The Home Service Expert Podcast How to Scale and Exit Your Business (Brian Franco)
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Apr 6, 2026 Brian Franco, founder of Meritage Partners and author of Inevitable Exit, is a seasoned M&A advisor helping owners scale and prepare for liquidity. He discusses planning exits on your terms, testing whether a company runs without its founder, aligning teams with equity, using debt and rollover equity strategically, and practical steps to make a business market-ready.
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Father's Collapse Sparked Exit Mission
- Brian Franco was inspired by watching his father's business collapse after severe health issues, which motivated Inevitable Exit.
- His father's company would be worth ~$35M today but deteriorated when he became disabled, showing the human cost of no exit plan.
Run The 90 Day Founder Disappearance Test
- Do the 90-day disappearance stress test to spot founder dependency and system gaps.
- If the company declines when you’re absent, you are the system; build SOPs and leadership depth to fix it.
Bring In A CFO To Boost EBITDA
- Hire a CFO (full-time or fractional) to move from bookkeeping to financial leadership and increase EBITDA.
- Meritage client grew revenue 10% and EBITDA 30% after bringing in a CFO to implement measurements.
