Taylor Wallace | Dog Daycare Owner * SMB Investor
@taywall
Followers
3,117
Following
1,923
Media
242
Statuses
6,352
Sober techie turned SMB owner and operator of dog daycares. Actively looking at SMB deals. Advisor @Baton_market VC Scout @FloridaFunders
St Petersburg, FL
Joined February 2009
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
الهلال
• 450808 Tweets
Fenerbahçe
• 209770 Tweets
Moraes
• 151670 Tweets
ولي العهد
• 114165 Tweets
Folha
• 92031 Tweets
Lille
• 89826 Tweets
Mourinho
• 76863 Tweets
التعاون
• 64180 Tweets
Maradona
• 60335 Tweets
Şampiyonlar
• 59099 Tweets
Adorni
• 48893 Tweets
UEFA
• 37030 Tweets
Impeachment
• 33147 Tweets
Glenn
• 31979 Tweets
Lima
• 31792 Tweets
Rangers
• 30256 Tweets
Camavinga
• 24112 Tweets
#ولي_العهد_يستقبل_المواطنين
• 23468 Tweets
Pacheco
• 22287 Tweets
花秘める君のメテオール
• 17344 Tweets
Xandão
• 16674 Tweets
Ali Koç
• 16224 Tweets
Home Depot
• 14721 Tweets
Shatoria
• 14270 Tweets
Vaza Jato
• 14203 Tweets
Chike
• 11778 Tweets
#مقاطعه_المدرجات
• 11243 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
I bought an SMB in 2020 with 100% debt as a side project.
In the last three years, we’ve seen our valuation balloon ~700%.
This isn’t a story about the risk of self-funded search. But it is an SMB story about the potential for massive upside if you buy the right small business.
19
9
154
Life lessons learned as a caddie:
You learn a lot getting paid to carry someone else’s golf bag for 18 holes. If you’re not a golfer, or you’ve never been on either side of the bag for four hours, a caddie chases a small white ball someone else is hitting, cleans it, offers mild
19
11
142
Today marks 8 years without a drink.
In that time, I’ve been dumped and fallen in love. I’ve been fired and built an amazing company. Life has been up and down and insanely beautiful. I am so blessed.
But in case you’re wondering, here’s why I gave up the booze…
14
4
127
I did a thing this week. Thanks to all you married SMB dads for inspiring me to start a family!
Pro tip - have your fiancee tell everyone in hospitality you just got engaged for unreal upgrades/freebies.
27
0
114
I just closed my third small business acquisition with the help of
@smblawgroup
and the amazing team behind
@SMB_Attorney
and
@sam_rosati
(can't recommend them enough).
Here’s the story of how and why it went down…
I currently own and operate two dog daycare facilities, both
20
3
113
Today marks 9 years of sobriety.
I’ve now been sober longer than I’ve done almost anything, including drinking.
I woke up this morning and thumbed through old journals from 9 years ago. I read the ramblings of a lost young man, disgusted with himself and his actions,
16
2
86
@Codie_Sanchez
Only a few ways to get insanely wealthy:
1) Fame (actor, athlete, influencer)
2) Move money (investor, RE)
3) Invent or build something (business owner)
4) Get lucky (birth, lotto)
Have met all of them. 2-3 are most interesting and accessible. 1/4, meh.
6
4
69
@fatjoedavies
Best thing I ever did. Hands down. No question. Sobriety delivers everything alcohol promised. Everything good in my life I can tie back to giving up booze some 3000 days ago. DM if you need help or want to chat.
1
0
69
9 years ago, my business partner and I had our first talk about dogs on the patio of a halfway house.
He’d just started scooping poop at a dog daycare. Both our lives were in shambles, but we were rebuilding.
Today we have 70 employees.
People change.
8
3
66
@LeadershipAcad1
I want to do 0 work on a car and enjoy a new car every three years. The hassle free nature is worth the minor price discrepancy
5
0
66
Running a dog care business is hard. Scaling one is even harder. Growth requires great partnership, and that’s why I’m thrilled to announce Paws ‘n’ Rec has partnered with Pet Resort Hospitality Group and
@trivestpartners
to continue growing our brand.
