Phil Kohler bought Roman Enterprises, a $4M NJ auto paint distributor, for $2.5M

The Setup Phil Kohler spent eight years as employee number two at a specialty steel importer and master distributor in North Jersey, a roughly 20-person shop where he ran inventory, purchasing, and sales. He learned small-business supply chain from the inside. After his boss sold the company, Phil tried the other extreme: Mondelez, one of the largest snack companies in the world. He hated being siloed. Rich Dad Poor Dad pushed him toward cash-flowing assets. He bought long-term rentals, then short-term rentals, then at a dinner in 2022 heard a friend describe a generator business throwing off $700K in cash flow. Time stopped at the table. His first run at search paused when his wife, eight months pregnant with their second, asked him to wait. He picked it back up in fall 2023. Criteria: within 45 minutes of home, ~$400K SDE, 20% margins, 3x multiple, and business-buyer fit. He looked at printing, pediatric behavioral therapy, laundromats. Fifty businesses evaluated, five LOIs. The Deal Memorial Day 2024, Phil found Roman Enterprises. Asking price $3M: $2.5M for the business, $500K for inventory. Listed SDE $800K on $4M revenue, 20% margins. He closed at $2.5M all-in in March 2025, roughly 3x SDE. Capital stack: ~60% SBA 7(a), a 28% seller note (~$690K), and 10% equity from Phil. He pushed for forgivability tied to revenue targets. The seller refused, reasonably: he couldn't control how Phil would run it. DSCR target was 2x, well above the SBA's 1.25x floor and the 1.3-1.4x many self-funded deals run at. Phil wanted room to breathe. Roman is a warehouse, not a delivery operation. It imports German automotive paint (MIPA brand, 100-year-old manufacturer) through a national importer, Fleetwood, and wholesales it to seven jobber-distributors who each serve a handful of New Jersey, New York, and Eastern Pennsylvania counties. Those jobbers drive to body shops. One employee, a seven-year warehouse manager who also handles invoicing and clerical work. The prior owner worked ten hours a week from Florida half the year. Operating Moves Before close, Phil met Fleetwood's owner, who hinted he was selling to MIPA itself. Phil insisted on a direct agreement between Roman and MIPA in case the importer relationship collapsed. Six months after close, MIPA bought Fleetwood. The agreement saved him. He flew to Germany during diligence to meet MIPA. That trip gave him the confidence to sign. Post-close, Phil shows up at the warehouse almost every day. The prior owner managed inventory visually: twenty boxes here, a pallet there, that's enough. Phil pulled sales history into the ERP, built an inventory model, and cut stock on slow-movers roughly in half. Working capital freed up lets him either take it home or stock adjacent SKUs to grow the catalog. One New Jersey county wasn't assigned to any jobber. Phil went door-to-door to body shops himself. Seven or eight times out of ten he was talking to the owner behind the counter. He sold several accounts and still personally delivers to them.