Jeff Horn·August 18, 2025

Buying and Building a Xerox Dealer to $30m | Jeff Horn Interview

Jeff Horn, a West Texas entrepreneur with backgrounds in fintech sales and specialty equipment finance, bought Benchmark — a leading Xerox agent/dealer in Lubbock, Texas — in late 2012 for roughly 4-5x EBITDA on a $5-6m revenue, ~$1m EBITDA business using a community bank note and equity from his prior employer. Over five years, he executed a threefold growth strategy: transitioning Benchmark from a commission-based Xerox agent to a full dealer (buying equipment wholesale and retaining all post-sale service revenue), acquiring four adjacent Xerox dealerships across Texas and New Mexico and applying the same transformation to each, and building a captive finance subsidiary that let customers make a single monthly payment for equipment, service, and financing. By exit in late 2017, revenue had grown from $5-6m to $30m with $3-4m in EBITDA and ~45% recurring revenue. Private equity acquired the business at 6-7x EBITDA — implying a high-teens to mid-$20m exit — while Jeff stayed on three years running the southwest region. His most cited lessons: spend the first year building employee relationships before asserting authority as CEO, prioritize seller character above all else in due diligence, and match the business you buy to your actual skill set.

Deal facts

purchase price: approximately $4-5m (4-5x EBITDA on ~$1m EBITDA)
multiple: 4-5x EBITDA at acquisition; exited at 6-7x EBITDA
sde ebitda: ~$1m EBITDA at acquisition; $3-4m EBITDA at exit
revenue: $5-6m at acquisition; $30m at exit
financing structure: Community bank 10-year note; equity from prior employer used as down payment/pledge; 80% paid upfront to seller, 20% earnout over 3-4 years; stock purchase agreement
notes: Seller retained ~10-15% of business via existing minority partners. Finance subsidiary sold separately to national leasing company at exit. Jeff received stock options (not equity roll) to stay on 3 years post-exit running the southwest region.

Why this business

Jeff was looking for a sales-oriented business with technology and finance components that matched his skill set — he had backgrounds in fintech sales and specialty finance/equipment leasing. The Xerox dealer Benchmark checked all three boxes, and more importantly, he saw a clear industry transformation underway (agent-to-dealer migration) that represented a major growth opportunity most incumbent owners didn't want to pursue.

What's working

Agent-to-dealer transformation: switching from commission-based agent model to buying equipment wholesale and retaining all post-sale service revenue dramatically expanded margins and revenue.
Roll-up acquisition strategy: acquired four other Xerox businesses in adjacent Texas and New Mexico geographies, then applied the agent-to-dealer conversion to each, effectively double-dipping on growth levers.
Captive finance company: created a separate financing entity so customers could make one monthly payment covering equipment lease, service, and supplies — a differentiated value proposition that drove sales.
Recurring revenue build: grew post-sale service and supply revenue to ~45% of the $30m revenue base, making the business highly forecastable and attractive to PE.
Relationship-first transition: spent the first year building personal relationships with all employees before formally taking on the CEO title, which built loyalty and cultural cohesion across subsequent acquisitions.
Seller character and alignment: thorough due diligence on seller's character; seller was committed to business continuity, which made the transition and co-developed strategic vision possible.
Fit to skill set: Jeff's background in sales, technology, and equipment finance made him exceptionally well-suited to grow all three dimensions of the business simultaneously.

What's hard

Integration of acquisitions was harder than expected: each dealership had its own comp plans, service call protocols, and culture; assuming they would adopt Benchmark's systems was naive.
Changing comp plans created significant friction: salespeople felt ownership over their territories and resisted changes; learned to merge comp plans gradually over time rather than imposing Benchmark's structure immediately.
Agent-to-dealer transition required heavy investment in back-office staff, service technicians, vehicles, and working capital, compressing margins even as revenues grew.
Territorial competition increased as the industry moved from protected agent territories to a more open dealer model, with two or three dealers sometimes covering the same geography.
Scaling leadership: as the company grew from ~10 to 90 employees, Jeff had to learn to delegate and develop internal leaders rather than being hands-on with all parts of the business.
Walked away from 70-80% of unvested equity at his prior employer to fund the acquisition — a significant personal financial sacrifice made to pursue entrepreneurship.
Financing subsidiary created internal tension: when collections had to be pursued on customers who were also sales and service clients, the dual relationship created awkward situations.

Notable quotes

I think the single greatest decision that I made in buying a business was to not just buy the business and start leading, but I bought the business and I developed relationships so that I could lead.

The very first box you have to check is that character box. And if you're doing a deal with somebody, their character is as important as anything because there's so many steps that you go through in buying a business and closing a transaction and then the transition afterward.

I bought a good business. I can't stress that enough. I didn't let, hey, I want to be in business for myself overshadow the fact that, hey, I need to start with a really good business.

Sometimes your best decisions are what you don't enter.