Heather Shattuck Heidorn·May 22, 2023

Buying and Growing a Custom Closet Business | Heather Shattuck Heidorn Interview

Heather Shattuck Heidorn left a tenure-track professor position at the University of Southern Maine — after earning a master's and PhD in human evolutionary biology from Harvard — to buy a custom closet franchise in Southern Maine in November 2022. Underpaid at $60k/year despite elite credentials, and pushed over the edge when a family medical emergency exposed how financially precarious their dual-$60k household was, she spent months researching small business acquisition before a broker connected her with a Tailored Living/Premier Garage franchise under Home Franchise Concepts. The business was doing $1.1-1.2m in revenue with ~30-33% SDE margins; she financed it with an SBA loan (~80%), seller financing (~10%), and a personal equity injection (~10%) including a third mortgage on her home. Her husband left the railroad to join full-time. Despite an 18-day Google lead drought immediately after closing — caused by the algorithm resetting after a brand split — the business rebounded strongly and is on track to exceed $1.5m in year one. Heather's growth thesis centers on two levers: developing relationships with local builders and interior designers to shift from 75% paid-search leads to 75% referral/partnership leads, and expanding the garage cabinetry and floor coating side of the business. She is candid about her weaknesses as a manager — very direct communication style, low emotional intelligence — and about the marital strain of working with her husband, but is unambiguous that leaving Academia was the best decision of her life.

Deal facts

sde ebitda: SDE approximately 30-33% of ~$1.1-1.2m revenue (~$330-396k)
revenue: ~$1.1-1.2m at acquisition; on track for $1.5m in year one
financing structure: SBA loan (~80%) + seller financing (~10%) + equity (~10%); third mortgage on personal home
notes: Targeted SDE of $250-400k; loan cap ~$750-800k. Bought a franchise (Tailored Living featuring Premier Closets/Premier Garage of Southern Maine, under Home Franchise Concepts/HFC). Brand split occurred Nov 2, 2022, days before closing Nov 8, 2022, creating two sister companies. Business had ~$40k in checking at close with ~$6k/week payroll.

Why this business

Heather wanted out of Academia — underpaid at $60k/year despite a Harvard PhD and tenure-track position — and sought control over her time and a clear pathway to grow income. She gravitated toward home services and trades because of her blue-collar background (father was a house painter, stepfather a welder, grew up painting houses). She initially dismissed franchises but a broker showed her this custom closet franchise as a strong fit: simple business model, strong Google reviews, established local brand, good margins, and an obvious growth opportunity she could execute on day one.

What's working

Simple, high-margin business model: customer consultation, CAD design, order fulfillment, and one-day white-glove installation averaging ~$5,500-6,500 per job
Franchise support from Home Franchise Concepts (HFC): technology platform with automatic pricing updates, connections to mills and hardware vendors, full-time operations managers, national ad fund generating leads at low cost
Network purchasing power: as part of a 200-franchise network, better pricing from mills than a $1.2m/year independent would receive
Strong competitive positioning: only one other custom closet provider in all of Southern Maine (a one-man shop near retirement), with California Closets requiring installers to drive from Massachusetts and facing Maine's cultural preference for local businesses
Southern Maine market growth: influx of wealthier buyers, more luxury homes with walk-in closets, second homes — creating rising demand
75% of leads from internet (SEM/paid social) with national ad fund contribution; interior designer relationships from prior owner generating roughly one install every other week
Revenue growing beyond expectations: on track for $1.5m in year one (closets alone), above the $1.3m initially projected
Husband joined full-time from day one, replacing what the seller and his wife had done, providing operational support and making it a true family business

What's hard

18-day lead drought immediately after closing due to Google algorithm resetting after the brand split — a severe early scare with little cash buffer (~$40k on hand against $6k/week payroll)
Very thin cash cushion at closing; had to be conservative on owner salary (set at $70k for herself and husband) to build business bank account
Garage floor add-on proved more complex than anticipated: much lower profit margins than cabinetry, creating a dilemma over where to deploy installer capacity
Managing blue-collar employees as a first-time small business owner is a weak spot — Heather is very direct and impatient with mistakes, and acknowledges low emotional intelligence (EQ) as something she is actively working to improve
Family dynamics strained by working with husband (who reports to her) and other family members (mother, former brother-in-law); describes their previously smooth 50/50 marriage as now strained by the boss/employee dynamic
Design learning curve: the CAD software allows physically impossible configurations, requiring significant training time for new designers; Heather and her husband are currently the only two designers, limiting capacity and growth
Showroom is underutilized (used ~3 times/month) but franchise data suggests a fully staffed showroom could increase average ticket by ~65%; investment needed to realize this

Notable quotes

I cannot believe I've been working this hard for this long and I've like gotten the gold ring you know I've made it and I can't pay my bills.

I wanted more money and I wanted control over my time like I did not want — I loved that in Academia — nobody could like make me go to a meeting in the middle of the day.

If you buy a Maine closet business you will have very bad karma from this — we have no competition. We have the only option for Builders.

I am so happy that I made this choice. I cannot express how happy I am. It's very — as much as stressful as business can be — I have a lot less stress and I just love my day-to-day.