Service with Intention: A New Model for Small Business Acquisition
The world of business acquisition is often defined by speed. Buy fast, cut costs, flip for profit. It’s a model driven by financial engineering—but often lacking soul. At The William Heath Company, we take a different path. Ours is a philosophy of intentional stewardship: one that blends strategic growth with the empathy, care, and creativity of design thinking.
We believe in buying small service-based businesses not just to scale them, but to honor what already works—then thoughtfully evolve what could work better. Our goal isn’t a portfolio of short-term gains. It’s a legacy of well-loved businesses built to thrive for generations.
Rethinking the Roll-Up: Quality Over Quantity
While private equity and large consolidators pursue rapid rollups—acquiring dozens of similar businesses, cutting overhead, and hoping for valuation lifts—we see that model as missing the point.
In service industries like pool design, remodeling, landscape architecture, and specialty contracting, the business is the people. It’s the relationships, the local reputation, the trust that’s been earned project by project over decades. You can’t “synergize” that overnight.
Our approach is slower. And proudly so.
We don’t buy to flip. We buy to build—with patience, intention, and a design-first strategy that brings brand clarity, operational excellence, and a revitalized customer experience.
Design-Led Stewardship: Beyond the Balance Sheet
We approach every acquisition like a redesign project—not of the business’s identity, but of its potential. Using the same tools that great design teams use—empathy, observation, collaboration—we seek to understand what makes a business tick:
What do customers truly love about the experience?
Where are the pain points for the team?
What systems are stuck in the past, and which are simply under-celebrated?
How can brand, space, and service all align to create greater value?
This design mindset informs everything we do post-acquisition. From how we communicate change internally to how we reshape customer touchpoints, our goal is to evolve the business with intention—not disruption.
Listening First, Leading Thoughtfully
The transition of ownership is a sensitive time. Culture can be fragile. Morale can shift. At the William Heath Company, we prioritize listening before leading. We spend time with the founders, walk job sites, observe team rituals, and learn from every voice in the room.
We’re not here to erase what’s working. We’re here to spotlight it—and build systems around it that allow it to scale sustainably.
Our leadership philosophy is one of presence, not pressure. We believe creative direction, operations, and capital must work together—but not at the cost of people, purpose, or pride of craft.
Scaling with Soul
Yes, we believe in growth. But not growth at all costs. We scale when value is being created, not just captured. We invest in training, branding, better systems, and cleaner design—not just for optics, but because these things create real trust and loyalty.
A new quoting tool isn’t just a digital upgrade—it’s clarity for the customer.
A rebrand isn’t just aesthetic—it’s confidence for the team and visibility in the market.
A well-run onboarding system isn’t bureaucracy—it’s culture in action.
Each improvement, no matter how small, is part of a larger philosophy: build things that last.
The Long Game: Designing Legacy
To us, legacy doesn’t mean staying stuck in the past. It means creating businesses that matter—ones that community members recommend, employees are proud to join, and customers return to year after year.
That’s why we say we’re “Designing Legacy. Building the Future.” It’s more than a tagline—it’s how we operate.
In a world full of speed, we choose intention.