BRRT Small-Business Improvement Playbook
Buy boring, recession-resistant firms, then raise prices and add technology
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
BRRT is Sanchez's compact buy-and-improve playbook: buy boring businesses in recession-resistant asset classes, raise their prices, and add technology. It begins with an ordinary operating company rather than a distressed rescue. Recession resistance aims to protect baseline demand, while a pricing review looks for owners who have allowed prices to fall below the value delivered. Technology is then applied to make the established operation better rather than to invent a new market. Sanchez also mentions adding more similar businesses, which can extend the platform after the core operation is sound. The sequence matters: acquisition supplies customers and product-market fit first, then pricing and technology become controlled improvement levers.
Origin
Extracted from The Foundr Podcast
Core principles
- 01Start with an existing ordinary business
- 02Prefer demand that can persist through downturns
- 03Capture value lost through underpricing
- 04Use technology to improve an established operation
- 05Improve a normal business instead of rebuilding a broken one
How to run it
- 1
Buy boring
Acquire an understandable, established company with ordinary demand. Avoid treating novelty as a prerequisite for attractive economics.
Pro tip Favor a business whose value proposition can be explained in one sentence.
Watch out Boring does not automatically mean healthy or well priced.
- 2
Check recession resistance
Assess whether customers are likely to continue needing the service when conditions weaken. Use the answer as a selection filter before underwriting improvements.
Watch out Do not label an industry recession resistant without examining the specific company's customers and demand.
- 3
Validate pricing headroom
Compare prices with delivered value and market alternatives. Raise prices when evidence shows the acquired business is underpriced.
Pro tip Test a measured increase rather than assuming every legacy price is wrong.
Watch out A price increase without customer and value evidence can damage the demand you acquired.
- 4
Add useful technology
Introduce technology that improves the existing business's sales, operations, marketing, or delivery. The tool should support a proven workflow rather than create unnecessary complexity.
Pro tip Start with the operational bottleneck that most directly affects customers or cash flow.
Watch out Technology is an improvement lever, not proof that the underlying business works.
- 5
Consider compatible add-ons
Once the base business is sound, evaluate similar companies that can extend the operation. Apply the same acquisition discipline to each add-on.
Watch out Do not use acquisition volume to hide weak performance in the original business.
In the wild
An operator buys a long-running local window-cleaning company with recurring demand. After confirming customer retention, the operator tests a justified price increase and adds scheduling and customer-management software. Only after the core operation is stable does the operator consider a nearby add-on company.
→ The acquired demand is improved through pricing and operational technology rather than replaced with a new concept.
Common mistakes
Mistaking distress for opportunity
BRRT starts with a normal operating business. A company requiring immediate rescue changes the playbook into a turnaround.
Raising prices by reflex
Sanchez says these businesses are usually underpriced, but that is a hypothesis to validate in the specific company, not a universal fact.
Adding technology without a use case
Tools should make the existing operation better. Unfocused software can add cost and complexity without improving the business.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for operators buying stable local or service businesses with clear pricing and process opportunities.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for distressed rescues, novelty-driven startups, or businesses without established demand.
From the transcript
“we call one brrt which is we buy boring businesses in recession resistant asset classes 15 00 raise their prices and add technology”
“We want sort of a normal business, we make it a little bit nicer, we increase prices because usually they're underpriced.”
From the episode
543: How She Made $50M Buying Boring Businesses
Codie Sanchez