ranked that year at This
(05:21):
was way before the privateequity guys got involved in our
industry.
And we were the fifth largestremodeler in the country.
Janet (05:29):
That's fantastic.
Chris (05:30):
Yeah, it was.
I mean, that wasn't our goal,but we really grew aggressively.
And then I was there nine and ahalf years and decided it was
time for another challenge.
So I left the company andKohler Corporation called me and
and tried to get us to move tocolor wisconsin and and uh we
(05:52):
weren't gonna move my wifewasn't gonna move i was open to
it so uh she's you know uh theyasked me if i would consult and
so long story short i did iwalked in they handed me one
sheet of paper with theirstrategy to go their first in
over 140 years in businessdirect to consumer They had no
(06:14):
clue what they were doing.
Great, great people.
I love the people there.
I love the company.
And it was a great opportunity.
And so we built the program.
The first business was thewalk-in tub business.
So you
Janet (06:28):
were there like day one when Kohler decided to go
directly to homeowners?
Chris (06:35):
Well, I wasn't there when they decided.
The board...
Janet (06:37):
Like
Chris (06:37):
early, early days.
But I was...
I was the first person, JimLewis and I.
I worked for Jim, great guy,love him.
He just announced hisretirement from Kohler.
But I had the opportunity froma white sheet of paper to put
together these two greatbusiness units and a dealer
(06:58):
network across the company, orI'm sorry, across the country.
And that was a lot of fun.
I was...
traveling up to Kohler one ortwo weeks a month and then
working remotely the other oneor two or the other two or three
weeks.
We had a great group of peopleand the dealer network was
(07:21):
fabulous as well.
And then I had an opportunityto buy a company outside of the
home improvement or homeservices industry.
It was in the smart hometechnology business and I became
the majority owner there.
and wanted to really grow thatbusiness.
It's very much a mom and popindustry, very bifurcated.
(07:42):
There aren't many bigcompanies.
Geek Squad is really kind ofthe only national company, and
they're really more of a servicebusiness.
And so we tried to make severalacquisitions.
We weren't successful.
And so...
At that same time, Safe Showerscame on my radar.
(08:04):
When I was at LeafGuard, wewere the first seven Bath Planet
franchises in the country.
In addition to LeafGuard, wehad seven Bath Planet
franchises.
And I really loved thatbusiness.
And so I was looking for anopportunity to get back into it.
And Safe Showers was amoderate-sized company in San
(08:25):
Antonio.
And I saw their advertisement.
I called the owner.
And we had breakfast.
And two months later, my wifeand I owned the business.
I was still running the smarthome technology company,
Sterling.
And so my wife, who is a CPA bytraining and a corporate CFO
and controller, was kind ofthrust into the president and
(08:49):
CEO job.
Janet (08:51):
Yeah.
And that's where we met you,was through Safe Showers.
Chris (08:54):
That's right.
That's right.
And so...
We ended up selling SterlingHome Technologies to a strategic
buyer who was very interestedin our business.
We had grown the business.
We had more than doubled it.
And he was very interested inmoving into the San Antonio
market.
So that gave me the opportunityabout four, little over four
(09:14):
years ago to go into SafeShowers full-time.
My wife moved into the CFO roleand that's kind of where we,
how we got into Safe Showers.
Janet (09:26):
What a story.
So tell me, what is the timeframe here?
What year did you leave, quoteunquote, corporate America and
start this string ofentrepreneurial?
I mean, what I'm hearing is athread of, you're the turnaround
guy.
Chris (09:43):
What
Janet (09:46):
are the dates on that?
Chris (09:48):
So I left corporate America in 1999, right before
Y2K.
And then I did the...
the company in San Antonio thatwas on the verge of bankruptcy.
It was about a $20 millionbusiness.
And like I said, we got thatprofitable.
That really was only a year.
And then I went into the $500million business, promotional
(10:13):
products business.
We were the largest in theworld.
And I was there about four anda half years.
And then I left there, had theopportunity to, with Leaf Guard
when our son got sick and weneeded to move back to San
Antonio.
That was nine years and thatended in 2013.
And then I did the Kohler forsix years.
(10:36):
I did Sterling for about threeand a half years and then Safe
Showers.
We bought Safe Showers in Aprilof 2018.
Okay.
And we sold it to a privateequity firm in September 30th of
2022.
Yeah.
Caitlyn (10:54):
And that's where we begin our story.
No, no, that's amazing.
I mean, and we're going to divemore into that and how that
like you end up selling all safeshowers and so forth.
But what do you thinkcontributed most to the growth
and success of safe showers inthose years that you guys owned
(11:14):
it?
Chris (11:17):
You know, it was it was.
Timing was, we were the benefitof timing.
Janet (11:24):
What do you mean by that?
Chris (11:26):
Well, so we bought it in 2018 and my wife was running it
and I was kind of doing thesales and marketing on nights
and weekends and she was runningthe installers and what have
you.
And one of the things that wasextremely interesting to me
about Safe Showers is they had asolid surface product that they
(11:47):
had an exclusive on for Austinand San Antonio.
And nobody else really had aproduct like that.
And so I felt like we had avery unique product and I felt
like we could really grow thebusiness.
And then obviously COVID camearound.
And I told my wife, I said, youknow, we're going to double
(12:11):
down on this deal.
Every home improvement companyI knew of stopped advertising
almost exclusively.
And so I could buy TV for 20cents.
What's that?
Janet (12:25):
We lived through that chapter.
We can attest to it.
It was like March, January,February, March of 2020.
We're really strong for ourentire client base.
Then the You know, the worldpandemic was announced.
And then April, across theboard, people slashed their
advertising.
They let go of their canvassingteam.
(12:46):
You know.
Stopped marketing.
They stopped marketing.
But then in like mid-May, theycame back crazy.
Anyway, not to interrupt you,but I was.
So you saw, though, that youcould buy TV spots online.
Chris (12:59):
Really for 20 cents on the dollar.
Caitlyn (13:01):
Right.
Wow.
So you get the brand explodedthen.
Chris (13:04):
Well, I told my wife, I said, this is either going to be
a pretty good move or we'regoing to go bankrupt.
So how
Janet (13:10):
did you know that TV was so cheap?
Did you just have a guess ordid you call up a sales rep and
say, how did you know that?
Chris (13:19):
Well, I've been doing TV, you know, for 20 plus years in
this business.
And I know all the reps, youknow, we're out to lunch every
couple months.
And so they keep me apprisedwhenever there's opportunities
to buy, you know, special dealsor what have you.
So, you know, they called upand they said, and my first
(13:40):
reaction was, are you crazy?
And then I thought about it andI just, and they told me
everybody has stoppedadvertising.
And we were also considered anessential business in Texas.
Janet (13:53):
Right.
Chris (13:53):
And so we could go to work.
We weren't locked down.
And I just thought, this isgoing to be great.
We lost a pretty significantamount of money for two months.
Really?
And then it was a rocket shipfrom there.
Janet (14:08):
You just did it on faith.
You just white knuckled it andsaid, I think this is going to
work.
Chris (14:12):
I did.
I mean, I thought it was agreat opportunity to grow our
brand and really become reallywell-known.
And it worked.
It could have very easily gonethe other way, but it worked.
Janet (14:25):
I mean, I have to ask, were there some sleepless nights
those first two months when youwere losing money?
Chris (14:32):
There were.
I mean, we were paying ourinstallers.
We were paying all of ouremployees what they were making
because we didn't want to losethem.
We had a great team.
And, you know, it was hard towrite those checks, but I just
felt like, you know, this isn'tgoing to last forever.
