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Born For The Trades: A Home Service PodcastAuthor: Grow Nearby
"Born For The Trades: A Home Service Podcast" is a weekly podcast hosted by Mandeep Bhalla that aims to inspire and educate home services business owners. Each episode features successful industry leaders, like Tommy Mello, Ken Goodrich, and more, who share their stories and provide valuable insights into the home services industries. Through its focus on the successes of well-known business owners, "Born For The Trades" provides a unique perspective on the home services industry and offers valuable insights and advice for those looking to grow their businesses. Language: en-us Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Built to Sell: The Blueprint Behind $100M in Trade Business Exits
Episode 86
Tuesday, 24 March, 2026
Most people in the trades are focused on getting through the week. Making payroll. Landing the next job. But every once in a while, someone comes along who plays a completely different game. On this episode of Born For The Trades, host Mandeep sits down with Lance Bachmann, a self-made entrepreneur who turned grit into over $100M in exits across multiple industries. And what’s surprising isn’t just the scale. It’s how repeatable he insists the process is.This conversation starts where most don’t. Not with strategy, but with realization. Lance didn’t grow up with a roadmap or a network handing him opportunities. The shift happened when he saw that what he was building wasn’t just income, it was an asset. Something with real, transferable value. That moment changed everything. It’s the difference between owning a job and owning a business.From there, the conversation moves into a mindset most contractors ignore. Building with the end in mind. Even if you never plan to sell, thinking like a buyer forces better decisions. Cleaner systems. Stronger teams. More predictable results. The kind of business that doesn’t rely on the owner to survive. Because the truth is, if it falls apart without you, it was never really a business to begin with.Then comes the reality check. Revenue might look impressive, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Buyers care about what’s left over, not what comes in. Understanding profitability, structure, and how your numbers actually read to an outsider is where many owners get humbled. And it’s often the difference between a life-changing exit and a disappointing offer.One of the most powerful moments in the episode is a real case study. A roofing company that went from $2M to $23M in under two years. Fast growth, but not without pressure. Systems breaking. People stretched. Decisions that had to be made quickly or risk losing everything. It’s a raw look at what scaling actually demands behind the scenes.The conversation also digs into one of the biggest traps in the trades. The owner is the center of everything. Letting go isn’t just operational, it’s psychological. Building leaders, trusting systems, and stepping out of day-to-day control are often the hardest moves, but they're also the ones that unlock real value. As private equity continues to move aggressively into home services, understanding how these deals work has never been more important. What looks like an opportunity can quickly become regret if you don’t know what to look for. Lance breaks down what matters before, during, and after the deal. By the end, it comes down to action. Not theory. Not someday. Real moves contractors can make immediately to start building something that works for them, not because of them. Big shoutout to our sponsors, Broccoli AI and Grow Reviews, for supporting the trades and helping contractors level up their operations, marketing, and growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.Support the show
