For more than six decades, Getzschman Heating has been an enduring presence in the heart of Fremont, Nebraska. My father started the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company out of our garage back in 1960. Since then we’ve kept the focus on putting our customers and community first.
As any business owner knows, there comes a time when you need to plan for your retirement while also considering the importance of the legacy and team you will leave behind. Ready for the next chapter of their lives, my parents sold the business in 1998.
In my opinion, the sale didn’t end well. The company that bought us was backed by Wallstreet investment firms only focused on quarterly earnings statements. As a result, every quarter felt like a fire drill to ensure we put our best financial foot forward, which meant sacrificing our core values in the process. This wasn’t the legacy my parents envisioned for Getzschman.
In 2004, my brothers Ron, David, and I repurchased our business with a renewed focus on bringing the company back to its roots and finding a partner committed to seeing it flourish. With our sights set on growth, our pivotal partnership alongside National Comfort Institute (NCI) began.
Hard Lessons Learned
The exit strategy that my parents followed left a bad taste in our mouths. The lesson that my brothers and I learned was that we needed to put together a better “retirement” plan.
However, there was a bright spot from the original sale. We had the opportunity to form strategic relationships with two other HVAC companies who had weathered similar circumstances to ours. Every fall, we would come together to discuss and share insights on growth, personnel management, training, and marketing strategies.
These sessions also laid the groundwork for tackling one of the most complex aspects of business ownership that we had yet to implement: crafting a successful exit strategy.
Finding Our Ideal Partner
This time around we knew exactly what we wanted and didn’t want in a future buyer. In 2020, we turned to professionals for help and partnered with a Florida-based consulting company that specialized in mergers and acquisitions to guide us through every step of the process.
After gathering all our business documents, financial statements, and organizational charts, we were ready to start negotiations.
We wanted to sell to a company with similar market approaches, business philosophies, and a service mentality to those held by Getzschman Heating. We were fortunate and blessed to have found such a company early in our search, and ultimately, we entered into an agreement with TurnPoint Services.
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