Alan Turkus·June 11, 2026

How to Buy a $20m Business as a First-Timer | Alan Turkus Interview

Alan Turkus, 57, is a late-career first-time buyer with a background spanning book publishing (Random House), product management at early internet companies, Amazon Publishing (where he helped grow a $100M international business), and serving as co-CEO of a large Minneapolis food co-op. After a multi-year gap from the workforce as a full-time parent through COVID, he launched a self-funded brokered search in Minneapolis-Saint Paul focused on businesses with $1M+ SDE. He acquired Interim Health Care, a Medicare-certified home health and hospice franchise with roughly $20M in revenue and ~$2M EBITDA, for $8M at approximately 4x EBITDA, financed through a $4M SBA loan, $3M in performance-contingent seller notes (split into two 12-month tranches), and ~$1.9M in equity from three dedicated self-funded search investors. The deal nearly collapsed multiple times — a QofE shortfall, a Q4 business dip, franchisor royalty demands, and a last-minute SBA e-tran rule flagging investor fund LPs for prior SBA delinquencies — but ultimately closed in March 2026. Two months in, Alan describes a smooth transition anchored by a retained CEO, COO, and management team, extra balance sheet cash, and deep personal alignment with the business's mission of caring for elderly and dying patients.

Deal facts

purchase price: $8 million
multiple: ~4x EBITDA (most recent year)
sde ebitda: ~$2 million adjusted EBITDA (2024)
revenue: ~$20 million
financing structure: $4M SBA loan + $3M seller notes (two notes of ~$1.5M each, performance-contingent) + ~$1.9M equity ($400k guest, $1.5M from three investors)
notes: Two seller notes contingent on hitting gross profit thresholds — first note tied to months 1-12 performance, second to months 13-24; notes forgiven if business underperforms. Investors (Grant Hensel / Entrepreneurial Capital, Jacob Paul / Condo Capital, Adam Markley / Prox Capital Group) hold roughly 50% equity; guest holds slightly more than 50% (control). Lender: Huntington Bank. ROBS was explored but incompatible with preferred equity structure. Franchise assignment (existing agreement) negotiated instead of signing a new higher-royalty agreement. Near-collapse at close due to SBA e-tran system flagging minority investors in investor funds for prior SBA deal delinquencies.

Why this business

Alan wanted a large, mission-driven business in Minneapolis-Saint Paul where he was rooted. After looking broadly at businesses over $1M SDE in his local geography, he was drawn to Interim Health Care because it hit his two biggest boxes — size and local geography — and carried a clear mission of serving people at the most vulnerable moments of their lives. He had previously gravitated toward book publishing and a food co-op for similar mission reasons, and felt that caring for elderly and dying patients (and the caregivers who serve them) was the ideal final chapter of his career.

What's working

Strong management team already in place (CEO, COO, clinical managers, controller) enabled a smooth transition — Alan could focus on learning the business rather than fighting fires
Extra cash on the balance sheet (investors pushed to raise more than the minimum equity) eliminated early working capital stress
Existing franchise infrastructure (Interim Health Care 60-year franchise system) provides community of peer owners, franchisor support, and learning resources
Business had a clear COVID-recovery narrative: historically strong earnings dipped during facility lockdowns, then rebounded to ~$2M EBITDA in 2024, offering a buy-at-a-good-price opportunity
Alan's deep people-management experience from Amazon Publishing and co-op leadership aligned well with the labor-intensive, team-driven nature of home health and hospice
Value-added investors (Entrepreneurial Capital, Condo Capital, Prox Capital) provided ongoing counsel, helped him hold the line on price, and were a resource through a difficult deal process

What's hard

QofE revealed adjusted EBITDA somewhat lower than sellers represented, requiring price and structure renegotiation
Q4 business softened (partly due to a major Minnesota insurer going bankrupt), compounding price tension
Franchisor initially demanded a new franchise agreement with higher royalties; resolving this required a specialist franchise attorney and protracted negotiation
SBA e-tran system began flagging minority investors in investor funds for prior SBA loan delinquencies — a new and undisclosed rule that nearly killed the deal hours before close
ROBS was incompatible with preferred equity structure, forcing Alan to liquidate other assets and incur unexpected taxes
Local brokered search in Minneapolis-Saint Paul produced a thin deal flow given the size threshold ($1M+ SDE) and geographic constraint
First LOI (on a value-added reseller / MSP hybrid) fell apart due to owner dependency, customer concentration risk, difficulty of VAR-to-MSP transformation, and loss of seller trust over trailing revenue disagreement

Notable quotes

I really believe in this business. I really believe in myself. And I think I wasn't going to worry about like getting an extra that extra 10% as much as I just feel like if I do well, the business does well, everyone's going to do fine.

I feel like if we can maximize our positive impact on people, you know, the business results will follow.

I'm 57. I'm later in my career. I'm really only getting one swing at this, I think. I think that would have just been a slog for me.

Literally up until just a couple of hours before it closed, I thought there was a risk that the deal might fall apart. And it was really stressful. I mean, I, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in deal fees into this deal and the idea that it could have fallen apart at the last minute because of this issue — dismaying and disturbing, honestly.