Five years ago I was climbing the corporate ladder as an engineer. Now I've got a $1.46M exit behind me and I'm building my second business. It started in 2021, when I finally decided to take the leap and get into business. I explored countless options, and then one day I realized that at some point I have to stop thinking and planning, and actually do it. This led me to buying a CertaPro Painters franchise. At the time, I knew nothing about painting, but I figured it was a business model I could easily understand, which proved to be true.
The next 3 years proved to be challenging, rewarding, and ultimately the best career decision I have ever made. I’ll talk more in future newsletters about specific parts of the journey, including challenges I faced, wins I achieved, and how I navigated the waters. But for this newsletter, I want to focus on the exit I achieved.
I sold my CertaPro Painters franchise for $1.46M in December of 2024. When I started in 2021, my wife and I had a net worth of about $100k and I put $88k into purchasing this franchise along with some debt I took on. Three years later, I had grown my net worth to 7 figures. I want to share these specific numbers to show what is absolutely possible in blue collar type businesses. Is it hard and does it take real effort and some level of risk? Absolutely. But if it can work for an ordinary corporate engineer with no real business experience, just a drive to get more out of life, it can work for you too.
I also want to point out that many founders or business owners we hear about on podcasts and read about, had the $100M exit or built a billion dollar business. The stories are great... But I always assumed I was not going to be one of those people. The solid, cash flowing, 7-figure exit blue collar business I built, is much more approachable for most people, and this is why I want to share it.
Here’s what the numbers looked like. 2022 was $242k in Adjusted EBITDA, 2023 was $308k, and 2024 was $425k through only 9 months (Jan through Sep) at the time of listing the business. I ended up receiving 4 offers, 3 of which were at $1.46M, which is the value I ultimately closed at.
The financial reward was definitely game changing for me and my family, but the person I became throughout the journey is something I don’t take for granted. Not only did I have a new outlook on how to build wealth, but also how to do hard things, and how to be resilient, and how to live life on my terms.
I have much more to come on both my specific journey, what I did next after selling, and about opportunities in the blue collar space.