Raise profit and make the business run without you.
This is the work of lifting profit and building an HVAC business that no longer depends on you, done well before a buyer starts asking questions.
Part of the Reads Pre-Sale Programme. Led by Nick Hunt, Strategic Growth & Exit Adviser.
Why buyers look hard at owner dependence.
If you hold the key client relationships, price every job and act as the Gas Safe responsible person, a buyer is really buying your time, and your time is leaving. That risk tends to show up in the price, or in how much of it is deferred.
Profit matters for a similar reason. Buyers price on what a business earns, so a firm that earns more with the same engineers is worth more to them than one that is simply busier.
What the work involves.
A plan for the next few years
Agreeing what the business needs to look like at sale, and which changes come first.
A second layer of management
Moving client relationships, quoting and day-to-day decisions to a service manager or senior engineer, so the business holds together when you step back.
Engineers and accreditations
Formal contracts, a skills matrix, and Gas Safe, F-Gas, OFTEC and MCS registrations held across the business rather than resting on you alone.
Processes written down
Quoting, scheduling, procurement and warranty claims documented, so a buyer can see how the work gets done without asking you.
Profit over turnover
Looking at pricing, job mix and costs, so that growth adds profit rather than only adding work.
Who leads it.
Nick Hunt, Strategic Growth & Exit Adviser
Nick is an EMCC-accredited executive coach and non-executive director. He works with founders and leadership teams on strategy, governance and the decisions that come with growth and change.
When it starts.
This work runs from around five years out to the final year, because a business that runs without you has to be seen doing so for a while before a buyer believes it.
See every stage of the programme · Next: Financial preparation
Talk it through with us.
A first conversation is confidential and commits you to nothing. It is a chance to agree where the business stands and what to work on first.