In the last three years,
16
5
61
@WilsonCompanies
Worked for a co that hired a linkedin influencer to join the marketing team. Never worked with a less productive and effective marketer in my life.
0
0
58
@SmothersAaron
@XxGunnery
@VicVijayakumar
I left tech to play with dogs, made way more money than I ever did in tech, way lower stress, can’t really get laid off, so much more fun, and I get to make my customer smile not behind a screen
7
1
53
@NecktieSalvage
I’m a crazy dog person. My business is to serve other crazy dog people. There is a little used playground near my house I take my dog to.
If kids are there, I just walk on by. If kids show up, I leash my dog and leave. My dog is great with kids, but I know full well it’s not a
8
0
53
@shawngorham
I went so deep - breville barista express is best bang for buck without going totally insane
4
0
54
I just heard the best descriptor ever of major metros vs. smaller second tier cities from
@thesamparr
NYC/LA/SF is full of 1s and 10s. Restaurants, people, etc.: 10s. Crime, expense, etc.: 1s.
Tampa, Nashville, Austin: this is all so nice: 6s everywhere.
11
6
53
I recently had a tough choice on which law firm to use: Big Law vs.
@smblawgroup
.
My old head investors pushed for the safety of big law. I loved my interactions with
@Sam_Rosati
@SMB_Attorney
@KHendersonCo
and their biz model.
Then a wise and retired big law friend of mine
7
4
49
Sobriety is my business super power.
And it’s not because I haven’t been hungover in 10 years (although that’s wonderful).
10 years ago, my life was about to fall apart and my partner was rebuilding his brick by brick. Years of substance abuse led us to the edge of ruin and
12
2
44
I can now clearly say buying vs. building is a superior business strategy.
Over the last three years, I’ve bought three dog daycares and built one.
Building has been an absolute nightmare. Buying has been a dream.
A thread on why…
3
3
46
The Tampa airport is hands down one of the best in the US and a huge perk of living in an awesome place.
Xmas weekend, not a single person in TSA line. Left my house 90min before flight, time for coffee and shopping before boarding.
Once left 45min before flight and made it.
9
1
45
@Mikethelummox
Run from this. You’ll never be able to make them happy. They are blackmailing you.
2
0
43
If you're in the
#SMB
and
#ETA
space, are you looking to acquire a "platform"?
@baton_market
asked me to write about my experience acquiring a platform company and then doing bolt-on acquisitions. Here's what that looks like... 🧵
4
4
42
Before running an SMB, I spent 5yrs building employee engagement software.
Now, with a full-time staff of 50 (primarily hourly) employees and <10% turnover, we've figured out how to hire and retain great people, even in a tight labor market. Here's how...
4
4
39
It's been 2,686 days since my last drink. I've been to a wedding in Siberia (SO MUCH VODKA), raved in Budapest, partied in Cabo, stayed up all night in Berlin, gone on 100+ dates, and so much more.
Here are some tips on how to drink less and still have an amazing time.
9
0
40
Don’t partner with PE, they said.
They’ll fire you, take control of your company, cut costs, and screw your employees.
OR - you’ll spend a week in PR rescuing dogs and creating a great employee and customer experience at scale with the best operators in pet care.
5
3
34
@SMB_Attorney
Buy the business if you want to be an entrepeneur- every operator without an MBA knows more about biz than any top tier MBA I’ve ever worked with that hasn’t gone on to be a CEO themselves. Go MBA if you want PE or corporate gig.
I’m buying biz.
3
1
38
Recovered alcoholic/addict, former pack a day smoker, with crohn’s disease. Just finished my second marathon.
What’s your excuse?
9
1
35
@MikeBotkin_
This is one of my favorite parts of SMB. I carry around discount cards for when customer spot me in the wild. Half the reason I left tech/corp was so I could have this kind of impact and involvement in my community.