And I said, we'll give it fouror five months.
And if it doesn't turn aroundand, you know, month three, it
(14:54):
really started to turn aroundfor
Janet (14:56):
us.
So this would have been Apriland May of 2020.
Chris (14:58):
Yeah, May and June, really.
May, June, July, kind of thattimeframe.
Janet (15:04):
And you were just doubling down, tripling down on
this low cost TV because theinventory was there.
because the other advertisershad pulled out.
Chris (15:14):
That's right.
And I mean, we were in our TVcommercials and so I became, you
know, I became pretty wellknown in San Antonio and Austin.
Caitlyn (15:24):
Exactly.
Chris (15:25):
But it was just a great, we were just blessed to have the
opportunity and we were able tokeep our team and really grow
the business.
Janet (15:34):
So bringing it up a little closer to date, that was
2020.
Fast forward, several years.
Let's talk about the nextchapter.
So you doubled down, you ranthe ads, growth really started
to happen.
At what point did you know thatyou were going to sell or look
for a buyer?
And then what did you do toprepare and navigate the company
(15:58):
with an exit in mind?
Chris (16:01):
Well, my plan was never to sell the business.
Quite frankly, it was to growthe business.
And I had hoped one of my twoboys would be interested in and
coming in to run the business.
They both lived in Austin.
Neither one of them was reallyinterested in taking over the
business.
And then I got a call from afriend of mine who said that he
(16:24):
was in process of selling hisbusiness and he wanted to refer
me to the guys that had boughthim.
And I told him I really wasn'tinterested and I kept getting
calls over the next six monthsfrom private equity firms.
They they were looking theywanted to be in Texas and they
(16:46):
really wanted our product lineas well.
Caitlyn (16:49):
OK.
Chris (16:49):
And so, you know, I finally I finally started to
say, OK, well, I'll listen.
And that's really that's reallywhere we made the decision.
We we actually came withinseven days of selling to a
different, much larger privateequity firm.
And then in 2021, when thestock market, actually I was off
(17:17):
by a year, we sold in 2023, not2022.
I
Caitlyn (17:23):
held up three.
Yeah, I thought, yeah.
Chris (17:25):
Yeah.
In 2022, we were within sevendays of closing on a deal with
another private equity firm.
And And I can tell you, whenyou go through the due diligence
process of a small to mid-sizedcompany like we were, it is
draining.
I mean, they ask for so muchinformation.
(17:46):
The process went about threeand a half months.
We're literally within sevenbusiness days.
and they shut down allacquisitions worldwide.
They're a multi-billion dollardeal.
And quite frankly, we weretotally dismayed.
We had spent a lot of money anda ton of time and it was really
(18:09):
my wife and I and our CPA andour attorney because we didn't
want our team to know.
And so we were spending a lotof time outside of the office
and then really had no intentionagain of selling And then the
attorney who handled our dealthat fell apart called about
(18:30):
seven or eight months later andsaid, I have another private
equity firm that really wants totalk to you.
And I said, I'm not interested.
Just
Janet (18:38):
so fatigued by the process you'd just gotten out
of.
Chris (18:43):
Right.
And in my past, I've eitherpersonally, I bought a couple of
companies personally, but- ForCorporate America, I've bought
over 20.
I've been the lead person orthe only person on the team
where we acquired over 20businesses.
So I've been through it, but asa company buying it, it's very
different than a private equityfirm.
Janet (19:04):
In what way?
I mean, we've kind of been onthe outside world.
looking in through the glasswhere, you know, we service this
industry, but we've seenprivate equity come in and buy
up so many of these businessesand many, honestly, of our own
clients.
So I'm just, I'm super curious,like what's the difference
(19:27):
between a company acquiringanother company and private
equity?
from your perspective
Chris (19:34):
yeah i'll put it to you this way the biggest difference
is the amount of due diligenceand the level of due diligence
the private equity firm i saidto this firm i said i can't
believe the amount of money thatyou are spending on this deal
and he said look we haveinstitutional investors you know
some of the biggest you know uhendowments in the country and
(19:55):
in the world are investors intheir fund a lot of which have
been in the news in the last sixmonths.
And they have to go throughexactly the same process if
they're buying a $20 millionbusiness or if they're buying a
$2 billion business because theyhave to protect their
(20:17):
shareholders or their investors.
And they commit to that whenthey raise those billions of
dollars.
Whereas a strategic acquirer,they're going to go through most
of that same process, but theydon't have, you know, the
private equity guys, they hadfive, six different teams of
(20:39):
outside advisors.
And they have to prove to theprivate equity firm that they're
spending their money well.
So they're looking at everytiny little minute detail.
Whereas the strategic acquirerreally knows and understands the
business.
And so they're asking all ofthe same questions, but it's a
(21:04):
different process.
They know what they're talkingabout.
These outside advisors, theymay be working on an auto parts
deal tomorrow.
And then the next day they maybe working on a, a hair care,
you know, just they could beworking on anything and they go
through, they send you pages andpages and pages, the legal, the
(21:26):
due diligence on the accountingfirms, the, you know, verifying
that your numbers are what yousay they are.
And it's all, they both do it,but it's just, you know, time
flies with the private equityfirm.
Janet (21:43):
So for our listeners who are interested In their business
right now, their business isdoing well, you know, by small
business measures.
Maybe they've hit $12 millionand they've got their eyes on
20.
And they don't have anypersonal experience on either
end, buying or selling acompany.
It'd be their first time.
(22:04):
And then private equity comescalling.
I think what I'm hearing yousay is it might not be the
quote-unquote easy exit thatsome of these companies current
home improvement owners maythink it is because they may be
hearing at shows, oh, so-and-sosold, you know, so-and-so got
(22:25):
bought by XYZ private equity.
How much, so you told us threemonths.
I don't know if you want toshare this, but you said it was
expensive, the deal that fellthrough.
So you were in conversationswith private equity.
So there's an investment oftime to sell your business.
What did you have to, to payout of pocket to financial folks
(22:49):
or lawyers on your end whileyou were marching towards that
the day you signed?
Chris (22:57):
Sure.
I mean, we have aconfidentiality agreement, so I
can't share the exact numbers,but it was well into the six
figures.
Janet (23:05):
Wait, of what you spent on legal fees?
Chris (23:09):
That's right.
Legal and accounting anddifferent...
things.
You know, my wife handled mostof the accounting.
She's a public company, CPA,CFO from her history.
So our books were in greatshape.
That's not normally the case.
We ran our company according toGAP and, you know, just like we
(23:30):
were a public company.
And, you know, we didn't putpersonal expenses through it.
Occasionally we would, but notto the degree that most family
businesses do.
So we were pretty good in thatregard.
I mean, they're always lookingfor everything they can find.
But the thing that saved us thesecond time around is we used
(23:53):
our same attorney.
He switched law firms and hecalled us up and he said, hey,
for, I think it was five or$10,000, I can move your whole
data room over to my newcompany.
Janet (24:04):
And
Chris (24:05):
so when the new private equity firm came calling All we
had to do was update a lot ofthe stuff because we had already
had it from a year prior ornine months prior.
Janet (24:16):
You could leverage the investment that you had already
made in the due diligence fromthe previous potential sell.
Chris (24:27):
Yeah, that's right.
I mean, I wish we hadn't gonethrough it twice because it's so
fun.
But we had a great team ofadvisors.
Our lawyer was great.
He'd done everything.
multiple ones of these.
Our accounting partner was headof mergers and acquisitions for
a large national firm, and thenhe started his own company.
So we had a great team workingwith us.
Caitlyn (24:49):
That's awesome.
