A Playbook for Growing People-Intensive Service Companies

Today's guest, John Ratliff, is a lifelong entrepreneur who founded a call center company called Apple Tree Answers, which he scaled through 24 separate bolt-on acquisitions, growing it over 3,000% prior to selling to a strategic buyer in 2012. He then went on to become a partner at an investment bank, where he has advised on countless small business transactions. All told, he has sat in nearly every seat at the M&A table — as a founder, buyer, seller, and now advisor. In our conversation today, we cover: (1) How he reduced front-line turnover from 115% annually to 18% annually (2) Lessons from acquiring 24 companies, including what he did differently in deals 23 & 24 relative to deals 1 & 2 (3) How John stayed intimately connected to 650 employees across 24 locations (4) How he designed himself out of the day-to-day operations, spending just 15–25 hours per week inside of his business (5) How to spot real sellers, how to navigate the notoriously tricky transition between incoming & outgoing CEOs, and how to identify red flags in due diligence Please enjoy! https://mineolasearchpartners.com/2025/05/22/a-playbook-for-growing-people-intensive-service-companies/