Damon Carson·March 29, 2022

Nailing the Trifecta B2B + Remote + Scalable

Damon Carson, a 29-year-old former tech sales professional from Salt Lake City, acquired Pacific Insulation Supply in November 2021 for $1.12 million — a 7-year-old B2B wholesale insulation distribution business doing $2.2m in 2020 revenue and on pace for ~$600k EBITDA in 2021. The business carries zero inventory, using a network of regional distributors to fulfill orders from a website-driven inbound funnel, with four overseas employees handling sales and fulfillment. Damon's three core acquisition criteria — B2B, remote/flexible hours, and unlimited scalability — were all met, making this an unusually clean fit for his background in tech sales. One significant diligence finding was customer concentration: a single large homebuilder accounted for roughly a third of 2021 revenue and was not expected to repeat. Damon has been applying a predictable-revenue staffing model (separating sales from fulfillment) and plans to expand into adjacent construction material categories like roofing, siding, and drywall by cross-selling through his existing distributor relationships. He is candid about managing bipolar disorder and the emotional intensity of early ownership, noting the challenge of distinguishing genuine enthusiasm from hypomania.

Deal facts

purchase price: $1.12m
multiple: ~3x SDE (2020 EBITDA)
sde ebitda: 2020: $380k EBITDA; 2021 on pace for ~$600k
revenue: 2020: $2.2m; 2021 tracking significantly higher
financing structure: SBA loan (implied); seller financed or SBA — debt service ~$120k/year
notes: Paid $1.1m list price plus ~$20k over ask to win the deal. Business was 7 years old. Priced off 2020 numbers despite 2021 being materially stronger due to customer concentration risk.

Why this business

Damon was looking for a B2B business he could operate flexibly (regular business hours, no storefront), with unlimited scalability not bound by geography. The insulation supply business fell into his lap through a broker who offered it as an alternative when another deal (commercial cleaning) fell through. The asset-light, drop-ship model with zero inventory and an overseas team that could handle operations fit his desire to avoid physically demanding or technically specialized trades he couldn't manage himself.

What's working

Asset-light, zero-inventory drop-ship model: distributors hold and deliver all stock, keeping capex low
All four employees are overseas, enabling flexible remote operations
Supply chain shortage creating tailwinds — larger competitors failing to fill orders, driving new customers to Pacific Insulation Supply
Applying a tech-sales 'predictable revenue' staffing model: separating sales reps from fulfillment specialists to improve customer experience and employee satisfaction
Strong inbound demand from the existing website and SEO — fielding more orders than the team can easily handle within first month
Multiple distributor relationships (4-5) give an edge when any single supplier is out of stock

What's hard

Customer concentration: one customer represented roughly a third of 2021 revenue, and that customer indicated they were largely 'all set' post-acquisition
Bought a job — no full-time manager in place, so Damon is in every operational detail just 38 days in
Could not do both the family business day job and run Pacific Insulation Supply — had to resign from his in-laws' tech business
All the improvement ideas he has are just ideas because actually running the business leaves no capacity for change
Managing bipolar disorder and anxiety while absorbing the emotional swings of early business ownership

Notable quotes

When you buy a business you buy a ringing phone.

I probably wasn't fit to manage people who had been doing plumbing for the last 20 to 30 years.

When you buy a job all the ideas that you have of fixing the business are just ideas because you actually just have to run the business.

I kind of look at it like maybe I bought three businesses — if I can find two more categories to really grow in it's almost like house money at that point.