A rare all-hands meeting at Joe Cole Plumbing was called by the sellers for one purpose: introduce the new owner. Three dozen people gathered. Peter deBaptiste didn’t show.
It seemed like the end of the world in the moment, he told Acquiring Minds. It wasn’t. He forged ahead and recovered — and forging ahead is most of his story.
What he bought was hard: a technical plumbing business, high-end residential and mechanical work, run by two master plumbers working 100-hour weeks. DeBaptiste lives an hour away, with two small kids at home, and levered up to keep as much equity as possible — a decision he says is worth your time to question.
Eighteen months in, it’s working. The people problems and turnover were real, the technical knowledge was precious, and the working capital had pitfalls he didn’t see in diligence. The surprise: he loves the industry.
The registration line for the desk: the Day One disaster isn’t fatal unless you let it be. The sellers ran 100-hour weeks; the buyer’s job is making sure the business no longer needs that.