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We buy, safeguard, & Grow Exceptional Small Businesses

Essential Holdings is an investment holding company fully committed to long-term value creation. We acquire wonderful, well-established small businesses with highly durable cash flows and work to unlock their full value over time.

Vision

ESSENTIAL VISION

OUR THESIS

There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses in America generating substantial cash flows every year.
 
These businesses matter. They are the lifeblood of the American economy.
 
Many of them are family-held and don’t have succession plans. Their owners need an exit strategy.
 
We have an opportunity to give these entrepreneurs a great outcome, protect and grow what they’ve built, and generate fantastic returns for our investors.

OUR MISSION

We aspire to be the highest-performing asset in our investors’ portfolios and the buyer of choice for small businesses across the country.

By 2035, Essential Holdings will...

Be a portfolio of 30+ exceptional small businesses

Consistently deliver top decile returns for our investors

Employ hundreds of team members across the portfolio, serving millions of Americans every day

APPROACH

OUR APPROACH

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Circular model enables compounding and long-term growth

Guiding Principles

Our guiding principles for value creation in every business

Preserve what we’ve bought

Focus first on protecting the strong foundations of these well-established businesses,embracing their proven models, talented people, and dependable cashflows

Define full potential

Challenge the status quo, seek understanding, and relentlessly pursue opportunities to create new levels of value for shareholders and customers

Pace the change

Approach opportunities for growth and improvement thoughtfully, balancing the ambition with the organization’s will and capacity to sustain the change

Mission first, people always

Prioritize the mission while also caring for our people and providing the support they need to succeed every step of the way

Preserve what we’ve bought

Focus first on protecting the strong foundations of these well-established businesses,embracing their proven models, talented people, and dependable cashflows

Define full potential

Challenge the status quo, seek understanding, and relentlessly pursue opportunities to create new levels of value for shareholders and customers

Pace the change

Approach opportunities for growth and improvement thoughtfully, balancing the ambition with the organization’s will and capacity to sustain the change

Mission first, people always

Prioritize the mission while also caring for our people and providing the support they need to succeed every step of the way

The specific sectors and businesses we're most interested in...

Municipal & Commercial Services

  • Excavation & Demo

  • Concrete & paving

  • Vacuum truck services

  • Roofing install & maint.

  • Hydro excavation

  • Snow removal

  • Roll-off dumpsters

  • Line striping

  • Janitorial services

  • Heavy towing

Installation Power Buggy Rental

Home Services

  • Tree services

  • Landscaping

  • Property restoration

  • Well & septic services

  • Pest control

  • Gutter install & maint.

  • Chimney sweeps

  • Fencing installation

  • MEP contracting

  • General contracting

  • Junk removal

Laying New Turf
Manufacturing Assembly

Niche Manufacturing

  • Outdoor sheds

  • Machine shops

  • Sawmilling

  • Fine woodworking

  • Wire & cable

  • Specialty textiles

  • Stone fabrication

Car Wash

Other Sectors

  • Car washes

  • Laundromats

  • Mobile storage

  • Mobile offices

  • Garden centers

  • Party equipment rental

INVESTMENT CRITERIA

WE LIKE TO BUY BUSINESSES WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS

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Size
$1-4M in EBITDA
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Growth
 Strong track record of year-over-year growth
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Cash Flow
3+ consecutive years of distributions over $1M
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Talent
Capable, committed, tenured team
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customer obsession
Ingrained desire to understand and over-deliver for customers
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competitive moat
Durable advantage over the competition
Team

THE TEAM

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Dave Crabbe
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Prior to co-founding Essential Holdings, Dave spent 14 years at Bain & Co. working with CEOs to build better businesses.  At Bain, he focused on Strategy, M&A, and Org Effectiveness, and he worked across a range of sectors, including machinery, building products, robotics, steel, auto salvage, restaurants, and impact investing. Before Bain, Dave served on active duty as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. 

 

Dave has a passion for coaching and mentoring, and he feels most at home in the trenches with his teams. 

 

Dave earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He lives in Dover, MA with his wife and four children.

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Joel Bryce
Co-founder & Chief INVESTMENT officer

Prior to co-founding Essential Holdings, Joel was the Chief Investment Officer for a $1.5B investment holding company managing asset-intensive businesses in South Africa & Australia.  He led M&A, Capital Allocation, Disposals, and Strategy. Before this, Joel spent 5 years at Deloitte in Boston focused on general M&A and strategy practices, and before that working with the Federal Reserve Bank during the 2008 financial crisis.

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Joel has a passion for exploring the next frontier … in his old Defender in rural Africa with his two daughters, or at his desk analysing hidden growth prospects of great small businesses.  

 

Joel earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics & Finance from William Jewell College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Contact
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SUMMARY

Essential, Everyday Sectors

We buy businesses that provide essential goods and services to their communities everyday. These businesses matter and have real staying power.

Outstanding Risk-Adjusted Returns

Our focus on the often-overlooked lower mid market allows us to buy excellent businesses at prices both investors and entrepreneurs feel great about. 

Durable Cashflows

We buy businesses that have a track record of distributing significant cashflow every year. Cashflow is the lifeblood of our model. It enables reinvestment and compounding.

Long-Term Focus

We’re only interested in buying companies that we’d be excited and honored to hold for the long-term. This gives us the ability to help each business grow at the right pace and create tremendous long-term value.

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