Marci LaRouech·July 14, 2025

Saying No to CEO Roles, Yes to Ownership | Marci LaRouech Interview

Marci LaRouech is a 20-year HR industry veteran who bought a 40+-year-old fractional HR consulting firm in Central Florida (seayhr.com) after leading Makai HR in Hawaii as CEO through a successful 2023 exit. Armed with low-seven-figure exit proceeds and deep PEO/HR expertise, she self-funded the acquisition at roughly 2.2x SDE (mid-six-figure purchase price, sub-$1M revenue) with 40% seller financing and no SBA loan — closing in about two months from a highly motivated 80-year-old seller. The business's core value to Marci was its established recurring retainer base (~60% of revenue), longstanding association partnerships in pest control, Florida roofing, and linen rental industries, and a delivery team that operated independently of the owner — an unusual attribute in small HR consulting firms. One year in, the business is up 30% year-over-year on organic referrals alone; Marci has replaced contractor delivery staff with a full-time W2 consultant, implemented a CRM and an AI-powered employment law research tool, and is now investing in niche-specific B2B digital marketing. The episode's central theme is deliberate lifestyle design — Marci explicitly rejected PE-backed roll-up offers and CEO-for-hire roles to own a smaller, long-term business that gives her control over her time and exit timing.

Deal facts

purchase price: mid-6 figures (exact not disclosed)
multiple: ~2.2x SDE
revenue: sub-$1M
financing structure: 60% cash at close + 40% seller financing over 5 years, no SBA loan
notes: Deal closed in ~2 months from first Zoom call. Seller (Sandy C, ~80 years old) motivated and cooperative; business is a 40+-year-old HR consulting firm (seayhr.com) in Central Florida. Seller stayed on as consultant for ~1 year post-close, now fully retiring.

Why this business

Marci had deep HR industry experience (PEO sector for 20+ years, CEO of Makai HR in Hawaii which she led to a successful exit in 2023). She wanted a long-term hold with lifestyle alignment — remote-first, smaller team, established recurring revenue, and no obligation to sell on someone else's timeline. The business had association partnerships (Pest Control Association, Florida Roofing Association, linen rental industry) providing a built-in client pipeline, ~60% recurring revenue, and a seller who was not doing the day-to-day delivery himself, making transition low-risk. The deal was exceptionally priced (~2.2x SDE) with favorable seller financing.

What's working

Strong recurring revenue base (~60%) from fractional HR retainer clients, providing financial cushion
Association partnerships (Pest Control, Florida Roofing, linen rental industry) creating a proprietary referral and client pipeline
30% year-over-year revenue growth driven purely by organic networking and client referrals
Seller (Sandy C) was not handling day-to-day client delivery pre-acquisition, making transition unusually smooth for a small consulting firm
Highly favorable deal terms: ~2.2x SDE, 40% seller financing, no SBA, motivated seller who deferred to Marci throughout
Strong talent availability — LinkedIn job posting for HR consultant drew 1,000+ applicants within 24 hours
Tight buyer-operator fit: Marci's HR expertise means she can evaluate quality, hire the right consultants, and understand client issues without being in delivery herself
AI-enabled research tool built for HR consultants (employment law firm's generative AI platform) boosting delivery speed

What's hard

Marci herself is currently the constraint on growth — she acknowledges that if she wanted to push harder on sales she could grow faster, but that is not her lifestyle goal
Revenue pipeline is currently not fully predictable — referrals arrive in bunches and are not systematized yet (working with a B2B marketing firm to build niche-focused digital campaigns)
Project-based revenue (40%) is lumpy and harder to forecast, though Marci values it as a lead-generation channel
Scaling to $10M+ would require a fundamentally different model (AI, offshoring, self-serve) that competes with heavily funded players — not Marci's intention but a ceiling for the model
Seller waited until the week of closing to hire an attorney, creating last-minute negotiation tension
Late-stage attorney requests from seller's counsel had to be refused three days before closing

Notable quotes

I find no joy in that whatsoever and Will, part of this is about like creating a joy and continuing the joy in my life and a lifestyle that I want to do — the recurring revenue that I bought in this business in addition to those partnerships gives me the cushion to do some fun stuff. I can test out some marketing, I can play.

I want to be the 10 to 100. And that's what I did at Makai. That's what I'm doing here.

I offered him a fair price. I wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. He immediately said okay, signed the LOI, and said to his CPA and the team member: give her literally anything she asks for. I don't need to be involved.

When I was sending that wire, there was no emotion around that at all. It was like I am beyond — let's do this. This is the easiest money I've ever spent.