Adrian Pinto·April 20, 2023

How to 2x Sales in a Service Business You Buy | Adrian Pinto Interview

Adrian Pinto, a former investment banker and private equity professional, bought Georgia Scapes — a commercial landscaping business in the Atlanta area — in July/August 2021 for an undisclosed price. The business had three divisions: commercial maintenance (apartments, HOAs, shopping centers), an enhancement/upsell group, and a Builder division doing high-volume plant and tree installations for national tract home builders. In roughly 18 months, Adrian nearly doubled revenue from just under $3M to just under $6M, primarily through a systematic outbound B2B sales process he developed independently: sourcing apartment community manager contacts via the Atlanta Apartment Association and LinkedIn aggregators, then sending ~1,000 mass emails per month and converting at roughly 1 win per 100 emails. He expanded this playbook to HOAs, shopping centers, and other commercial property types. The biggest challenge was severe owner dependency he failed to fully diligence — the prior owner was indispensable to the construction-oriented Builder division, requiring an unplanned senior hire that compressed margins. He also lost at least one major customer post-close due to the prior owner's personal relationship and took on equipment risk by not having assets professionally inspected. Despite these near-misses, organic growth outpaced expectations enough to absorb the extra costs, and Adrian now sees hiring a dedicated salesperson as the next lever.

Deal facts

revenue: ~$3m at acquisition; ~$6m LTM at time of interview (~18 months later)
notes: Bought July/early August 2021. Business is Georgia Scapes, a commercial landscaping company in the Atlanta area. Margins described as 'low teens' post-acquisition. Revenue approximately doubled in ~18 months.

Why this business

Adrian came from investment banking and private equity where he observed blue-collar business owners who had built enormous companies over 30 years and sold for nine-figure exits without any particular genius — just growth orientation and staying in the game. He wanted to pursue that path himself via ETA and chose commercial landscaping in Atlanta, attracted by the fragmented, acquisition-rich industry and recurring commercial maintenance revenue.

What's working

Aggressive outbound B2B sales: Adrian built a mass email outreach system targeting apartment community managers (sourced via Atlanta Apartment Association membership directory and LinkedIn data aggregators), sending ~1,000 emails per month, achieving roughly 1 new customer win per 100 emails sent.
Expanding outreach beyond apartments to HOAs, shopping centers, banks, doctor's offices, and other commercial property managers, recycling contact lists as positions turn over frequently.
Leveraging the prior owner's established commercial client roster as a credibility reference when pitching new prospects — being able to name reputable customers opened doors.
Builder division providing quasi-recurring revenue: signing contracts for the life of a new-home neighborhood gives revenue visibility similar to maintenance, without the full labor-intensity of traditional maintenance.
Owner involvement in early sales creates trust — prospects appreciate dealing directly with the owner, helping close deals versus larger competitors like Brightview.
Growth with existing customers as they refer new properties or expand their own portfolios.
Operational insight gained by stepping in as divisional manager during a key manager's illness led to process improvements that the manager himself endorsed on return.

What's hard

Owner dependency severely underestimated during diligence: within the first two days post-close, Adrian realized the prior owner was deeply involved in a construction-oriented division and could not be easily replaced — requiring an unplanned senior hire that compressed margins.
Customer concentration risk: did not speak to key customers pre-close (asset sale), lost at least one major customer post-close because that customer had a personal relationship with the prior owner.
Asset quality risk: took the seller's word that equipment was in working condition; post-close conversations with employees revealed several pieces of equipment had barely been functioning for years, leading to unplanned repair costs.
Maintenance division has thin margins, high capital intensity (all in-house crews, no subcontracting), and limited operating leverage — each new crew requires another full set of truck, trailer, and mower investments and caps out around $250k annual revenue.
Labor scheduling complexity in maintenance: crew absences ripple into customer commitments in ways that project work does not.
Acquisition pipeline frustrating: target businesses approached so far have had revenue mixes misaligned with Georgia Scapes' goals, and seller valuation expectations have been described as 'somewhat unrealistic' for their business size.
Organic growth itself consumes capital (equipment, people), making it difficult to simultaneously stockpile cash for inorganic acquisitions.

Notable quotes

I probably you know under appreciated and frankly under diligence just how involved he was and what might be needed you know rehiring you know wanting to replace him.

Monday and Tuesday of that week were like the most stressed I'd ever been because it was apparent from literally hour like two that the prior owner did everything for a part of the business.

I think when you're in an investment role you look at things very theoretically and you know you learn to calculate things the way that you know essentially the books tell you to calculate them and then I think when you're in this seat you learn like how it actually works in practice and how different that is.

For every 100 emails I would send I would get about four or five responses asking for you know quotes to be given and then our close rate would be maybe 20 or 25 so if I send 100 emails I would get you know we'd get one new win out of that.