Special Ops Veteran Buys a Tampa Trailer Shop With No Cash Down

The Setup John Hubbard spent 13 years in the military, 7 of them in Special Operations, did a short turn as a police officer, then enrolled in an MBA while running a self-funded search. He was skeptical of manufacturing until he ran what he calls a micro-search: 30 days working inside an exterior remodeling company. That stint showed him his military skills (running people, payroll, schedules, accountability) mapped cleanly onto small shop operations. He reframed the target universe. Anything under $1M of EBITDA calling itself manufacturing is almost always fabrication, meaning welders, a floor, a handful of managers, and custom orders. That was a game he could play. The Deal Hubbard closed Express Trailers in Tampa Bay in February 2021. The deal was self-funded with investor participation and structured so he put no cash down. Self-funding let him stay geographically narrow (a 10-mile radius search) and keep full operating control, which mattered more to him than chasing bigger EBITDA in a search fund mandate. Previous ownership had been fully absentee, which meant the managers already ran the place, and customer quality had drifted. First 100 Days - Kept the existing management team in place. No housecleaning, no imported lieutenants. - Asked the managers, in his words, what do you guys need, tell me your plans. Then resourced them instead of overriding them. - Audited the customer book and cut roughly 50% of clients who were unprofitable or low-margin (largely dealership accounts). - Rebranded from Express Trailers to Express Custom Trailers to signal the positioning shift. - Steered sales toward commercial accounts that paid for customization and carried better margins. Operating Lessons - Under $1M EBITDA, manufacturing is a misnomer. You are buying a fabrication shop. The levers are customer mix, throughput, and keeping welders productive, not capital-intensive automation. - Absentee ownership is a feature for a first-time operator if the managers are competent. Hubbard inherited a team that already ran the floor and just needed air cover. - Firing half your customers works when the remaining half has pricing power. Cutting the dealership channel freed capacity for higher-margin commercial custom orders. - Military leadership translates directly. Payroll, hiring, firing, and daily accountability are platoon-level tasks. The vocabulary is different; the job is the same. - Pulling back beats pushing forward in week one. New owners who arrive issuing directives burn trust they will need six months later. - Do a micro-search before committing to a thesis. Thirty days on the floor of an adjacent business is cheaper tuition than a bad LOI. Where They Are Now Express Custom Trailers is operating in Tampa Bay under Hubbard with the inherited management team still in place. The business has been repositioned toward commercial custom trailers and away from dealership volume. Hubbard has spoken publicly about the deal as a case study for veterans and self-funded searchers looking at small fabrication shops.