Joe Soelberg·December 31, 2025

Buying Small to Then Buy Larger $1m SDE | Joe Soelberg Interview

Joe Soelberg is a Chicago-based serial acquirer who bought two businesses through self-funded search. His first acquisition in 2019 was Sunny and Ash, a 3D architectural rendering firm in Chicago, purchased for $1.5m (SBA 7a + seller note + 10% down) with ~$400k SDE and $1.3m revenue. He ran it hands-on through COVID — surviving a near-collapse of hospitality revenue by pivoting to home furnishings rendering — and eventually installed a manager, now earning ~$180-200k SDE for ~5 hours per week. Armed with that track record and income story, he acquired Point B Communications in August 2024, a 50-year-old Chicago branding and full-service marketing agency, for $5.5m against a $7.1m ask, using maximum SBA leverage (5% down, 5% seller note, 90% total leverage). Point B had $9.1m revenue and ~$1m EBITDA at acquisition; it grew to a projected $12m revenue and $1.25m EBITDA by end of 2025, driven by expanding share of wallet in the senior living sector. Two of the three sellers stayed on to run operations — one as president — making the business effectively self-running without Joe's day-to-day involvement. Joe's thesis is that a branding agency serves as the ideal roll-up platform for adjacent marketing services, and his primary challenge has been building a repeatable outbound sales engine in a relationship-driven industry.

Deal facts

purchase price: $5.5m (Point B Communications, brokered at $7.1m asking price)
multiple: ~5.5x SDE (implied; $5.5m purchase on ~$1m SDE)
sde ebitda: SDE/EBITDA ~$1m at acquisition (2024); ~$1.25m projected for 2025
revenue: $9.1m at acquisition (2024); projected ~$12m for 2025
financing structure: SBA 7(a) max loan ($5m) + 5% seller note (counted as equity per SBA rules) + 5% cash equity (~$350k out of pocket); 90% leveraged
notes: Acquired August 2024. Business founded 1974, 50+ years old. 27 employees at acquisition, grown to 33. Two of three sellers retained 2% equity each and stayed on as employees/partners. Majority owner fully cashed out. First acquisition (Sunny and Ash, 3D rendering): bought March 2019 for ~$1.5m (SBA 7a + 20% seller note + 10% down); revenue ~$1.3m, SDE ~$400k at acquisition; now at ~$2m revenue, ~$180-200k SDE, semi-passive at ~5 hrs/week.

Why this business

Joe wanted recurring revenue (vs. project-based work from his first acquisition) and targeted the advertising/marketing creative services space because of his undergrad background in advertising and his belief that every business needs marketing — making it a strong B2B market. He specifically pursued a branding agency because brand is the flywheel from which all other marketing services flow, and because a branding agency makes the ideal platform/flagship for rolling up adjacent marketing services businesses.

What's working

Revenue growing ~25% YoY from $9.1m to projected $12m, driven largely by expansion within senior living sector clients (from 1-2 communities per client to full portfolios of 10-12+ communities)
Retainer-based revenue model providing stability vs. pure project-based billing
Two of the three sellers stayed on as president (Hamish) and production head (Carrie), providing operational continuity and leadership; business can run without owner involvement
First acquisition (Sunny and Ash) now semi-passive (~5 hrs/week, ~$180-200k SDE) after hiring a manager, freeing Joe to focus on Point B
50+ year old business with deep client relationships and organic referral-driven growth; lender-friendly story
Negotiated purchase price from $7.1m ask down to $5.5m using white paper analysis of industry multiples and revenue mix by service type

What's hard

Direct outreach and cold sales have been less effective than expected — the agency business is relationship-driven and clients don't respond to cold email; Joe had to recalibrate his BD strategy toward conferences, podcasts, and warm network channels
Margins are thin (~11% EBITDA at acquisition); headcount grew to 33 to support growth so bottom-line expansion is lagging revenue growth
Project-based revenue still makes up the majority of work even with retainer model — retainers are effectively recurring capacity for mini-projects rather than true subscription revenue
Branding work itself is infrequent for any given client (once or twice in a lifetime); ongoing revenue comes from follow-on creative work, media, and SEO/PPC rather than rebranding
First acquisition (Sunny and Ash) nearly collapsed at COVID onset — hospitality-focused rendering revenue dropped ~50% until Joe pivoted to home furnishings market

Notable quotes

That is the difference between buying small or buying larger. The difference between a 200,000 SDE business and a million-dollar SDE business.

The first acquisition I absolutely 100% bought myself a job. The second acquisition I can insert myself where I'm wanted or where I feel like I can add value. But if I didn't, it's okay.

Without Sunny and Ash, it's never going to happen. And so, yeah, I love it. I think you're absolutely right. I think of it as a success story for sure.

In this business both a strength and a weakness is that it's so relationship driven. You're buying advertising for your brand. And so, you're not going to answer an email or you're not going to be like, 'This dude sent me an email. Super interesting.' You know, I mean, it just is like, 'No, that's not how you're going to find somebody.'