Brittney Orellano·September 19, 2024

One Year Into a Garage Door Business with $350k SDE | Brittney Orellano Interview

Brittney Orellano and her husband are Kansas City-based entrepreneurs who spent 10 years bootstrapping a property management business to $1m revenue and $350k SDE before discovering ETA through a Cody Sanchez podcast appearance in late 2022. Moving quickly — from discovery to close in about five months — they acquired a 60-year-old garage door and gate installation/service company for just under $1m, structured with 5% down, a 50% SBA loan, and 40% seller financing, with a 5% standby seller carry. The business generates just under $2m in revenue with SDE around $300k, specializing in high-end custom doors and gates for luxury home builders in the Kansas City metro. Their first year was defined by unexpected capex (the engineer-seller had been doing all maintenance himself), a steep seasonal drop-off they were unprepared for, and capital constraints that continue to limit their ability to invest in sales training, marketing, and a recurring-revenue maintenance program. The team was initially resistant after a second ownership change, but the husband's relationship skills won them over. Despite a genuinely hard year — compounded by the loss of both in-laws and serious family health challenges — Brittney remains committed to the business and to the ETA path, with a longer-term vision inspired by Tommy Mellow's Aria garage door empire.

Deal facts

purchase price: just under $1m
sde ebitda: SDE ~$300k at acquisition; title references $350k
revenue: just under $2m
financing structure: 5% equity down, 5% seller carry (standby note), 50% SBA loan, 40% seller financing
notes: Buyer also injected an additional ~$30k of personal/property-management cash post-close to cover capex and operating shortfalls. Interest rates rose during the purchase process, compressing projections. Business is 60 years old; Brittney and her husband also retained ownership of a separate property management business doing $1m revenue / $350k SDE.

Why this business

The business felt approachable compared to HVAC or plumbing — the mechanics of garage doors and gates were easier to conceptualize, it had low inventory, a 60-year local reputation, a trustworthy seller whose strengths were their exact opposite weaknesses, and a loyal team. Brittney also saw immediate upside in adding a subscription/maintenance model that the previous owner had never pursued.

What's working

Strong referral base driven by stickers on garage doors inside customers' homes; organic repeat customers without any marketing at acquisition
60-year community reputation and relationships with high-end luxury home builders providing differentiated, high-margin custom install work
Team retention and rapport-building: husband's interpersonal skills won over skeptical employees; responding quickly to small team requests (new gear, etc.) built trust
Google Local Service Ads and $49 tune-up promotions generated call volume during slow season and maintained tech utilization
Busy season (spring/summer) rebounded strongly, providing breathing room and clarity on the path forward
Prior 10 years building a property management business from scratch provided perseverance, people-management experience, and self-assurance

What's hard

Significant post-close capex surprises: trucks, tools, gear, and software all needed immediate investment; previous owner (an engineer) had been doing maintenance himself, masking true costs
No software in place at acquisition; had to build operations infrastructure from scratch
Interest rates rose during the purchase process, compressing debt service projections
Shoulder/slow season (roughly Thanksgiving through April) caused a sharp revenue drop they were not prepared for; had hired ahead of growth and had to let staff go
Techs do not sell — $49 promotional tune-ups did not convert to upsells, making the promotions unprofitable
Capital constraints are the primary ongoing bottleneck: insufficient reserves to invest in sales training, marketing, admin hires, or a recurring-revenue rollout
Team initially felt blindsided and hurt by the ownership change; two employees had been through a prior ownership transition
Office space not ready at close; first day was in a rental house in a rough area
Heavy personal adversity during the first year: husband lost both parents, family addiction issues, and a child's mental health struggles — all concurrent with the acquisition

Notable quotes

I came home from that nearly kicked the door down and was like I got it like I know what our thing's going to be. I know what we should do we've got to buy a business.

I underestimated the difference of growing a business with a team where we're attracting people who are like-minded who are we're vision casting what's important to us and they're on board for that — to employees that someone else had recruited for maybe their vision or how they like to do things.

The capital restraints are our biggest issue. We just don't have the liquid reserves to take immediate action on the things that I feel need to be done to kind of turn it around.

Whatever you think you should have, double that. That's what I wish I would have told myself before.