#133: Scaling from $10 to $30 Million in 3 yrs through Sales and M&A

Troy Berg is the owner of Dane Manufacturing. Today he tells me about purchasing the company and how he grew the business by 3x! Troy is a great motivational speaker and has smart advice for my listeners.

Troy credits 8 acquisitions for his impressive business growth. He used a combination of organic growth and M&A deals. Troy covers both of these subjects and has some awesome insight. He shares his experience with hiring salespeople and why he believes A-players will pay for themselves. We also discuss why M&A is a broken system and how you can work around that brokenness.

We also discuss the baby boomer problem and how young entrepreneurs can court these business owners and help relieve the problem. Troy is a firm believer in a positive attitude and having confidence in your abilities and business vision.

There are tons of great takeaways from today’s episode and no matter if you are an established business owner or just getting started.

What you will learn:

• Troy’s career “working for the man.”
• His shift to the “get in the black or you’re going back” mindset.
• How Troy approached the deal with Dane Manufacturing.
• Why it is hard to say no and why you need too.
• How Dane Manufacturing grew 3 times in 3 years!
• What is organic growth?
• How Troy used organic growth to find great team members.
• The 5 things you need to look at when hiring a top-notch salesperson.
• Why advisors aren’t interested in completing a deal.
• The 3 steps to a successful M&A deal meeting.
• Why attitude and belief are essential.
• Don’t worry about the money.
• The benefits of using an SBA and other advice for finding the right bank for your deal.
• The baby boomer problem and how to combat it.
• The deal that didn’t happen for Troy and why it didn’t work.
• Troy’s book recommendations.
• Troy’s final 2 pieces of advice for the audience.

Takeaway:

First and foremost, it is important that you have confidence in your abilities and your vision for your business. Do your homework and look for the investors, partners, and advisors that will help you get where you want with your business and career.

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative
Troy on LinkedIn
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: Why Now Is the Time to #JoinTheRide by Darren Hardy
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
DaneMfg.com

About Troy:

Troy graduated with a Mechanical Engineering Degree in the 1980s and worked in several manufacturing industries. He worked in the Aerospace and Automotive industry building NASA Space Shuttle and large commercial & military jet systems and then went on to work in the elite production engineering department in a car assembly plant helping launch new car model introductions.

While pursuing his Master’s Degree in Operations and Business Management, he decided to leave Corporate America and start his own company over twenty-four years ago. That original start-up company was merged with his current company in 2001 after they purchased Dane Manufacturing. They purchased two other ‘Add-on’ companies to join with Dane in 2007 and 2009.

In 2013, they started another division inside Dane that manufactures our own products for the residential green energy markets making Geothermal Heat Pumps called Q Energy Systems. This product is sold through distributors and is starting to gain traction in the US markets.

In 2018, they expanded Dane from $13M to $20M and successfully acquired Dantherm Cooling in Spartanburg, S.C. All three entities in 2018 had sales of over $30M.

Dantherm Cooling is once again a viable company after our changes and improvements and will help usher in 5G to the US with all of its electronic cooling products. Dane is a four-time INC 5000 recipient and will receive their fifth award this year for the 3X growth we architected over that last three years.

Dane controls three manufacturing plants with 140 full-time employees.

Other than Troy’s  love for business, understanding successful business models, he keeps busy with his family enjoying outdoor activities, boating, water skiing, biking, snow skiing and playing and ice hockey.