21-07-2025
Developing A Responsible And Successful Acquisition Model
Brian Helgoe is the CEO and Founder of Monarch Landscape Companies.
Every month, I get calls from business owners asking the same question: 'How do you know which companies are worth buying?'
Acquisition has become an increasingly popular and powerful tool for growth-oriented companies. While the types of industries and business models may be different, it's important to keep in mind several crucial components when bringing companies under your umbrella.
Clarify Strategic Objectives
As the CEO of a commercial landscape alliance, we are rooted in a growing industry. However, we have clear, defined goals regarding who is the right fit for our values, structure and operations. Before pursuing acquisitions, it's important to define your specific business goals: Is the objective to expand geographically, enter new service verticals, create a defensive posture or acquire talent and equipment?
When evaluating potential acquisitions, I suggest you look beyond financials and assess whether the company will thrive within your organization's culture. Ask yourself: Will this team be excited to join us? Will they benefit from our systems, services and support?
A successful acquisition should energize both sides and create momentum for shared growth. Defining these fit criteria early will help you focus on opportunities that truly align with your long-term vision.
Performing Due Diligence
Due diligence is not just about reviewing financials, though that is a critical element. As already hinted, cultural fit is the most important. Meeting the team and seeing how they manage their people, customer sites and work facilities says a lot.
We met a leadership team that did not know how to find their largest customer sites, and when we showed up, none of the gardeners knew their leadership team; we walked away from the deal immediately. Operational audits, client contract reviews, employee evaluations and equipment inspections are equally important. Look closely at client retention rates, average contract lengths, outstanding liabilities and potential risks.
As you grow across the country, the owners and managers of companies that join should be the most knowledgeable about their particular region, so I recommend you try to remain hands-off and rely on their expertise when possible. That means researching owners and managers' history and modes of operating can be a big part of due diligence.
A good CEO surrounds himself with people who offer different points of view, especially when it comes to knowledge of a particular industry in a specific region. By centralizing financial, payroll and HR data, you can maintain oversight at the top level while enabling local teams to have autonomy and accountability for sales, operations and growth.
Securing Financing
Here's the reality: Good deals move fast, and if you don't have your financing lined up, you'll watch opportunities slip away to competitors who do.
Whether you're self-funding, working with private equity or using SBA loans, ensure your financing structure is scalable and supports your long-term strategy. It's important to remember to avoid over-leveraging; cash flow stability should remain a priority. A well-structured financial plan will allow you to act quickly when the right opportunities emerge.
Retaining And Improving Client Relationships
Put yourself in your new clients' shoes: They're probably wondering if the service they've relied on is about to disappear into some corporate machine.
To prevent or limit disruptions, make client retention a top priority. Clients care most that their local team servicing them will be the same and treated fairly through the transition. We aim for our newly acquired teams to be able to confidently tell their customers that them joining our alliance is like switching banks; there are new places to send your checks, but the rest stays the same. Over time, the local teams will gain access to more resources and training that benefits their customers; when it's done right and respectfully, goodwill develops among all parties.
Evaluate And Refine Your Model Regularly
During every integration, we pause with our M&A team, integration team and the leaders of the acquired team to ask what went well and what could be improved. From these feedback sessions, our integration checklist has grown to over 500 items, including ice cream at the end of the first week to make sure we are celebrating the work and wins of learning to work together.
Even well-planned acquisitions come with lessons. It is helpful to track the performance of each acquired business over time. Did you lose any customers or employees? That is an automatic failure. Did the deal meet projected ROI? Were there unanticipated challenges? Gathering post-acquisition data and feedback allows for continuous refinement of your acquisition strategy as well. This iterative process helps reduce risk and improve outcomes for future deals.
Conclusion
When pursuing M&A, your core objectives shouldn't change. If your mission is to be the best place to work and to help customers achieve their goals, then every acquisition should support that—not distract from it. Growth through acquisition is most successful when it expands your reach, taps into new resources and helps strong local brands continue to thrive.
The most successful deals aren't just about expanding market share—they're about uniting people, relationships and expertise in ways that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. When you focus on alignment and shared purpose first, the numbers tend to follow.
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