I mean, so location wasimportant to the buyer, your
product line.
Was there anything else thatwas attractive?
Chris (24:59):
Sure.
I mean, our revenue, we weregrowing aggressively.
We were The two prior yearsbefore we were acquired, we were
growing, you know, 30% plus ayear, one year over 40%.
So that was attractive.
And we were also veryprofitable.
That's, you know, I'm a salesand marketing guy.
(25:21):
And so I believe if you're notgrowing, the market's going to
relegate you as irrelevant, butyou have to grow profitably or
it doesn't matter.
And we were...
you know, they told us that wewere one of the most, if not the
most profitable as a percentageof revenue of companies that
(25:41):
they had looked at.
So we were, we were proud ofthat fact.
But they were obviously lookingto add that to their bottom
line because they're trying togrow and, you know, and then
flip private equity is going toflip it in three to five years,
typically.
Caitlyn (25:55):
Right.
And I don't want to skip out onthe marketing side of this.
I mean, we talked a lot aboutthe play you made with TV during
the pandemic to get your brandout there as well.
I mean, marketing had to havebeen a part of what got you to
where you were.
I mean, any tips, tricks youwant to share there?
Chris (26:13):
Sure.
I mean, you know, when webought the business, we were
generating like 98% of our ownleads.
Right.
I started to see social mediareally coming on.
Again, I'm a marketing personby my education.
And that's what I did as I cameup through corporate America
(26:33):
was primarily marketing.
I did a lot of operations, butprimarily a lot of marketing.
And I started to see themarketplace changing out there,
not just for us, but in general.
And so I felt our leads weregetting more expensive.
TV was getting less and lesseffective.
There's all these streamingservices.
(26:55):
So we still do all of that.
We do radio, TV, newspaper.
We do every print thing outthere.
But we started to get in anddabble with lead aggregators.
I can tell you that was reallynecessary, but I can tell you
that's a full-time job becauseyou have got to stay on those
guys.
You've got to be...
(27:17):
You've got to be fullytransparent with them, sharing
your data, your dispositiondata, and make sure you have the
right partners.
I've always moved marketingdollars around.
I have several reports that Iuse where I track, you know,
really at the end of the day,the number that makes the most
(27:38):
meaning for me is the cost ofmarketing.
Yeah.
That's where the rubber meetsthe road.
But I track a lot of othermetrics that are kind of
upstream from that.
And I can tell when something'seither not working or used to
work and doesn't work anymore.
So really keeping your fingeron that pulse or having somebody
(27:59):
that does that for you.
And that's my training, so Idid it.
And then the other thing for uswas we're really involved in
the community.
Caitlyn (28:09):
Yes.
Chris (28:10):
San Antonio is a big military area.
I come from a big militaryfamily.
My dad was a World War IIfighter pilot.
So we got into the community.
It's a way to give back.
We didn't do it as a marketingploy, but we give away free
showers every year to needyveterans and lots of other
people too, not just veterans.
(28:31):
and that word gets around andand when people you know
referrals and all of that wassuper important to us but at the
end of the day too reviews andgoogle reviews specifically are
really critical and that was mybible and we we felt like we had
the best product and the bestservice in the market and i
(28:53):
guarded that just like profusely
Janet (28:57):
yeah so that's amazing safe showers is sold You are
consulting now, right?
Is that correct?
Chris (29:05):
I am.
I was required to run thebusiness for a year.
And then I consulted with theparent company, Sage Home, for
the next eight to nine months.
I just finished that at the endof May.
And I've decided that I'm goingto start a new chapter in my
life.
And I'm on several boards.
(29:26):
And I love that.
So I want to do more.
Caitlyn (29:33):
There's the cutout.
Chad, I'm not sure what time.
It's like 2.28.
So I'll at the
Chris (29:44):
minute marker.
Consulting from a marketing andsales perspective.
You're going to
Janet (29:48):
have to back up.
You dropped out for a second.
So we caught that you're onboards now, but we missed what
came after that.
Chris (29:56):
The juice.
Janet (29:57):
Yes.
Chris (29:58):
Yeah, so I've been on eight to ten boards now.
I'm currently on two.
We just sold one of thecompanies to a strategic
acquirer.
And I want to do more of thatboard business.
I really enjoy that, workingwith the ownership, the
families, et cetera, many timeshelping them to prepare the
(30:18):
business for sale.
But I'm also doing some reallytargeted consulting from a
marketing and strategic planningand preparing to sale business.
of the business and workingwith the senior management.
So that's what I'm doing.
It's called Eidlin Marketingand Consulting.
And I'm enjoying that nextphase of my life.
Janet (30:40):
So for our listeners, are you open to working with home
improvement contractors who areon a trajectory where they're
growing fast and they want tosell?
Or tell us your idealconsulting client.
Chris (30:59):
So in addition to the board work, it's really, it can
be companies who are looking tosell in the next two to five
years and they want to preparefor that because in most cases,
if we start early enough, we canget them 50 to 100% more in a
purchase price than if theyjust, you know, don't prepare
(31:20):
for that.
Janet (31:20):
Wow.
Chris (31:21):
So I work with, I've, I'm currently working with one
company that is in that processpreparing to sell, and I've
worked with multiple others inthe past.
I also work with companies whoare looking to make acquisitions
and helping them.
I worked with a company in NewYork last year, and they cut
(31:41):
what they were willing to pay,and they acquired the company by
over 50% after they did the duediligence that I worked through
with them.
They
Janet (31:51):
would have paid too much.
Chris (31:52):
Oh, they would have paid more than twice what they
ultimately paid for thebusiness.
Good business.
Janet (31:58):
They weren't looking under the covers enough.
Chris (32:00):
They weren't.
They were taking the formerowner's word for all of the
facts that he gave them.
Janet (32:07):
You know, this topic is so fascinating to me, and we see
it from the agency'sperspective.
We work with the owners andoperators of these home
improvement companies, and I'vepersonally seen...
a couple of differentperspectives, but we're always
like an observer.
We're never in the middle ofthe deal.
(32:28):
And we've seen multiple of ourclients sell through strategic
acquisitions to a largernationally known brand within
their home improvement segment.
And those sellers, those ownersthat sold seem to be really
pleased with what happened.
We've had other owners thathave sold to private equity.
(32:49):
We've had multiple clients thathave sold to private equity.
And that seems to be a littlebit of a mixed bag from what we
hear from our clients abouttheir experience working through
that period where they're stillconsulting back, you know, as
the previous owner.
And then on the flip side ofthat, we've had a few clients
(33:10):
who were pretty smallbusinesses, like 5 million or
under, and then they boughtanother small business.
And I have been sort ofperpetually shocked at the lack
of due diligence that seems togo into these deals where they
buy this company that's a prettysmall potatoes company and then
(33:34):
it's after they've bought itthey find out all this stuff
that i feel like is just sobasic um i mean do you It sounds
like you're operating at a muchhigher level with higher dollar
volume, and maybe you're notinto some of the nonsense that
(33:54):
we've seen.
No,
Chris (33:56):
I actually work with smaller companies as well.
Like I said, I worked with thatcompany.
The company they bought was a$2.5 million company, and they
actually had a verbal...
LOI, it was not in writing formore than twice what they ended
up paying for it after we workedtogether for about four to five
(34:19):
months.
And so size is not really thedetermining factor.
The issue with size istypically the smaller companies,
they can't afford to bring onthe people they need in many
cases to help them or they don'twant to.
So you gravitate towardscompanies.
(34:40):
Most of the companies I workwith, I would say are in the 10
to $50 million range.
And I can tell you that theprivate equity firm that bought
us, we've been very pleased.
