# How He Bought a Tree Care Company (and Built an Empire)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-he-bought-a-tree-care-company-and-built-an-empire
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/how-he-bought-a-tree-care-company-and-built-an-empire.md
Podcast: [The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224)
Published: 2026-05-08T13:16:13+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e78ba107
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/e78ba107/bd3c4be0.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/episodes/how-he-bought-a-tree-care-company-and-built-an-empire
Duration seconds: 3983

## Resource

Want help buying a business? https://smbdealhunter.link/pro-yt In this episode, Brian Hartman breaks down the year-one cash crunch that nearly killed his first acquisition (despite 96% revenue growth), why he turned down private equity offers ten times a day before saying yes to one that let him keep control, and the operator playbook he's now using to roll up tree care companies across three states. ◼️ How he grew his first tree care business from $2.6M to $5.1M in year one and almost went broke doing it ◼️ Why long-term contracts hurt operators (and how transactional pricing let him raise prices through 9% inflation) ◼️ The minority investment structure that let him keep control of his business while joining a fund ◼️ What he learned from a 73-year-old tree climber in Jacksonville that changed how he runs his entire fleet ◼️ The first 5 minutes of an owner conversation that tells him whether to walk away from a deal regardless of price Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz/ Follow Helen: Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo _ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

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## Transcript

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