2
0
34
Makin the news! So stoked to have opened our 4th location this week to ring in 2024.
7
1
35
@hahnscratch
Such an awesome story. And it’s a tale of two men - you humbled yourself along the way to become the man that could sit with your father at that hockey game. So. Cool.
1
0
34
New project announcement with
@Sam_Rosati
!
We are building an SMB/ETA co-working space in Tampa Bay, Florida, with occupancy as soon as Thanksgiving. We seek 7 “Founding Members” (~$1,000/month, 1-year commitment) to occupy first and launch the SMB Work community to a broader
11
4
34
Want to quit (INSERT BAD HABIT HERE)? You have to act differently. Here's some tips on how to quit anything...
6
0
33
Don’t negotiate around who you are. Be yourself and surround yourself with people who love you for it. Unless you’re an asshole. Then, just be better ;)
1
2
35
@soltrain69
@DavidSacks
I’m a techie turned small services business owner - we’re all hiring.
1
0
31
I’ve looked at 100+ doggie daycares and acquired 2. Sorry
@girdley
@BillDA
and
@thegeneralmills
but if you’re not already in the biz, I’d highly recommend staying away from this one… here are the turds…
New banger alert!
@girdley
,
@BillDA
&
@thegeneralmills
reviewed a deal that we actually liked. Yeah, you read that right.
It is a dog daycare & resort that has a sweet 50% EBITDA margin.
Tune in! Links below👇
4
1
16
4
2
32
Had a blast with
@AcquiringMinds_
talking about my transition from tech to owning and operating dog daycares.
If you're thinking of making the plunge from tech/finance/corporate, give it a listen. Maybe my experience can convince to make the jump.
New episode!
- Buying Doggy Daycares After 10 Years in Tech -
Taylor Wallace was over tech. He acquired a small business and with it a renewed sense of impact (and opportunity).
0
1
8
5
1
33
@SeanSmithBC
Buying a sub $200k EBITDA business changed my life. Allowed us to build an amazing and much larger business gradually. The hate misses the point of ETA - you’re looking for an answer to the cold start problem and the opprotunity to grow.
5
1
31
@Codie_Sanchez
We do basically the opposite of this at our dog daycares, tough jobs, but we have super low turnover. If you care as an employer and take cate of your people, they stick around and it makes your biz so much stronger.
2
0
30
I've decided to start investing in more SMB/ETA deals, but that opens up a huge swath of possibility.
@Sam_Rosati
, the
#SMB
and
#ETA
master, gave me simple advice: "come up with your filtering criteria and stick with it." What are yours?
Here's where I landed:
• The
9
2
30
@LiamKircher
Life isn’t all about success and getting ahead. This hot take leads to midlife crisis. Most people that wander in their 20s find a fuller sense of self. I could have hustled harder. I traveled. The friends I have exiting that have done nothing but work are rich and lost.
1
1
29
I'm obsessed with
#WeCrash
and
#SuperPumped
because I once wanted to be just like those insane CEOs "disrupting" the world (and peoples lives). Then I got sober and learned how dangerous the ego is. Now I want to build people up instead.
4
5
30
@WilsonCompanies
Heard the story of guy who wrote the theme song for Kardashians show: “I wrote it in 10 minutes. Ive studied music my whole life and those 10 minutes paid for my house, kids college, and this country club membership.”
0
0
27
I want to invest in search fund and self-funded searchers.
A thread on what I'm learning about the difference between the two.
If you're an investor (or a searcher) please read on and tell me where I'm wrong...
10
2
28
The future of education is going to be so cool. I can remember going into my local education store as a 10yr old and playing with dinosaur kits. What
@KuboldK
has created for
@magicleap
is WAY cooler.
1
7
27
As I’ve gotten more active in the SMB, ETA and search community, I’ve increasingly seen people spend years looking to buy the perfect company.
