1/ I was thinking about how lucky we are to be living in a time when so many people are about to retire

Especially those of us interested in buying, investing, & running local SMB

We're about to face the "Boomer Baton" as @djscrogg calls it.

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2/ So many older business owners will be looking to leave their businesses. And many of them don't have kids or anyone to pass their business down to

I talked to a guy who owns a chimney company in Iowa just last week

He said that he wants to GIVE his company to his SIL

3/ Because he doesn't want to just close the doors on something that he built. He's not sure his SIL is even interested.

Might not have a choice but to close

He's not alone either

I'd say the next 15-20 years will be an interesting time as SMB founders are getting old.

4/ I don't know for certain, & this is speculation, but I predict a shift in the chimney industry soon from retirements & closed doors

A lot of people in the USA switched from oil burning heat to fireplaces in the 70s due to the oil embargo

More fireplaces = More house fires

5/ And more house fires led to a big demand for chimney technicians

Then Mother Earth News wrote an article about making money while chimney sweeping in 1978 that created a large surge of chimney companies being created across the country https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/chimney-sweep-business-zmaz78jfzgoe

6/ As a result, there are a TON of chimney companies created in the late 70s & 80s

Now those guys are getting old and want to retire

The chimney industry is often overlooked but I think it has great potential for search funds & SMB investors

7/ Especially after listening to Think Like an Owner with @aebridgeman and @laughridge yesterday.

Here are my 10 observations since starting:

1 ) There's not a lot of competition but plenty of customers

2) Customer loyalty is usually strong like other home services businesses

8/ 3) Some of these businesses have kept the same customers they earned back in the 80s when they started

4) Older guys aren't working in the field as much so it'd be easier to add a manager

5) Profits are great. Typical mark up is at least >3-4X cost of materials & labor.

9/ 6) It's easier to compete online with these older businesses who don't do much online (millennials are buying more houses now, so this is more important now than ever)

7) There's a recurring need for our services - annual inspections & sweeps are recommended by the NFPA

10/ 8) It's also not as seasonal as many think. Volume increases in winter but repairs happen in Summer so the revenue stays about the same.

Example from Patriot Chimney (Rev/AOV/# of Clients):
July - $41K/$613/67
Oct - $45K/$304/149

11/ 9) Also to reference Think Like an Owner again, I think it'd be relatively easy to leverage the same bookkeeping, customer service, marketing team, etc. if you have another SMB in a similar space

Particularly HVAC, plumbing, and/or roofing

12/ 10) Like many other service businesses started in the 80s, you'll see businesses still running the same way they did when they started

You can really boost efficiency around this

Implement tech & get a guy like @joshuamschultz to help automate and you'll be doing great

13/ The chimney industry is great.

The more I'm in it & the more I interact w/ SMB Twitter, the more I think about buying some of these chimney companies

With the NCSG survey I'm putting together we'll have more insights but I predict this is what we'll see