Corey Robinson·September 23, 2024

The Appeal of Franchise Buying $1m EBITDA in 2 Years | Corey Robinson Interview

Corey Robinson is a former corporate executive from eastern Iowa (executive at a food distribution company) who built a 140-door real estate portfolio before pivoting to SMB acquisitions. He bought four Batteries Plus franchise locations in November 2022 for roughly $490k SDE, quickly added two more distressed stores (one for $100k cash, one for $300k with a 90% seller note at 6%/15 years), then rolled up four more in North Dallas and two in Des Moines — reaching 12 locations doing ~$10m revenue and ~$1.15-1.2m EBITDA in under two years, winning the system's MVP franchisee award. His corporate leadership skills — KPI frameworks, team alignment, Slack-based knowledge sharing — translated powerfully into the franchise context. In September 2023 he also acquired a $4m HVAC/plumbing business, which nearly unraveled when he moved too fast on system changes (ServiceTitan rollout, rebranding, flat-rate pricing), lost key tradespeople to aggressive local competitors, and faced a warm 2024 winter slowdown — only stabilizing after hiring a GM and tightening billing/inventory controls. The episode is a detailed contrast of franchise versus independent business acquisition, a case study in programmatic franchise roll-up, and an honest accounting of the personal costs of scaling too fast across multiple industries simultaneously.

Deal facts

purchase price: Initial 4-store Batteries Plus portfolio: not explicitly stated; store #5 paid $100k cash; store #6 paid ~$300k (3x SDE)
multiple: Store #6: ~3x SDE; HVAC/plumbing: not stated; roll-up arbitrage strategy targets 2-4x buy vs. 10-20x exit
sde ebitda: Initial 4 Batteries Plus stores: ~$490k SDE; 12-store portfolio aggregate EBITDA ~$1.15-1.2m (12% of ~$10m revenue); HVAC/plumbing acquisition: ~$700k SDE on $4m purchase
revenue: 12 Batteries Plus stores: ~$10m revenue; HVAC/plumbing business: not stated at acquisition (later referenced at ~$6.5m in portfolio); two additional HVAC shops being acquired: ~$2.4m revenue
financing structure: Initial 4-store purchase: SBA loan (implied); store #6: ~10% down (~$30k) + 90% seller note at 6% interest, 15-year term; HVAC/plumbing $4m acquisition: details not stated; two new HVAC shops: in-house bank financing (avoiding SBA)
notes: Corey started with ~$200k equity available. First 4 Batteries Plus stores at ~$490k SDE across 4 locations (~$120-125k per store). Bought stores 5-6 quickly via direct outreach to other franchisees in the system. Acquired 4 North Dallas stores in November 2023, then 2 Des Moines stores in December 2023. Total holding company revenue approaching ~$22m+ across all assets by interview date. HVAC/plumbing business purchased September 2023 for $4m; experienced severe J-curve in early 2024. Also took minority stake (~20%) in a landscaping/lawn care business acquisition as investor-consultant.

Why this business

Corey wanted a business that was simple to understand, resilient to macroeconomic trends, close to home, and multi-unit capable. Franchising specifically appealed because it offered a framework and playbook, reducing risk for a first-time buyer still in his W2. He was drawn to Batteries Plus because the franchisor actively seeks strategic multi-unit operators rather than owner-operators, and the brand had a dedicated corporate team (not shared-services across multiple brands). The HVAC/plumbing acquisition was motivated by synergies with his real estate portfolio and the industry's strong margins.

What's working

Batteries Plus franchise system provided ready-made playbooks, KPIs, and corporate support, allowing rapid integration of acquired stores
Corey's 20 years of corporate leadership — vision-setting, KPI frameworks, team alignment, culture-building via Slack and shared systems — translated directly into becoming franchisee of the year (MVP 2023) in the system
Programmatic franchise acquisition strategy: Corey leveraged the internal franchisee database and corporate relationships to source off-market deals from retiring owners, often with favorable seller financing (e.g., 6% / 15-year seller note)
Multi-unit clustering strategy: built out Iowa market fully, then added North Dallas cluster, managing remote teams with a senior leader over each geography
B2B commercial accounts at Batteries Plus (hospitals, municipalities, manufacturers) provide reliable volume and pricing advantage over national supply houses
Regulatory moat around large/lithium battery shipping protects Batteries Plus retail from Amazon disruption
HVAC/plumbing business stabilized after J-curve: implemented ServiceTitan, tightened inventory and billing controls (discovered technicians were under-billing labor and not logging parts), hired operator/GM, now generating cash flow

What's hard

Cash flow seasonality was a surprise: spent money freely early on, then Batteries Plus revenue dropped 30-40% in Feb-March, creating a cash crunch that required W2 income to survive
HVAC/plumbing acquisition was a near-disaster: key staff left when the new owner imposed rapid changes (uniforms, rebranding, ServiceTitan rollout, flat-rate pricing); warm 2024 winter and industry-wide slowdown compounded problems; revenue cut roughly in half
Did not hire an operator/GM before closing the HVAC business — tried to manage it himself with split attention across Batteries Plus, real estate, and family obligations
Switched from paper-based systems to ServiceTitan too quickly without adequate on-site management; discovered technicians were billing fewer hours than worked and parts were leaving the warehouse unbilled, making material costs exceed material revenue
AR/collections were neglected during the system transition chaos
Independent business (HVAC) lacked any formal policies (no attendance policy, no dress code, no commission documentation), and local competitors aggressively poached staff, spread negative word-of-mouth, and called OSHA on the business
Buying too many businesses too fast across different industries strained personal life, health, and family; Corey was stretched dangerously thin
Sales tax compliance issue emerged six months into Batteries Plus ownership when mail was going to multiple locations and filings were being missed

Notable quotes

I knew my job coming into this was create a vision and then what's going to lead to that vision. I spent a lot of time deep diving what does that really mean. My vision is to be one of the best, top two or three franchisees in the system. Some of that I knew and some of that I studied from the other very successful franchisees in the business.

I should have before we even closed the door, I should have hired an operator because that was always my strategy, rather than thinking like oh I can just add another thing I can deal with and manage through. The people are the key component to this, and knowing what I wanted and who I am was the other key component.

Running lean on cash, just buying to buy, is not going to make me successful and get me to where I want to be.

I thought arrogantly coming into this business like, oh it's just a bunch of old tradesmen that own these businesses and they're not that savvy or that wise. They may not do ServiceTitan and be on all these crazy platforms, but they were paying attention and they were willing to pounce on any opening that I gave them.