I actually was glad ultimatelythe first deal didn't work out
because a lot of my friends soldto that private equity firm
(35:02):
They got taken out by anotherprivate equity firm because of
performance.
And most of those people arenot happy at all.
We're really happy.
They promoted several of ourpeople to higher level jobs and
the business continues to growreally nicely.
So it's worked out foreverybody.
Janet (35:20):
Yeah, I think you really are.
Your story and your career setyou up in such a fantastic way.
having been at the table of somany acquisitions to, I mean,
that's kind of what I'm hearingis that you, you didn't just
fall off the turnip truck whenyou started talking to these
guys, you probably knew thequestions to ask and, you know,
(35:44):
how to engage with an attorney,how to prepare your books.
So we're, I guess we're kind offangirling here.
We're fangirling.
We
Caitlyn (35:53):
definitely, you know, know our listeners could benefit
from your services
Janet (35:56):
too.
So, I mean, I, I'm going to goout on a limb and say I think
100% of our client base,current, past, and future, if
they were really honest, theystart with an exit in mind,
whether it's their kids aregoing to take over the business
(36:16):
or they're going to sell to alarger player, a strategic sale,
or now that private equity isin the mix.
Whether those opinions are wellformed or not, I think that all
of our clients are, you know,they've got this game plan in
mind, like I'm going to grind itout and then I'm going to cash
(36:37):
out.
I don't know if you wanted totalk to a little bit about that
mentality and whether or not youthink it's a healthy way to
approach things or a realisticway to approach things.
Chris (36:50):
Well, yeah, I'd be happy to.
talk about it for a minute.
I think it's important to haveyour strategy.
And that's one of the thingswhen I work with clients, I
really get crystal clear on whatis the outcome.
Do you wanna sell?
Do you wanna grow this so yourkids can take it over?
Do you wanna sell to astrategic acquirer?
Do you wanna sell for the mostmoney?
(37:11):
Do you wanna sell to a companythat has similar core values to
yours?
All of those are importantquestions.
You know, one of the thingsthat I think is a kind of a
reality check out there is wekind of caught the very end of
the tail of the larger multiplesthat these firms were paying
(37:32):
and you know um multiples havedefinitely come down in the last
couple of years i personallythink that's probably a good
thing but you know one of thebiggest things that i find when
when like you described, is thatthese CEOs slash owners,
they're really, and I was thisway for a lot of my career,
(37:56):
you're just working in thebusiness and you're not working
on the business.
And I had a business coach onetime who really forced me to
take two hours every week atfirst, and then it became a half
a day every week to really workon the business.
Janet (38:12):
Yeah.
Chris (38:12):
And you really start to get clear on a lot of things.
And I think it's just fine tohave a mindset that you want to
sell the business because thenyou run the business in the
manner that is going to optimizeyour return.
Caitlyn (38:30):
There you go.
Chris (38:30):
But that's not for everybody.
Like you said, there's a lot ofpeople who wished, and I've
talked to many of them, andseveral of them recently.
And they've said, you know, thelast 18 months or two years
since they were acquired hasbeen the worst time of their
life.
But on the other side, I'vetalked to a lot that are very
happy and they, you know,they've made generational wealth
(38:53):
and they can now give back moreand they can do really good
things in the community and fortheir families.
So it just depends upon theindividual, but I think it's
important that they reallyunderstand what their goals are.
Caitlyn (39:08):
Yeah, this has been so amazing, Chris.
I mean, literally, we alwaysare like, it's going to only be
20 to 30 minutes.
I think we could have sat hereand talked to you forever and
ever and ever and ever.
Especially if you let me keepasking questions.
And they're good questions.
But I know your time isprecious, and I just want to
offer your services.
We're going to give yourcontact information in the show
(39:29):
notes if anybody's listening andwants to find out more about
you and how they can be in touchwith you.
Where else?
I mean, verbally, if anybody'sdriving around listening to
this, how can they get in touchwith you, Chris?
Chris (39:41):
Sure.
And you're welcome to put thisin the notes on the podcast.
My email is ccedlen, that'sC-C-E-D-E-L-E-N, at gmail.com.
Caitlyn (39:54):
Okay.
Chris (39:55):
And my cell phone is 210-708-3877.
I'm happy to have aconversation with anybody that
this triggers some thoughts orconcerns wants to ask me a
question or run anything by me,I'm happy to help however I can.
Janet (40:10):
Oh, that's amazing.
What a generous offer.
So, listeners, if you aretrying to grow or scale or
someday sell, this episode hasbeen packed with wisdom and was
crafted just for you.
So, we encourage you, if that'sa path that you're on and you
want to get some truly expertadvice, reach out to Chris.
(40:30):
He has a Lifetime of knowledge.
And so kind.
Personally.
In this industry and in mergersand acquisitions with private
equity, with strategic sales, ifthat's the journey that you
want to be on, Chris is the guyyou want to talk to.
So thank you for joining us foranother episode of Digital
Marketing for Contractors.
If you will give us 20 minutes.
(40:51):
In this case, it was probablymore like 45 minutes.
Thank you.
Our goal is to try to give youactionable insights to help you
run a better business.
So please give us a like, sharethis with a friend or a peer,
leave us a review, subscribe, doall the things, click all the
buttons.
And contact Chris.
And contact Chris.
(41:12):
Thank you, Chris.
Thank you so much.
You were so generous with yourtime.
I learned a lot and I hope ourlisteners did as well.
Speaker 00 (41:20):
Digital Marketing for Contractors is created by
Fat Cat Strategies.
For more information, visitfatcatstrategies.com.
Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors, a
podcast for home improvementcontractors to help you crush
your lead goals and take yourbusiness to the next level.
Join us each episode as we giveyou powerful insights and
(00:22):
practical tips on the bestdigital marketing strategies to
help you grow your homeimprovement business.
Janet (00:30):
Welcome back to Digital Marketing for Contractors, the
podcast that helps homeimprovement Pros grow smarter.
My name is Janet.
I am the founder of Fat CatStrategies and today I have
Caitlin with me.
Caitlin, wow, that started offreally great.
Caitlyn (00:44):
Today's episode is a master class in growth
leadership and building acompany that's not only
profitable but sellable.
Janet (00:52):
Oh, we like those words.
So today our guest is ChrisEdelin and we are so happy to
have him on.
He is not only a client buthe's the former CEO and owner of
Safe Shower a company that hescaled and successfully sold to
Sage Home.
And that's just one of the manymajor milestones in Chris's
(01:13):
career, which is why we're sohappy to have him on the podcast
and have him share some of hisexpertise and knowledge.
Chris has also led or advisedcompanies like Leafguard by
Belden, Kohler, and GibsonPlumbing.
Chris, I hope we got all ofthat correct.
Chris (01:29):
Pretty close.
It's great.
Good afternoon.
It's great to be with you guysand looking forward to the
conversation.
Caitlyn (01:37):
Yes.
So we are so happy to now haveyou on.
Take your experience.
I think you're going out toconsult other home improvement
businesses on growth marketingand preparing them for exit
opportunities.
So we're going to dive on intoall of your experience.
Janet (01:55):
Great.
So, Chris, just to kind of kickus off, why don't you let our
listeners know your full story,your background, the businesses
that you've been involved with,and how you got started in home
improvement?
Chris (02:09):
Sure.
Happy to do that.
Out of college, I went to workfor Corporate America.
I spent 20 years kind of rightat the bottom in the management
training program of publiccompanies.
worked for some very bigcompanies, many of which are no
longer around, Eastman Kodakbeing one of them.
And I spent 20 years doingthat.