There is no perfect company. SMB is about grind - here's why you should just buy something and hustle:
9
4
27
In this past year, Twitter has led me to the best business & golfing partners I’ve met in the last decade.
Here’s the story of how I met my latest partners
@FrankScapp
and
@johnplumstead
from online and built enough trust IRL to take on a huge real
8
2
27
Attention all searchers and aspiring SMB owners.
For every hot take you see on twitter, someone is likely doing the opposite just as well.
The beautiful thing about SMB is FREEDOM. There is no one path...
3
3
25
Does anyone rollup crossfit gyms? Kinda feels like it should be a thing and curious why maybe it isn’t.
21
0
27
@ParsleyETA
@bentigg
Wise words from a man who helped me close a $300k deal soon to be worth ~10x that.
2
0
26
So many people questioned our desire to partner with PE.
Spent the day with 12 people way smarter than me working on our business, building the best pet resort company in the business.
SMB is awesome. So is great partnership with people like
@azharaq
and
@trivestpartners
6
0
26
Is it possible to own a
#SMB
and keep your day job?
For years, Rachael Yaeger has run Human NYC, a design firm. Covid changed her perspective. After a drive through the Catskills, she bought a motel.
Here's the story of how she runs her web firm from her motel lobby 🧵
3
2
23
Best CIM cover you've ever seen cannot beat this. No joke - this is the entire first page of a CIM I just received.
Hope sharing this doesn't violate my NDA.
5
0
26
Today was a very big day. If you know you know.
12
1
26
Walking through an airport wearing my trusty
@brooksrunning
Adrenalines.
Guy on moving side walk yells “how do you like em?”
“Love em! Worn em for two marathons!”
“Awesome. I designed them! Glad you like them!”
Made my day!
2
1
25
Spoke to a more experienced operator than me today in my industry that found me on twitter.
“Why are you sharing all this stuff?”
“Because eventually meeting guys like you will net my business something, and it’s really fun! I also believe in the reciprocity of the interwebs”
1
1
24
So you have an alcoholic or drug addict as an employee. What to do?!
If you’re in SMB, it’s not a matter of “if” you encounter an employee with a substance problem, but “when”.
How two guys in long-term recovery, handle drug and alcohol issues at our blue-collar business:
3
2
25
Three days before I close the biggest partnership of my career, my appendix decides to burst.
Wish me luck! Never a dull moment.
12
1
25
Spent the night last night with the latest cohort
@SMBootcamp_
hosted by
@Sam_Rosati
and
@ChandlerReedSMB
It’s really incredible what they’ve created. If you’re lurking around the idea of search, there is no better way to get started.
1
3
23
A 20yr old brilliant friend called me last week and said “I want to work in Private Equity”, what’s the career path look like?
I’m not a partner at a big PE fund, but work on micro PE, worked in VC, and love mentoring young people. He’s what I told him…
5
0
23
I've been asked to share more content on how we manage a team of 70 people under 30, all working full-time at our dog daycares, with super low turnover.
One of the big challenges is providing enough room for growth while also managing expectations. Some people just want to do
3
2
21
@baldridgecpa
Anything worth doing takes 7 years for a big payout. Be willing to commit for 7 years or it’s not worth doing.
1
0
22
So stoked to be joining many of my SMB Heros like
@ChandlerReedSMB
@Sam_Rosati
and
@SMB_Attorney
at
@SMB_ash
this year!
When I started buying dog daycares, I had no idea what ETA even was, and man it's been a journey!
5
1
22
I recently sat down with
@michellemwaite
and
@stpetecatalyst
to talk about how important dogs are to our community. After a decade in tech, I love working with people and their pups now, growing the support systems for all the dogs in
#TampaBay
3
4
21
Buying a job changed my life. Don’t fear the sub $1M EBITDA acquisition, especially if it’s your first.
"That business for sale is so small, you'd just buying a JOB!"
The Job:
- 6 fig starting pay
- can't be fired (no boss)
- you set your schedule
- you control if/when you get raises
- recession resistant
- exactly where you want to live
- sellable later
Appealing to some, bro!
