Acquiring Minds 40% Growth in Year 1 of a Paving Business
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Mar 23, 2026 Eric Donahue, a former Navy SEAL turned owner-operator of Peninsula Paving. He shares how he bought an off-market paving company and learned the trade by working in the field. Topics include operational and cultural tweaks, splitting crews to boost utilization, leveraging veteran relationships for base contracts, financing without SBA, and the changes that drove 40% revenue growth in year one.
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Competitor Exit Created Immediate Market Opportunity
- A major factor in year‑one 40% revenue growth was competitor consolidation: a large rival was acquired and stopped serving small commercial jobs, opening material market share.
- That market shift delivered many projects the company could capture quickly via existing GC relationships.
Sub Complementary Work To Capture Markups
- Instead of referring out complementary services (sealcoat, striping, concrete), subcontract and manage them to capture revenue and markup, especially on restricted/base projects where markups can be higher.
- Eric targeted complementary trades on military base jobs for better margins and convenience value to GCs.
Split Crews And Define Clear Responsibilities
- Split crews to run simultaneous smaller jobs (patching) on days when main crew does base work, keeping all employees productive and increasing billable hours.
- Promote a reliable crew lead, give clear printed expectations, and allow questions instead of expecting perfection.