(02:31):
And then I had the opportunityand really wanted to run my own
company.
And so I was recruited to joina home services company in San
Antonio that was really on thecusp of bankruptcy.
And I wanted to prove that Icould I wanted to prove to
(02:53):
myself that I could run reallymy own business.
And so I had a equity stake inthe company and became CEO and
had a great team.
It was the company made customwood shutters and other things.
window coverings.
We had quite a different arrayof products.
(03:13):
The year before I took it over,it lost $1.2 million.
And we were fortunate in eightmonths to get it to break even.
And the investors decided thatit was much, they thought it
would take three to four yearsand they decided to sell the
company.
So I was recruited by a prettybig 500 plus million dollar
(03:35):
company and I was divisionpresident.
We were private equity back.
That was really my first forayinto the private equity world.
And when I was running that, wehad moved to Indianapolis.
I was division president.
I had seven company presidentsreporting to me.
And our youngest son wasdiagnosed with a rare form of
(03:57):
leukemia.
about six months after we hadmoved to Indianapolis.
So with lots of prayers andgreat medical care, and after
three and a half years of chemo,if he walked in the room today,
you'd never know he was sick aday in his life.
Janet (04:12):
That's fantastic, I love hearing
Chris (04:14):
that.
Yeah, we're just, we're reallyblessed.
But after the first year of histreatment, the doctors told us
we could move.
So my wife and I agreed that weneeded to be back in San
Antonio.
where our support structurewas, our family, friends, and we
knew lots of people in themedical community.
So I had the opportunity totake over a family business.
(04:35):
I was the first non-familymember to run it.
We had 17 offices across thecountry.
This was LeafGuard by Beldenand one in Canada.
The company was losing marketshare and the bottom line was in
the red.
Not much, but still in the red.
We put together a great team.
We closed a couple problemmarkets and we grew the business
(04:59):
over 300% in the next two and ahalf years and grew it
extremely profitable.
We also entered Costco.
We were one of the first homeservices companies to be selling
through Costco.
We were in 216 stores atCostco.
And, you know, it was, we werealso ranked that year at This
(05:21):
was way before the privateequity guys got involved in our
industry.
And we were the fifth largestremodeler in the country.
Janet (05:29):
That's fantastic.
Chris (05:30):
Yeah, it was.
I mean, that wasn't our goal,but we really grew aggressively.
And then I was there nine and ahalf years and decided it was
time for another challenge.
So I left the company andKohler Corporation called me and
and tried to get us to move tocolor wisconsin and and uh we
(05:52):
weren't gonna move my wifewasn't gonna move i was open to
it so uh she's you know uh theyasked me if i would consult and
so long story short i did iwalked in they handed me one
sheet of paper with theirstrategy to go their first in
over 140 years in businessdirect to consumer They had no
(06:14):
clue what they were doing.
Great, great people.
I love the people there.
I love the company.
And it was a great opportunity.
And so we built the program.
The first business was thewalk-in tub business.
So you
Janet (06:28):
were there like day one when Kohler decided to go
directly to homeowners?
Chris (06:35):
Well, I wasn't there when they decided.
The board...
Janet (06:37):
Like
Chris (06:37):
early, early days.
But I was...
I was the first person, JimLewis and I.
I worked for Jim, great guy,love him.
He just announced hisretirement from Kohler.
But I had the opportunity froma white sheet of paper to put
together these two greatbusiness units and a dealer
(06:58):
network across the company, orI'm sorry, across the country.
And that was a lot of fun.
I was...
traveling up to Kohler one ortwo weeks a month and then
working remotely the other oneor two or the other two or three
weeks.
We had a great group of peopleand the dealer network was
(07:21):
fabulous as well.
And then I had an opportunityto buy a company outside of the
home improvement or homeservices industry.
It was in the smart hometechnology business and I became
the majority owner there.
and wanted to really grow thatbusiness.
It's very much a mom and popindustry, very bifurcated.
(07:42):
There aren't many bigcompanies.
Geek Squad is really kind ofthe only national company, and
they're really more of a servicebusiness.
And so we tried to make severalacquisitions.
We weren't successful.
And so...
At that same time, Safe Showerscame on my radar.
(08:04):
When I was at LeafGuard, wewere the first seven Bath Planet
franchises in the country.
In addition to LeafGuard, wehad seven Bath Planet
franchises.
And I really loved thatbusiness.
And so I was looking for anopportunity to get back into it.
And Safe Showers was amoderate-sized company in San
(08:25):
Antonio.
And I saw their advertisement.
I called the owner.
And we had breakfast.
And two months later, my wifeand I owned the business.
I was still running the smarthome technology company,
Sterling.
And so my wife, who is a CPA bytraining and a corporate CFO
and controller, was kind ofthrust into the president and
(08:49):
CEO job.
Janet (08:51):
Yeah.
And that's where we met you,was through Safe Showers.
Chris (08:54):
That's right.
That's right.
And so...
We ended up selling SterlingHome Technologies to a strategic
buyer who was very interestedin our business.
We had grown the business.
We had more than doubled it.
And he was very interested inmoving into the San Antonio
market.
So that gave me the opportunityabout four, little over four
(09:14):
years ago to go into SafeShowers full-time.
My wife moved into the CFO roleand that's kind of where we,
how we got into Safe Showers.
Janet (09:26):
What a story.
So tell me, what is the timeframe here?
What year did you leave, quoteunquote, corporate America and
start this string ofentrepreneurial?
I mean, what I'm hearing is athread of, you're the turnaround
guy.
Chris (09:43):
What
Janet (09:46):
are the dates on that?
Chris (09:48):
So I left corporate America in 1999, right before
Y2K.
And then I did the...
the company in San Antonio thatwas on the verge of bankruptcy.
It was about a $20 millionbusiness.
And like I said, we got thatprofitable.
That really was only a year.
And then I went into the $500million business, promotional
(10:13):
products business.
We were the largest in theworld.
And I was there about four anda half years.
And then I left there, had theopportunity to, with Leaf Guard
when our son got sick and weneeded to move back to San
Antonio.
That was nine years and thatended in 2013.
And then I did the Kohler forsix years.
(10:36):
I did Sterling for about threeand a half years and then Safe
Showers.
We bought Safe Showers in Aprilof 2018.
Okay.
And we sold it to a privateequity firm in September 30th of
2022.
Yeah.
Caitlyn (10:54):
And that's where we begin our story.
No, no, that's amazing.
I mean, and we're going to divemore into that and how that
like you end up selling all safeshowers and so forth.
But what do you thinkcontributed most to the growth
and success of safe showers inthose years that you guys owned
(11:14):
it?
Chris (11:17):
You know, it was it was.
Timing was, we were the benefitof timing.
Janet (11:24):
What do you mean by that?
Chris (11:26):
Well, so we bought it in 2018 and my wife was running it
and I was kind of doing thesales and marketing on nights
and weekends and she was runningthe installers and what have
you.
And one of the things that wasextremely interesting to me
about Safe Showers is they had asolid surface product that they
(11:47):
had an exclusive on for Austinand San Antonio.
And nobody else really had aproduct like that.
And so I felt like we had avery unique product and I felt
like we could really grow thebusiness.
And then obviously COVID camearound.
And I told my wife, I said, youknow, we're going to double
(12:11):
down on this deal.
Every home improvement companyI knew of stopped advertising
almost exclusively.
And so I could buy TV for 20cents.
What's that?
Janet (12:25):
We lived through that chapter.
We can attest to it.
It was like March, January,February, March of 2020.
We're really strong for ourentire client base.
Then the You know, the worldpandemic was announced.
