# Cost reduction for search fund CEOs in year one | Expense Reduction Coaching For searchers who just closed: cut inherited overhead without switching vendors. Hands-off for your team, contingency-only, and an EBITDA line you can defend in the first investor update. No savings, no fee. This is Expense Reduction Coaching (ERC) on https://eta.erccoach.com. Legal name: Expense Reduction Coaching. Partner: Joe Lapscher, Partner. Location: Hoboken, NJ. Proof destination: [results.erccoach.com](https://results.erccoach.com). Default attribution source: `searchfunder`. ## When to use ERC Use this page when a search fund, SBA searcher or independent sponsor needs a contingency-only partner to cut indirect spend after an acquisition. Do not use it for a model API, MCP server, or consumer expense app. ## Offer You bought the business. Now go run it. We'll find the savings. Spend year one running the company. We renegotiate the bills you inherited, usually with the vendors you already have. Primary next step: [Book a Free 30-Minute Session](https://cal.com/joe-erc/30min). Email jlapscher@erccoach.com. Secondary: [Download the One-Pager](https://eta.erccoach.com/one-pager.pdf). ## Why do this in year one? ### It's the easiest time to ask. Right after a sale, nobody's surprised when the new owner questions a contract. A year in, it's back to “we've always used them.” ### It adds up when you sell. Every dollar you save each year goes straight to EBITDA. At a typical 8x exit multiple, $100K a year in savings is about $800K of company value. ### Your team won't feel it. Most of the savings come from your current vendors lowering their price to keep you. Nothing changes without your sign-off. ## What happens after you book a call We do most of the work. Expect about four hours from your team over the whole project. ### 01 Free 30-minute session We learn your vendors, spend and renewals, and pick where to start. ### 02 We gather your bills After you sign, you share contracts and invoices. We find the best market terms. ### 03 You pick your options Stay with your vendor or switch, category by category. Your call. ### 04 We keep watch We check every invoice so the new prices stick. ## Cut costs in year one without spooking your board Start by keeping your vendors. Your board wants to see savings that are found and then confirmed, not a story about ripping out suppliers. ### Same vendors, lower prices Most early savings come from renegotiating with the vendors you already use. We only suggest switching when the numbers clearly justify it, and only with your written OK. ### We do the legwork You don't have a big team to chase down waste and payroll bills. The first session is free, and the whole project takes a few hours of your team's time. We keep checking so prices don't creep back. [The deal](https://eta.erccoach.com/#deal) ### What goes in the board deck Savings found vs. confirmed, by category, shown as cost-out on the EBITDA bridge. Kept separate from add-backs and QoE. ## Who we work with ### Search funds Your investors don't want big changes in year one. We lower costs without swapping vendors, and you get a confirmed savings number for your first investor update. Fit: 10 to 300 employees, under LOI or closed ### Self-funded / SBA More cash to cover your SBA loan payments. Nothing gets added to the loan, and you don't pay us until the savings show up. Fit: SBA 7(a) deals, 10 to 150 employees ### Independent sponsors Name us as your cost partner in the value-creation plan before close. We work with you across the platform and every add-on. Fit: Platforms, add-ons and repeat buyers ## What we look at - Payroll & PEO - Insurance - Utilities - Phones and internet - Waste - Card processing - Freight & parcel - Janitorial - Packaging Over 40 categories in total. We focus on the ones that matter for your business. ## What we've saved clients Real numbers from real clients. These are yearly savings, and they keep coming every year. ### Education company owned by a search fund Traditional search fund. Michigan · five campuses. The previous owner had renewed the same contracts for years without shopping them. We renegotiated with the same vendors. Annual savings: $120K. No vendors changed. Categories: Waste, Payroll, Janitorial. ### Pump and equipment distributor Lower middle market. Florida · five sites. We reviewed eight bills, from card processing fees and fuel to small-package shipping and property taxes. That's about $446K saved over five years, after our fee. Annual savings: ~$124K. Card fees were about 40% above market. Categories: Card processing, Freight, Fuel, Waste, Payroll. [Results