Is Your Industry the Next Roll-Up Opportunity?
The garage door business isn’t the first place you’d expect to find a booming industry roll-up. Yet, in just a few years, Guild has transformed a fragmented market into a scalable powerhouse worth millions. If you own a business in a fragmented industry, this raises two critical questions:
Is my industry next for consolidation? If so, should I sell or lead the roll-up myself?
The Roll-Up Model: Big Returns in Small Markets
The roll-up strategy—acquiring and integrating small businesses to create economies of scale—isn’t new. But its reach has expanded. Private equity firms are turning everything from veterinary clinics to plumbing companies into billion-dollar platforms.
Think of roll-ups like waves:
Catch one early and ride it to a lucrative exit. Private equity firms pay a premium to consolidate markets, often driving up valuations.
Wait too long and you’ll be competing against a PE-backed giant with deeper pockets and better pricing.
Is Your Industry Ripe for a Roll-Up?
When Guild co-founders Jordan Dubin, Joe Delaney, and Sean Slavzic entered the garage door industry, they didn’t just stumble upon it. They strategically chose a market with these key traits:
- High Fragmentation:92 percent of operators were small, independent businesses—ideal for consolidation.
- Large Market Size:The residential garage door industry was a $14 billion market with room to scale.
- Growth Potential:It was growing at 7 to 8 percent annually, outpacing mature sectors like HVAC.
- Precedent Transactions:The sale of A1 Garage Doors to CoreTech at 21 times EBITDA signaled strong investor demand.
- Scalability:Standardized, repeatable services (repairs and installations) made integration easy.
- Timing:HVAC and plumbing were already saturated with roll-ups—garage doors offered a fresh opportunity.
If your industry shares these characteristics, you could be sitting on a goldmine.
Sell or Lead the Roll-Up?
If your industry is poised for consolidation, you have two paths:
Sell to a Roll-Up – A great option if you want liquidity and an exit strategy. To maximize valuation:
- Grow EBITDA – Profits drive purchase price.
- Build systems – Reduce dependence on you, making the business more attractive.
- Clean up financials – Clear, organized books boost buyer confidence.
As Dubin puts it: “Private equity doesn’t buy jobs. They buy assets.”
Lead the Roll-Up – If you’re not ready to sell, become the acquirer. Buy competitors, scale your company, and control the market. Guild raised 35 million dollars to execute this strategy.
“There’s too much money in the world and not enough good opportunities,” says Dubin.
The Wave Won’t Wait
Markets don’t stay fragmented forever. Once private equity moves in, valuations rise, competition increases, and opportunities shrink.
The biggest winners are those who act early.
Are you watching your industry from the shore, or are you ready to catch the wave? Click Here to schedule an introductory call with me or feel free to email me dave.godwin@cbiteam.com
I help entrepreneurs buy and sell remarkable businesses as well as help them plan their exits. I will help you discover how to find out if it’s the right time to exit and help you ask a higher selling price for your business. All information is managed in the strictest of confidentiality.