And then April, across theboard, people slashed their
advertising.
They let go of their canvassingteam.
(12:46):
You know.
Stopped marketing.
They stopped marketing.
But then in like mid-May, theycame back crazy.
Anyway, not to interrupt you,but I was.
So you saw, though, that youcould buy TV spots online.
Chris (12:59):
Really for 20 cents on the dollar.
Caitlyn (13:01):
Right.
Wow.
So you get the brand explodedthen.
Chris (13:04):
Well, I told my wife, I said, this is either going to be
a pretty good move or we'regoing to go bankrupt.
So how
Janet (13:10):
did you know that TV was so cheap?
Did you just have a guess ordid you call up a sales rep and
say, how did you know that?
Chris (13:19):
Well, I've been doing TV, you know, for 20 plus years in
this business.
And I know all the reps, youknow, we're out to lunch every
couple months.
And so they keep me apprisedwhenever there's opportunities
to buy, you know, special dealsor what have you.
So, you know, they called upand they said, and my first
(13:40):
reaction was, are you crazy?
And then I thought about it andI just, and they told me
everybody has stoppedadvertising.
And we were also considered anessential business in Texas.
Janet (13:53):
Right.
Chris (13:53):
And so we could go to work.
We weren't locked down.
And I just thought, this isgoing to be great.
We lost a pretty significantamount of money for two months.
Really?
And then it was a rocket shipfrom there.
Janet (14:08):
You just did it on faith.
You just white knuckled it andsaid, I think this is going to
work.
Chris (14:12):
I did.
I mean, I thought it was agreat opportunity to grow our
brand and really become reallywell-known.
And it worked.
It could have very easily gonethe other way, but it worked.
Janet (14:25):
I mean, I have to ask, were there some sleepless nights
those first two months when youwere losing money?
Chris (14:32):
There were.
I mean, we were paying ourinstallers.
We were paying all of ouremployees what they were making
because we didn't want to losethem.
We had a great team.
And, you know, it was hard towrite those checks, but I just
felt like, you know, this isn'tgoing to last forever.
And I said, we'll give it fouror five months.
And if it doesn't turn aroundand, you know, month three, it
(14:54):
really started to turn aroundfor
Janet (14:56):
us.
So this would have been Apriland May of 2020.
Chris (14:58):
Yeah, May and June, really.
May, June, July, kind of thattimeframe.
Janet (15:04):
And you were just doubling down, tripling down on
this low cost TV because theinventory was there.
because the other advertisershad pulled out.
Chris (15:14):
That's right.
And I mean, we were in our TVcommercials and so I became, you
know, I became pretty wellknown in San Antonio and Austin.
Caitlyn (15:24):
Exactly.
Chris (15:25):
But it was just a great, we were just blessed to have the
opportunity and we were able tokeep our team and really grow
the business.
Janet (15:34):
So bringing it up a little closer to date, that was
2020.
Fast forward, several years.
Let's talk about the nextchapter.
So you doubled down, you ranthe ads, growth really started
to happen.
At what point did you know thatyou were going to sell or look
for a buyer?
And then what did you do toprepare and navigate the company
(15:58):
with an exit in mind?
Chris (16:01):
Well, my plan was never to sell the business.
Quite frankly, it was to growthe business.
And I had hoped one of my twoboys would be interested in and
coming in to run the business.
They both lived in Austin.
Neither one of them was reallyinterested in taking over the
business.
And then I got a call from afriend of mine who said that he
(16:24):
was in process of selling hisbusiness and he wanted to refer
me to the guys that had boughthim.
And I told him I really wasn'tinterested and I kept getting
calls over the next six monthsfrom private equity firms.
They they were looking theywanted to be in Texas and they
(16:46):
really wanted our product lineas well.
Caitlyn (16:49):
OK.
Chris (16:49):
And so, you know, I finally I finally started to
say, OK, well, I'll listen.
And that's really that's reallywhere we made the decision.
We we actually came withinseven days of selling to a
different, much larger privateequity firm.
And then in 2021, when thestock market, actually I was off
(17:17):
by a year, we sold in 2023, not2022.
I
Caitlyn (17:23):
held up three.
Yeah, I thought, yeah.
Chris (17:25):
Yeah.
In 2022, we were within sevendays of closing on a deal with
another private equity firm.
And And I can tell you, whenyou go through the due diligence
process of a small to mid-sizedcompany like we were, it is
draining.
I mean, they ask for so muchinformation.
(17:46):
The process went about threeand a half months.
We're literally within sevenbusiness days.
and they shut down allacquisitions worldwide.
They're a multi-billion dollardeal.
And quite frankly, we weretotally dismayed.
We had spent a lot of money anda ton of time and it was really
(18:09):
my wife and I and our CPA andour attorney because we didn't
want our team to know.
And so we were spending a lotof time outside of the office
and then really had no intentionagain of selling And then the
attorney who handled our dealthat fell apart called about
(18:30):
seven or eight months later andsaid, I have another private
equity firm that really wants totalk to you.
And I said, I'm not interested.
Just
Janet (18:38):
so fatigued by the process you'd just gotten out
of.
Chris (18:43):
Right.
And in my past, I've eitherpersonally, I bought a couple of
companies personally, but- ForCorporate America, I've bought
over 20.
I've been the lead person orthe only person on the team
where we acquired over 20businesses.
So I've been through it, but asa company buying it, it's very
different than a private equityfirm.
Janet (19:04):
In what way?
I mean, we've kind of been onthe outside world.
looking in through the glasswhere, you know, we service this
industry, but we've seenprivate equity come in and buy
up so many of these businessesand many, honestly, of our own
clients.
So I'm just, I'm super curious,like what's the difference
(19:27):
between a company acquiringanother company and private
equity?
from your perspective
Chris (19:34):
yeah i'll put it to you this way the biggest difference
is the amount of due diligenceand the level of due diligence
the private equity firm i saidto this firm i said i can't
believe the amount of money thatyou are spending on this deal
and he said look we haveinstitutional investors you know
some of the biggest you know uhendowments in the country and
(19:55):
in the world are investors intheir fund a lot of which have
been in the news in the last sixmonths.
And they have to go throughexactly the same process if
they're buying a $20 millionbusiness or if they're buying a
$2 billion business because theyhave to protect their
(20:17):
shareholders or their investors.
And they commit to that whenthey raise those billions of
dollars.
Whereas a strategic acquirer,they're going to go through most
of that same process, but theydon't have, you know, the
private equity guys, they hadfive, six different teams of
(20:39):
outside advisors.
And they have to prove to theprivate equity firm that they're
spending their money well.
So they're looking at everytiny little minute detail.
Whereas the strategic acquirerreally knows and understands the
business.
And so they're asking all ofthe same questions, but it's a
(21:04):
different process.
They know what they're talkingabout.
These outside advisors, theymay be working on an auto parts
deal tomorrow.
And then the next day they maybe working on a, a hair care,
you know, just they could beworking on anything and they go
through, they send you pages andpages and pages, the legal, the
(21:26):
due diligence on the accountingfirms, the, you know, verifying
that your numbers are what yousay they are.
And it's all, they both do it,but it's just, you know, time
flies with the private equityfirm.
Janet (21:43):
So for our listeners who are interested In their business
right now, their business isdoing well, you know, by small
business measures.
Maybe they've hit $12 millionand they've got their eyes on
20.
And they don't have anypersonal experience on either
end, buying or selling acompany.
It'd be their first time.
(22:04):
And then private equity comescalling.
