How One Key Hire Helped Dimple Up Their Value By 500% in 2.5 Years

Teetering on the brink of liquidation, a key hire at Dimple led to a dramatic turnaround that resulted in a $13.4M exit.

Damien James started Dimple in 1997 to help people living in aged-care facilities by visiting them and offering podiatry (foot care) services.

He built the company to $200k EBITDA when he realized his company might need a different kind of executive in order to keep growing.

James hired a new CEO, and together they grew the company to $11M in revenue and $2.4M EBITDA in just over two years. That’s when Zenitas Healthcare acquired Dimple for $13.4M.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The signs that someone on your management team may be a “bad apple”
• Clues to spotting a rain-maker during the hiring process
• How strategic acquirers position themselves for purchase
• Options for structuring an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)
• A clever tactic to avoid an earn out
• Pitfalls to avoid after the sale

James scaled his business by offering a unique service to old age homes, which made Dimple attractive to a strategic buyer who wanted to offer other services through the same channel. Module 2 of The Value Builder System™ helps you identify a unique service of your own with the most potential to scale up the fastest. Get started for free right now by completing Module 1.

Check out our article on A 3-Part Approach To Hiring High-Potential Employees.

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Damien lives in Melbourne – the official sporting capital of the world – and loves the ‘Mighty Tiges’ who finally won their first AFL Premiership in 37 years last September. 4 weeks earlier Damien sold his business for $13.4 million, which was valued at a $2.54 million just 2.5 years earlier. Damien is enormously grateful to have experienced this special sequence of events and describes it as the best 3 months of his life.