Joe Springsteen Bought Mallard Systems at $1.475M SBA, Grew Revenue 25% in Year One

The Setup Joe Springsteen, 60, spent two decades in corporate law and commercial real estate before landing as head of Cushman & Wakefield's Florida multifamily platform from 2016-2020, overseeing 18,000 units across 70 properties. A 2015 divorce reframed his priorities toward ownership over W2 comfort. His first swing was a biohazard cleanup business he took full ownership of in 2020. It taught him expensive lessons: insurance relationships dictate the customer pipeline, national competitors (ServiceMaster and specialized biohazard firms) make paid-acquisition economics brutal, and the owner ends up in the hazmat suit. He ran it lean, hit roughly 1.5x on his capital over three years, and exited. The Deal After the biohazard exit, Joe spent about a year in what he calls his 'Cody Sanchez phase', scraping Orlando service businesses through BizScout, running cold calls and 5,000-piece yellow letter campaigns. Roughly 150 real conversations, zero deals. The turn came in November 2023 when he heard Sam Rosati's 'Big 3 Little 2' framework (geography, size, industry) on Acquiring Minds. He went to SMBootcamp in Tampa, met broker Jackie Hirsch, and spent an hour in conversation with her. She promised a deal within months. Mallard Systems came through that relationship. Joe took the LOI call from a casino parking lot in Gallup, New Mexico, on Starlink, mid-road-trip with his wife. Five bidders were at $1.5M. Joe came in at $1.475M and won. The seller, Bob, had mentored under a name Joe recognized from his multifamily days. They shared a list of contacts and aligned on aging parents and life stage. Joe's line: 'The chemistry was 100% why I won the deal.' Structure: - Purchase price: $1.475M - SBA 7(a): 90% - Equity in: $162K (including deal costs) - Total project cost: $1.62M - Multiples: 4.7x EBITDA / 3.5x SDE on historical; 3.2x / 2.7x on TTM - SDE ~$550-600K including $100K owner salary The Business Mallard is 35 years old, 23-26 employees, and invented the soft-wash roof cleaning process in the early 1990s (now industry standard). Mix at close: 70% commercial (multifamily and hospitality), 30% premium residential. Specialized equipment includes 66-86 foot lifts and rappelling-certified crews. First 100 Days Day one, Joe opened with: 'I'm just Bob, a few pounds lighter and a couple inches taller.' He did one-on-ones with every employee that week. Day two, the key accounts manager resigned after a hard conversation. On paper a disaster; in practice it forced Joe to rebuild client relationships himself, which he was uniquely equipped to do. He could put on the blazer for asset managers and a hard hat for the building engineer in the same afternoon. Inside three months: - Named Greystar's preferred exterior cleaning vendor across 75,000 Florida units - Expanded a single theme-park resort contract into eight resort properties on three-year agreements Operating Moves - Bought a tracked 60-foot lift that fits through standard doorways to access apartment courtyards competitors cannot reach. The company was already burning ~$15K/month in lift rentals; the CAPEX paid back fast and widened the moat....