In 2015, I bought a business I didn’t fully understand. I took on liabilities I hadn’t modelled, and watched it drag down everything I’d built. I’m telling you this because it’s the only thing that qualifies me to write what comes next.
The business was Pro Clean — a cleaning company I sourced through direct outreach. The owner had a broker, but twelve months of listing had generated zero interest. Due diligence done, we closed six weeks after first contact. That was the easy part.
Then the work started.
Integrating Pro Clean into The Organised Cleaning Company was messier than I’d anticipated. Different work type. Hard staff transitions. Client relationships didn’t transfer as I expected. And underneath all that: a VAT bill I hadn’t modelled, PAYE obligations I’d underestimated, and Employers’ National Insurance I hadn’t properly accounted.
It was the beginning of the end for that business.
When I sit across from an owner who’s tired — who built something real but doesn’t know how to get out of it, who’s never been through a sale before — I’m not guessing at what that feels like. I’ve been the buyer who got it wrong. And the seller who had to find a way out.
That’s why I’m approaching this differently.
Why buy rather than build
Buying is faster. But that’s not the real reason. The more complete answer is that buying, done properly, is more certain than building.
When you build from scratch, you start with nothing. No revenue, no customers, no staff, no operating history. You test every assumption at your own expense. When you buy, you inherit it all. The business already exists. The question is whether you can improve it.
There’s also a financial logic to buying that most people miss. A well-structured deal doesn’t need to come from your own pocket. The business’s assets — vehicles, equipment, anything with a serial number — collateralise the deal. The debtor book provides working capital. The recurring cash flow services the debt. A motivated seller will accept deferred consideration — paid from the profits the business generates after you own it.
A well-structured business acquisition can pay for itself. Think of it like a mortgage — except the income the business generates pays it, not you. That’s not possible when you’re building from zero.
But it only works if you can improve what you’ve bought. Which is why the first acquisition isn’t about adding revenue. It’s about building the muscle to absorb a business. Stabilise it. Reduce owner dependency. Improve the margins. Create the infrastructure that makes the next deal faster.
Before you can roll anything up, you need to learn how to do it once.
What I’m looking for
Here’s what I’m actually targeting — unfiltered:
Sector: Soft FM. Commercial cleaning, grounds maintenance, waste collection. The sector works because it’s fragmented, has contracted revenue and an active exit market. Each characteristic matters for how a deal gets financed and what it’s worth on exit.
Revenue: £1M to £5M, with a sweet spot in the £1.5M–3M range. Below £1M, you’re usually buying a job — the owner is the business. Above £5M, the deal complexity outpaces where I’m operating right now.
Geography: South East England. London and the Home Counties are the primary markets.
Recurring commercial revenue. Long-term contracts with predictable revenue. Not project work, not one-offs. Revenue that repeats without being re-won every month.
Low founder dependency. If the business only exists because of the owner’s daily presence, it isn’t a business — it’s a job. A platform acquisition needs enough operational depth to survive a change of ownership.
Transferable relationships. Contracts that sit with the business, not the individual. Any acquirer downstream will discount revenue that walks with the owner.
Operational stability. Not perfection. A business with enough structure for improvement. Simple and repeatable enough to be systemised.
If you’re running a business in this space and wondering what buyers like me are actually looking for — this is it.
How I’m finding it
Not through brokers. Those businesses are overpriced, problematic, or have been on the market long enough that serious buyers have already passed.
The sellers I’m looking for aren’t listed anywhere. They’re owners who’ve been running the same business for twenty years, thinking about what comes next.
These conversations don’t happen through listings. They happen through targeted outreach, direct to owners.
Email campaigns, LinkedIn, and letters — sent to businesses most people have never heard of. The kind with white vans and a logo that hasn’t changed since 2003. Right now, volume is the key. Not because the response rate is the metric, but because the quality of the resulting conversations is.
This process has exposed how founder-dependent most small businesses are. Most of the owners I’ve spoken with are the business. They hold the relationships. They carry the knowledge. They’re often the single point of failure. That’s not a reason to walk away. It’s information. It tells you what has to change after closing.
Understanding why a seller wants to exit is more important than understanding the business itself. A seller who genuinely wants out — whether that’s retirement, health, or simply being done — will structure a fair deal. Finding that person is what the sourcing process is designed to do.
Why the first deal matters
The first acquisition is a credibility event — primarily to myself.
If I can buy one business at the right price, well-structured, retain the staff, and improve EBITDA (net operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) within 12 months — I’ve proved the model. Not to anyone else first. To myself.
After that, everything changes. Sellers who weren’t sure I was serious will have a reference point. The first acquisition is the proof of concept on which the whole strategy rests.
It’s also where the judgment gets tested. Can I sit in the discomfort of a negotiation and walk away from a deal I’ve spent months working on if the structure isn’t right?
Thinking in systems from day one
The first business is the start of a platform, not just an acquisition. That distinction changes every decision after the close.
Three things go in from day one:
People. A management structure that doesn’t need me in every operational decision. Supervisors and managers who can run without daily intervention.
Finance. Monthly management accounts within one week of the month-end. Live cash flow forecasts. A finance function with full visibility across the operation.
Operations. Standardised and replicable processes. Cleaning schedules, staff induction, and client reporting — documented in the first twelve months. Building systems reveals where the bottlenecks are, what can be simplified and improved.
The first acquisition will re-teach me where the work actually sits. It’s almost never where you expected. I know that from experience — not theory.
The bigger picture
I’m not trying to buy growth for its own sake.
The ambition is to build a group of well-run soft FM businesses — professionally managed, financially controlled, and interesting to trade or institutional buyers when the time comes. The route there is through acquisition. The entry point is the first business that proves the model works.
That means buying the right business at the right price with the right structure. Then do the operational work that improves the business.
The goal isn’t growth. It’s building a machine that earns the right to grow.
The first acquisition is where I find out whether I can — and this time, I know exactly what I’m walking into.
That’s all for this week.
Matt Harris
The Growth Lab
The Growth Lab Capital acquires Soft FM businesses (cleaning, waste and grounds maintenance) across the South East. If the thought’s crossed your mind — even quietly — I’m worth a conversation. No broker. No pressure. Book a time here.
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