I think what I'm hearing yousay is it might not be the
quote-unquote easy exit thatsome of these companies current
home improvement owners maythink it is because they may be
hearing at shows, oh, so-and-sosold, you know, so-and-so got
(22:25):
bought by XYZ private equity.
How much, so you told us threemonths.
I don't know if you want toshare this, but you said it was
expensive, the deal that fellthrough.
So you were in conversationswith private equity.
So there's an investment oftime to sell your business.
What did you have to, to payout of pocket to financial folks
(22:49):
or lawyers on your end whileyou were marching towards that
the day you signed?
Chris (22:57):
Sure.
I mean, we have aconfidentiality agreement, so I
can't share the exact numbers,but it was well into the six
figures.
Janet (23:05):
Wait, of what you spent on legal fees?
Chris (23:09):
That's right.
Legal and accounting anddifferent...
things.
You know, my wife handled mostof the accounting.
She's a public company, CPA,CFO from her history.
So our books were in greatshape.
That's not normally the case.
We ran our company according toGAP and, you know, just like we
(23:30):
were a public company.
And, you know, we didn't putpersonal expenses through it.
Occasionally we would, but notto the degree that most family
businesses do.
So we were pretty good in thatregard.
I mean, they're always lookingfor everything they can find.
But the thing that saved us thesecond time around is we used
(23:53):
our same attorney.
He switched law firms and hecalled us up and he said, hey,
for, I think it was five or$10,000, I can move your whole
data room over to my newcompany.
Janet (24:04):
And
Chris (24:05):
so when the new private equity firm came calling All we
had to do was update a lot ofthe stuff because we had already
had it from a year prior ornine months prior.
Janet (24:16):
You could leverage the investment that you had already
made in the due diligence fromthe previous potential sell.
Chris (24:27):
Yeah, that's right.
I mean, I wish we hadn't gonethrough it twice because it's so
fun.
But we had a great team ofadvisors.
Our lawyer was great.
He'd done everything.
multiple ones of these.
Our accounting partner was headof mergers and acquisitions for
a large national firm, and thenhe started his own company.
So we had a great team workingwith us.
Caitlyn (24:49):
That's awesome.
I mean, so location wasimportant to the buyer, your
product line.
Was there anything else thatwas attractive?
Chris (24:59):
Sure.
I mean, our revenue, we weregrowing aggressively.
We were The two prior yearsbefore we were acquired, we were
growing, you know, 30% plus ayear, one year over 40%.
So that was attractive.
And we were also veryprofitable.
That's, you know, I'm a salesand marketing guy.
(25:21):
And so I believe if you're notgrowing, the market's going to
relegate you as irrelevant, butyou have to grow profitably or
it doesn't matter.
And we were...
you know, they told us that wewere one of the most, if not the
most profitable as a percentageof revenue of companies that
(25:41):
they had looked at.
So we were, we were proud ofthat fact.
But they were obviously lookingto add that to their bottom
line because they're trying togrow and, you know, and then
flip private equity is going toflip it in three to five years,
typically.
Caitlyn (25:55):
Right.
And I don't want to skip out onthe marketing side of this.
I mean, we talked a lot aboutthe play you made with TV during
the pandemic to get your brandout there as well.
I mean, marketing had to havebeen a part of what got you to
where you were.
I mean, any tips, tricks youwant to share there?
Chris (26:13):
Sure.
I mean, you know, when webought the business, we were
generating like 98% of our ownleads.
Right.
I started to see social mediareally coming on.
Again, I'm a marketing personby my education.
And that's what I did as I cameup through corporate America
(26:33):
was primarily marketing.
I did a lot of operations, butprimarily a lot of marketing.
And I started to see themarketplace changing out there,
not just for us, but in general.
And so I felt our leads weregetting more expensive.
TV was getting less and lesseffective.
There's all these streamingservices.
(26:55):
So we still do all of that.
We do radio, TV, newspaper.
We do every print thing outthere.
But we started to get in anddabble with lead aggregators.
I can tell you that was reallynecessary, but I can tell you
that's a full-time job becauseyou have got to stay on those
guys.
You've got to be...
(27:17):
You've got to be fullytransparent with them, sharing
your data, your dispositiondata, and make sure you have the
right partners.
I've always moved marketingdollars around.
I have several reports that Iuse where I track, you know,
really at the end of the day,the number that makes the most
(27:38):
meaning for me is the cost ofmarketing.
Yeah.
That's where the rubber meetsthe road.
But I track a lot of othermetrics that are kind of
upstream from that.
And I can tell when something'seither not working or used to
work and doesn't work anymore.
So really keeping your fingeron that pulse or having somebody
(27:59):
that does that for you.
And that's my training, so Idid it.
And then the other thing for uswas we're really involved in
the community.
Caitlyn (28:09):
Yes.
Chris (28:10):
San Antonio is a big military area.
I come from a big militaryfamily.
My dad was a World War IIfighter pilot.
So we got into the community.
It's a way to give back.
We didn't do it as a marketingploy, but we give away free
showers every year to needyveterans and lots of other
people too, not just veterans.
(28:31):
and that word gets around andand when people you know
referrals and all of that wassuper important to us but at the
end of the day too reviews andgoogle reviews specifically are
really critical and that was mybible and we we felt like we had
the best product and the bestservice in the market and i
(28:53):
guarded that just like profusely
Janet (28:57):
yeah so that's amazing safe showers is sold You are
consulting now, right?
Is that correct?
Chris (29:05):
I am.
I was required to run thebusiness for a year.
And then I consulted with theparent company, Sage Home, for
the next eight to nine months.
I just finished that at the endof May.
And I've decided that I'm goingto start a new chapter in my
life.
And I'm on several boards.
(29:26):
And I love that.
So I want to do more.
Caitlyn (29:33):
There's the cutout.
Chad, I'm not sure what time.
It's like 2.28.
So I'll at the
Chris (29:44):
minute marker.
Consulting from a marketing andsales perspective.
You're going to
Janet (29:48):
have to back up.
You dropped out for a second.
So we caught that you're onboards now, but we missed what
came after that.
Chris (29:56):
The juice.
Janet (29:57):
Yes.
Chris (29:58):
Yeah, so I've been on eight to ten boards now.
I'm currently on two.
We just sold one of thecompanies to a strategic
acquirer.
And I want to do more of thatboard business.
I really enjoy that, workingwith the ownership, the
families, et cetera, many timeshelping them to prepare the
(30:18):
business for sale.
But I'm also doing some reallytargeted consulting from a
marketing and strategic planningand preparing to sale business.
of the business and workingwith the senior management.
So that's what I'm doing.
It's called Eidlin Marketingand Consulting.
And I'm enjoying that nextphase of my life.
Janet (30:40):
So for our listeners, are you open to working with home
improvement contractors who areon a trajectory where they're
growing fast and they want tosell?
Or tell us your idealconsulting client.
Chris (30:59):
So in addition to the board work, it's really, it can
be companies who are looking tosell in the next two to five
years and they want to preparefor that because in most cases,
if we start early enough, we canget them 50 to 100% more in a
purchase price than if theyjust, you know, don't prepare
(31:20):
for that.
Janet (31:20):
Wow.
Chris (31:21):
So I work with, I've, I'm currently working with one
company that is in that processpreparing to sell, and I've
worked with multiple others inthe past.
I also work with companies whoare looking to make acquisitions
and helping them.
I worked with a company in NewYork last year, and they cut
(31:41):
what they were willing to pay,and they acquired the company by
over 50% after they did the duediligence that I worked through
with them.
They
Janet (31:51):
would have paid too much.
Chris (31:52):
Oh, they would have paid more than twice what they
ultimately paid for thebusiness.
Good business.
