Experienced Operator in Phoenix — Seeking to Acquire an Established Business from a Retiring Owner

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by a searcher from Arizona State University
in Phoenix, AZ, USA

3mos ago

Experienced Operator in Phoenix — Seeking to Acquire an Established Business from a Retiring Owner

Hey everyone — Brad Berlin here, new to the community. I've spent 20+ years in operations leadership, most recently as Turnaround COO at a freight-claims SaaS company where I built the platform from scratch to $420K+ ARR. Before that I scaled GlobalTranz from $1.2M to $65M as COO (5 to 260 employees) and ran a $100M division at CarrierDirect. I'm pivoting from the traditional job search toward acquiring an established, operationally-complex business from a retiring or exiting owner. My sweet spot is businesses that are profitable but under-automated — where better systems, processes, and leadership can unlock the next level of growth. Industries I'm focused on: building trades (Plumbing, electrical), service businesses (pest control, waste management, cleaning, property management), storage/warehousing, and wholesale distribution. Open to full acquisition, earnout, seller financing, or equity transition. Based in Phoenix but open to remote-friendly businesses nationwide. For those who've been through this — what's one thing you wish you'd known before your first deal? And if anyone is searching in Arizona or in the industries above, I'd love to connect.

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reply by a professional 3mos ago
from Duke University in New York, NY, USA

@redacted‌, happy to intros to folks covering AZ. Also, you mentioned HVAC, so here's a list of 2,200+ in AZ alone: redacted Happy to do a similar search for the other industries you mentioned -- just shoot me a DM!

reply by a lender 3mos ago
from Cornell University in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hi ^redacted‌ - nice to meet you. Always happy to talk about the financing piece with the SBA. On the industries you listed: licensing is a real underwriting question with the SBA. The business needs a qualifying licensee in place at or before close. If the retiring owner holds the license personally, that's something to address early. We have a lot experience financing various companies via the SBA. If you ever need help reviewing a deal, I am happy to help. We work with all the major SBA lenders. The bank pay us after your loan closes, so this is a 100% free service for you. You can email me directly at redacted or schedule a meeting with me: redacted. Look forward to chatting!