Millennials Are Buying Blue Collar Small Businesses To AI-Proof Their Future
Key takeaways
- Young entrepreneurs are snapping up baby boomer-owned plumbing, construction, manufacturing and HVAC companies.
- “It is a classic baby boomer-run business that was time for transition,” with no third generation member of the family ready to run it, observes Kurzrok, who holds Yale MBA and bachelor degrees.
- Kurzrok, 37, is part of a wave that small business experts long predicted would turn into a “silver tsunami” as millions of retiring small business owners sold out to younger entrepreneurs.
Young entrepreneurs are snapping up baby boomer-owned plumbing, construction, manufacturing and HVAC companies. Plus: Tips for would-be buyers and sellers. When Andrew Kurzrok’s wife, Michelle, became pregnant with their first son in 2023, he decided it was time for his life spending over 200 days a year on the road as a mid-level executive of Amphenol Sensors to end. He wanted a career that would keep him closer to their suburban Washington, D.C. home, while utilizing his manufacturing experience. And with a background in mergers and acquisitions, he thought about buying. So the Kurzroks evaluated hundreds of local companies for sale. Finally, last September, he closed on the purchase of 45-year-old family-owned Hopewell Sheet Metal Manufacturing, which operates out of a 30,000 square foot facility in Hagerstown, Maryland.
“It is a classic baby boomer-run business that was time for transition,” with no third generation member of the family ready to run it, observes Kurzrok, who holds Yale MBA and bachelor degrees. But it suited his goals just fine. “I am home with my family every single night. I am proud to say that I no longer have any frequent flyer status with the airlines,” he laughs. “It’s great. I’m 30 pounds lighter because I’m not eating food in airports all day long. Blood pressure is lower. That doesn’t mean business ownership is easy; it’s got its own stress, but I’m really happy with the tradeoff I’ve made.”
Kurzrok, 37, is part of a wave that small business experts long predicted would turn into a “silver tsunami” as millions of retiring small business owners sold out to younger entrepreneurs. Turns out, the number of baby boomer-run businesses that are actually salable may have been vastly overestimated. Small business consultant Alan Pentz explains most boomer companies “aren’t really salable” because they are one-man-bands without any real assets or a continuing book of business that will outlive the founder.