ETA Profile: Luis Aguilar of Cy’s Linen Service

From Engineer to Private Equity to Entrepreneurship through Acquisition

Luis Aguilar’s remarkable journey from an industrial engineer at General Electric to Private Equity to a successful business owner in Miami was thoughtfully laid out in a recent interview by Will Smith on the Acquiring Minds podcast. It is a tale of ambition, strategy, and ultimately — resilience.

Before we dive in, I want to highlight some direct quotes from Luis on the journey; because most of you won’t read past here anyway:

“I’m like what did I do? Like I miss my job, but you know you gotta yeah some days … this is 24/7 like … you can’t turn it off right like … all all the time — customers all the time. When I had my job you know, you clock in you clock out. You still give it your all, but at the end of the day it’s not really your problem.”

“It was like problem after problem right, like water flooding, machines down, trucks breaking — and to this guy [the seller] that was normal. That’s how he ran it right, like not spending, but you know firefighting all day. So you know that was my first three months, was just root causing — why is this problem happening? How do we fix it?” ~ Lous Aguilar

Luis, originally from Guatemala, went to Virginia Tech, spent some time at General Electric, and worked in the competitive world of middle market private equity before becoming a self-funded searcher. His ambition was fueled by his experience in PE and by a Harvard book on the search fund/ ETA model. His research ultimately led him to a linen rental business, based on their growth, recession resilience, and high barriers to entry.

Luis spent weekends learning and practicing; using BizBuySell to hone his dealmaking skills. And once he found a deal worth making, Luis went all in. But the acquisition process wasn’t exactly straight forward. Luis needed to work with equity partners, lenders, and the seller to make it all happen.

Reflecting on his journey post-acquisition, Luis acknowledged the complexities of operating the linen rental business. He faced numerous challenges, like outdated equipment and managing the demands of customers, vendors, and employees.

Three months in, Luis acquired a second business, a commercial laundry operation in Key West, over-doubling his operations and expanding his customer base to include hotels. The acquisition was facilitated by his original investors and strategically leveraged through a sale-leaseback transaction of the real estate.

Luis’ story is more than the financial and strategic aspects of acquiring an existing business; it is about the emotional rollercoaster all will experience when they embark on the journey of entrepreneurship through acquisition. If you’re bound and determined to do a search, I highly recommend listening to the entire interview.