15
6
240
5
1
22
“The SMB market is largely defined by real people living off of the real value they create by solving real problems for real customers. That’s why I love it”…awesome take on state of
#SMB
from
@tsludwig
this is why I love it too
Are you interested in what people in the SMB community are experiencing in their businesses and the economy right now?
I interviewed over 40 people, collected and summarized their best takes, and wrote-up the results along with an analysis of the key themes.
13
7
84
2
3
22
If you are struggling with stress and work life balance, find an activity that completely pulls you out of that and is still healthy.
No one thinks about work when going 100 mph on a Ducati, or when learning a new yoga pose, or lifting really heavy.
5
2
21
@RegZeller
@SMB_Attorney
I’ve bought two <500k SDE companies in last two years, doubled revenue at both, changed my life, life of my partners, and many team members. Actively looking for these deals. I will bare nuckle cage match this one.
1
0
21
I recently found myself surrounded by a group of older small business owners all contemplating what a sale of their companies could look like. I'd recently acquired a
#SMB
...but the thought occurred to me: what if we sold?
Here's why we decided to buy more businesses instead🧵
2
3
21
@SMB_Attorney
This is why people are obsessed with skiing, golfing, kite surfing, triathlaons, cars, motorcycles, (or in my case all of the above). You need super focused, 4-12 hour distractions Higher risk of death = easier to unplug. You don’t think about work at 100mph on a ducati.
0
0
21
When I tell people I operate dog daycares, I’m often met with: “well how is hiring and retaining talent”?
Customers ask. Other dog daycare owners ask. Investors ask.
Honestly? We’re really good at it and have 10% annual turnover. Here's how and why to retain young talent:
2
3
20
My job as the CEO of an SMB (with an operating partner) largely consists of:
50% Admin work - contracts, legal stuff, systems work, HR
15% Management
15% Finance
10% Strategy & Partnerships
5% Dog time
5% Modeling
8
1
20
Investor comes to you and your SMB and says “I have scaled companies like yours to huge exits…
We can 100x together.
I’ll bring cash and experience. You’ll run it.
But I want 80%.”
Do you consider it?
22
1
20
@sweatystartup
Before having a dog and a dog business, I didn’t get it. Now, I’d pay insane amounts on my dog and regularly support causes like this. Why? Simple answer: I think life is about finding meaning. That’s hard in 2022. So many find it in pets, and we could all use more of it.
1
0
20
@burhanali_
If you’re any good, anyone capable of of beating you is busy winning at their own game.
2
1
19
I'm not a gambler, I don't watch sports, I've never followed
@jakepaul
or
@LoganPaul
, but what is happening with
@joeyslevy
and the team
@betr
is genius.
A thread on how an app is changing sports betting and the way people watch and interact with content...
4
2
19
@DavidSacks
A year ago we’d get 1-3 applications a week for hourly job postings.
Last week we got 300.
7
1
16
Had an incredible time today sharing my story
@SMB_ash
working with
@azharaq
and
@Sam_Rosati
to partner with
@trivestpartners
to grow the best pet services business in the world.
It’s been a wild ride! And sharing the story is a really fun piece of it.
2
2
19
Montana ain’t bad but didn’t expect it to be as hot as Florida this time of year.
1
1
19
@markjenney
Don’t do 12 cities. Spend some time in villages, hamlets, small towns. Chase activities - ski, surf, hiking, etc.
1
0
17
Over the last two years, I've visited hundreds of dog daycare and boarding facilities, trying to acquire more businesses similar to the one I run.
I've bought two, had a few under LOI, and seen some WILD stuff.
Here are the top 10 craziest things I've seen in the dog world:
3
2
19
Spent the night with a bunch of NFL players transitioning out of sports into business ownership thanks to
@ProAthleteCom
I know nothing about pro sports. But I falsely assumed most pro athletes have this intense bravado.
These guys were incredibly humble, hungry to learn,
1
0
18