How does a CEO Warrior become a Warrior Coach? How about substantially growing a business in just four years and selling it, so you never have to work another day in your life? Then, you realize you want to keep working, so you unleash the strategies that led you to the sale of your business to help make the same dream come true for your fellow warriors. That’s Eric Corbett, CEO Warrior’s new senior master advisor.
Four years ago, Eric mapped out what he saw as the perfect deal for the sale of his business. Revenues had grown year after year from 2015 to 2021, and after six decades of serving plumbing, heating, cooling, drain, and electrical customers in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, Larry & Sons was positioned to sell. The slide deck was ready to present to potential buyers, and Eric was ready to move, excited to exit the family business. Then, Covid hit.
At the onset of Covid-19, Eric knew he had to postpone the sale of his business and stay on to see his company through the pandemic. He thought Covid would set his business back, but it ended up making it stronger and more appealing to potential buyers. “The pandemic highlighted the gaps in our systems and procedures as we updated them to get into customer homes. And because I couldn’t be onsite to handhold, I trusted those procedures more than ever, making us a better company.”
Eric’s team stepped up the functionality of their website and sent customers videos on Covid preparedness, assuring them their technician would leave their home the way they entered it, free of Covid. Eric says, “We improved communication and focused on running the business super efficiently, and as a result, we increased revenues. So, when my wife, our CFO, and I finally put our business on the street to sell, there was a lot of interest and response out of the gate, with 35 non-disclosures. And we were under contract within the first few weeks.”
With gratitude and admiration for the love and care Dustin Folkes, Sr. provided, DJ credits his father for teaching him that he had to earn people’s respect. He also credits his dad with helping to save his life. “I was a heroin addict, and I should be dead. I knew a lot of people who died and are still dying. Thank God I got sober when I did. Had I not, I wouldn’t have been able to learn how to run the business from my dad, and the company would have died.”
