Exit planning for HVAC & trades owners. Real talk from someone who built it, almost lost it at the exit, and figured out why.

Most HVAC owners will never sell their business. Not because it isn't good, but because it was never built to be sold.

The Trades Exit is a 12-minute podcast for trades business owners who are somewhere between thinking about an exit and needing one. Host Ray Caldwell built and sold an HVAC company, survived two failed deals, and learned everything he wishes someone had told him.

One topic. One takeaway. Every episode is under 12 minutes.

Eight out of ten businesses never sell. Most of them were good businesses.

The Trades Exit is a short-form podcast for HVAC and trades business owners who want to know — years before they're ready to sell — what it actually takes to build a business that a buyer will pay top dollar for.

Host Ray Caldwell spent 22 years building Caldwell Climate Solutions from one truck into a 31-employee HVAC company with a commercial division and over $400,000 in recurring annual revenue. When he tried to sell, he discovered the hard way that building a profitable business and building a sellable one are two completely different things. Two failed deals, and a discounted exit later, he spent five years figuring out what went wrong — and how to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

Every episode is under 12 minutes. One topic. One takeaway. No jargon.

Topics covered in Season 1:
· Is your business actually sellable?
· The PE wave — what private equity wants from your HVAC company
· Clean books: what buyers actually see when they open your financials
· Owner dependency — and how to get yourself out of the way
· Maintenance agreements and recurring revenue as an exit strategy
· What your business is actually worth (vs. what you think)
· SBA loans, seller financing, and earnouts — deal structures explained
· How to find the right buyer for your specific situation
· Due diligence — what to expect and how to prepare
· Letter of intent to closing: the 90 days that determine everything
· What life after the exit actually looks like
· The roundtable: three owners who sold, and what they'd do differently

The Trades Exit is produced by JourneyWise Studios. Ray Caldwell is not a financial advisor or attorney.

All content is for educational purposes only.