Dave Thrasher - Leading a 9-Figure Family Enterprise - Ep.189

Ep.189: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Dave Thrasher (@dave-thrasher). My guest on this episode is Dave Thrasher who along with his family in Omaha owns Thrasher, a foundation repair business with three core business units: a wholly owned foundation repair brand, an acquisition strategy of non-Thrasher branded services businesses, and Supportworks which sells industry products and offers training to customers on running more successful businesses. It’s a fascinating collection of family-owned businesses with no intention of selling. We talk about how their never-sell mentality influences the use of debt, and profitability while scaling, and how it’s changed Dave’s role as CEO over time. Please enjoy my episode with Dave Thrasher. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.  Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3QLBB1N Links: Thrasher Group Thrasher Foundation Repair Supportworks The Ideal Team Player by Pat Lencioni Great by Choice by Jim Collins Books by Dr. Henry Cloud Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek Topics: (00:03:57) The timeline of the Thrasher family businesses and how they interact with each other (00:10:05) Thrasher’s acquisition strategy & mindset changes to fast track growth (00:13:41) Ongoing evolutions to Dave’s role to become more effective (00:18:04) Transition points in Dave’s role as the business has grown (00:20:34) Self-evaluation strategies (00:22:07)Lessons from being an effective CEO (00:23:58) Becoming more comfortable with giving and receiving feedback (00:27:41) Finding the balance between growth and profitability (00:33:02) Becoming an effective user of debt (00:34:58) Developing a 100-year plan for a business (00:39:03) Headcount driving revenue vs. revenue driving headcount (00:41:28) What to look for in hiring (00:46:00) How core values from Thrasher are aligned with acquired companies (00:48:14) Questions to ask when determining if a potential acquisition will be a good fit (00:52:32) M&A rabbit holes (00:55:40) Overcoming deal fatigue (00:57:32) What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on? (00:59:28) What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?