Janet (31:58):
They weren't looking under the covers enough.
Chris (32:00):
They weren't.
They were taking the formerowner's word for all of the
facts that he gave them.
Janet (32:07):
You know, this topic is so fascinating to me, and we see
it from the agency'sperspective.
We work with the owners andoperators of these home
improvement companies, and I'vepersonally seen...
a couple of differentperspectives, but we're always
like an observer.
We're never in the middle ofthe deal.
(32:28):
And we've seen multiple of ourclients sell through strategic
acquisitions to a largernationally known brand within
their home improvement segment.
And those sellers, those ownersthat sold seem to be really
pleased with what happened.
We've had other owners thathave sold to private equity.
(32:49):
We've had multiple clients thathave sold to private equity.
And that seems to be a littlebit of a mixed bag from what we
hear from our clients abouttheir experience working through
that period where they're stillconsulting back, you know, as
the previous owner.
And then on the flip side ofthat, we've had a few clients
(33:10):
who were pretty smallbusinesses, like 5 million or
under, and then they boughtanother small business.
And I have been sort ofperpetually shocked at the lack
of due diligence that seems togo into these deals where they
buy this company that's a prettysmall potatoes company and then
(33:34):
it's after they've bought itthey find out all this stuff
that i feel like is just sobasic um i mean do you It sounds
like you're operating at a muchhigher level with higher dollar
volume, and maybe you're notinto some of the nonsense that
(33:54):
we've seen.
No,
Chris (33:56):
I actually work with smaller companies as well.
Like I said, I worked with thatcompany.
The company they bought was a$2.5 million company, and they
actually had a verbal...
LOI, it was not in writing formore than twice what they ended
up paying for it after we workedtogether for about four to five
(34:19):
months.
And so size is not really thedetermining factor.
The issue with size istypically the smaller companies,
they can't afford to bring onthe people they need in many
cases to help them or they don'twant to.
So you gravitate towardscompanies.
(34:40):
Most of the companies I workwith, I would say are in the 10
to $50 million range.
And I can tell you that theprivate equity firm that bought
us, we've been very pleased.
I actually was glad ultimatelythe first deal didn't work out
because a lot of my friends soldto that private equity firm
(35:02):
They got taken out by anotherprivate equity firm because of
performance.
And most of those people arenot happy at all.
We're really happy.
They promoted several of ourpeople to higher level jobs and
the business continues to growreally nicely.
So it's worked out foreverybody.
Janet (35:20):
Yeah, I think you really are.
Your story and your career setyou up in such a fantastic way.
having been at the table of somany acquisitions to, I mean,
that's kind of what I'm hearingis that you, you didn't just
fall off the turnip truck whenyou started talking to these
guys, you probably knew thequestions to ask and, you know,
(35:44):
how to engage with an attorney,how to prepare your books.
So we're, I guess we're kind offangirling here.
We're fangirling.
We
Caitlyn (35:53):
definitely, you know, know our listeners could benefit
from your services
Janet (35:56):
too.
So, I mean, I, I'm going to goout on a limb and say I think
100% of our client base,current, past, and future, if
they were really honest, theystart with an exit in mind,
whether it's their kids aregoing to take over the business
(36:16):
or they're going to sell to alarger player, a strategic sale,
or now that private equity isin the mix.
Whether those opinions are wellformed or not, I think that all
of our clients are, you know,they've got this game plan in
mind, like I'm going to grind itout and then I'm going to cash
(36:37):
out.
I don't know if you wanted totalk to a little bit about that
mentality and whether or not youthink it's a healthy way to
approach things or a realisticway to approach things.
Chris (36:50):
Well, yeah, I'd be happy to.
talk about it for a minute.
I think it's important to haveyour strategy.
And that's one of the thingswhen I work with clients, I
really get crystal clear on whatis the outcome.
Do you wanna sell?
Do you wanna grow this so yourkids can take it over?
Do you wanna sell to astrategic acquirer?
Do you wanna sell for the mostmoney?
(37:11):
Do you wanna sell to a companythat has similar core values to
yours?
All of those are importantquestions.
You know, one of the thingsthat I think is a kind of a
reality check out there is wekind of caught the very end of
the tail of the larger multiplesthat these firms were paying
(37:32):
and you know um multiples havedefinitely come down in the last
couple of years i personallythink that's probably a good
thing but you know one of thebiggest things that i find when
when like you described, is thatthese CEOs slash owners,
they're really, and I was thisway for a lot of my career,
(37:56):
you're just working in thebusiness and you're not working
on the business.
And I had a business coach onetime who really forced me to
take two hours every week atfirst, and then it became a half
a day every week to really workon the business.
Janet (38:12):
Yeah.
Chris (38:12):
And you really start to get clear on a lot of things.
And I think it's just fine tohave a mindset that you want to
sell the business because thenyou run the business in the
manner that is going to optimizeyour return.
Caitlyn (38:30):
There you go.
Chris (38:30):
But that's not for everybody.
Like you said, there's a lot ofpeople who wished, and I've
talked to many of them, andseveral of them recently.
And they've said, you know, thelast 18 months or two years
since they were acquired hasbeen the worst time of their
life.
But on the other side, I'vetalked to a lot that are very
happy and they, you know,they've made generational wealth
(38:53):
and they can now give back moreand they can do really good
things in the community and fortheir families.
So it just depends upon theindividual, but I think it's
important that they reallyunderstand what their goals are.
Caitlyn (39:08):
Yeah, this has been so amazing, Chris.
I mean, literally, we alwaysare like, it's going to only be
20 to 30 minutes.
I think we could have sat hereand talked to you forever and
ever and ever and ever.
Especially if you let me keepasking questions.
And they're good questions.
But I know your time isprecious, and I just want to
offer your services.
We're going to give yourcontact information in the show
(39:29):
notes if anybody's listening andwants to find out more about
you and how they can be in touchwith you.
Where else?
I mean, verbally, if anybody'sdriving around listening to
this, how can they get in touchwith you, Chris?
Chris (39:41):
Sure.
And you're welcome to put thisin the notes on the podcast.
My email is ccedlen, that'sC-C-E-D-E-L-E-N, at gmail.com.
Caitlyn (39:54):
Okay.
Chris (39:55):
And my cell phone is 210-708-3877.
I'm happy to have aconversation with anybody that
this triggers some thoughts orconcerns wants to ask me a
question or run anything by me,I'm happy to help however I can.
Janet (40:10):
Oh, that's amazing.
What a generous offer.
So, listeners, if you aretrying to grow or scale or
someday sell, this episode hasbeen packed with wisdom and was
crafted just for you.
So, we encourage you, if that'sa path that you're on and you
want to get some truly expertadvice, reach out to Chris.
(40:30):
He has a Lifetime of knowledge.
And so kind.
Personally.
In this industry and in mergersand acquisitions with private
equity, with strategic sales, ifthat's the journey that you
want to be on, Chris is the guyyou want to talk to.
So thank you for joining us foranother episode of Digital
Marketing for Contractors.
If you will give us 20 minutes.
(40:51):
In this case, it was probablymore like 45 minutes.
Thank you.
Our goal is to try to give youactionable insights to help you
run a better business.
So please give us a like, sharethis with a friend or a peer,
leave us a review, subscribe, doall the things, click all the
buttons.
And contact Chris.
And contact Chris.
(41:12):
Thank you, Chris.
Thank you so much.
You were so generous with yourtime.
I learned a lot and I hope ourlisteners did as well.
Speaker 00 (41:20):
Digital Marketing for Contractors is created by
Fat Cat Strategies.
For more information, visitfatcatstrategies.com.
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