Buying Then Losing a $2.1m HVAC Business
Apr 30, 2026•1 hr 53 min
Episode description
Dan Burnside thought he got a great deal on an $800k SDE business. Instead he'd bought bad faith and years of struggle.
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Topics in Dan’s interview:
- Buying in a small, rural area
- Discovering seller fraud after acquisition
- Key employee leaves and starts competing business
- Working to integrate himself into the community
- HVAC techs resisted technology changes
- Wife and kids unhappy in the new place
- Getting his Master Mechanical Contractor license
- Customers not paying their invoices
- Hiring challenges in rural areas
- Bankruptcy and his new AI venture
References and how to contact Dan:
- Jan Roll on Acquiring Minds: 21 Months to Stability Buying a $1.2m SDE Business
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Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron
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