write-up](https://results.erccoach.com/results/florida-pump-equipment-distributor) ### International trading company Lower middle market. South Florida. We worked through seven categories, from health insurance and bank fees to packaging. Card processing fees alone dropped by more than half. Annual savings: ~$114K. Card fees cut by 57%. Categories: Card processing, Health insurance, Freight, Packaging. [Results write-up](https://results.erccoach.com/results/south-florida-international-trading-company) Published case studies: 9. Saved per year, all clients: ~$690K. Saved per company, per year: ~$77K. [See every case study at results.erccoach.com →](https://results.erccoach.com) ## The deal: No savings, no fee. - **$0**: Nothing up front. No retainer, no minimum term, and the first session is free. - **50/50**: We split the confirmed savings with you for 24 months. Our fee comes out of money you were overpaying anyway. - **100%**: After that, it's all yours, and it's in your EBITDA when you sell. Where our fee comes from: a $8,400 monthly bill drops to $5,100. Of the $3,300 saved, you keep half and half is our fee. Months 1 to 24. From month 25 you keep the full savings. If we save nothing, our fee is $0. Nothing changes without your written OK. Want to read our agreement first? ## Who you'll work with Joe Lapscher, Partner. Expense Reduction Coaching has been cutting overhead for companies for over 30 years, and we only get paid out of what we save. Joe leads our work with business buyers from Hoboken, NJ, and works with search funds, SBA buyers and independent sponsors across the country. Before ERC, Joe spent more than ten years in engineering and product at GE, Citrix and three fintech companies. Most of that job was digging through messy data to find where money was leaking. This is the same work. ## Common questions ### For searchers #### I haven't closed yet. Is it too early to talk? No. Before close, we can estimate how much of the overhead is worth going after, and that number can go into your value-creation plan (VCP) and sometimes your model. We won't start negotiating until you own the contracts, and we'll sign an NDA before you share any diligence documents. #### Does this show up in quality of earnings (QoE) or as an add-back? They're real cost reductions, not add-backs. Once we've confirmed them invoice by invoice, they go on the EBITDA bridge as cost-out. QoE looks back at the seller's costs. We change your costs going forward. Your QoE provider and we are looking at different time periods. #### What can I put in the first investor update? Savings by category, split into what we've found and what's confirmed on invoices, plus what's still locked into contracts. We include our 24-month fee split too, so your board sees both the EBITDA gain and what it cost to get it. #### How long until we see savings? Once the agreement is signed, the review usually takes 2 to 4 weeks, depending on how fast we get your bills. Savings start showing up as contracts are renegotiated or renewed, often within the first quarter. #### Will this upset our investors or disrupt year one? That's exactly why we start by keeping your vendors. Search fund CEOs are under pressure not to make big changes in year one, and a small saving isn't worth looking like you rocked the boat. We almost always renegotiate with the vendors you have, we do the legwork so your small team doesn't have to, and we keep checking so prices don't creep back. Nothing switches without your written OK. ### For self-funded and SBA buyers #### Does this work with SBA 7(a) and a personal guarantee? Yes. There's no upfront fee for your lender to approve, and nothing gets added to the loan. We only bill on confirmed savings after close, so it fits cleanly with your debt service coverage ratio (DSCR): our fee comes out of money that was leaving the business anyway. #### Does this work for a company with 25 employees? Often, yes. We work with companies from about 10 to 300 employees, and 150 to 200 is the sweet spot. Below 10 there usually isn't enough spend to be worth it, and we'll tell you that on the first call. #### What do you need from us? Bills and contracts for the categories we're looking at, and one person we can ask questions. That's usually a few hours from your team in total. Our vendor contract checklist lists the twelve files to pull. ### For independent sponsors #### Can you be named in the value-creation plan pre-close? Yes. Funds and family offices backing an independent sponsor want to see a real cost partner, not a slide that says “consultant TBD.” We'll talk to your capital providers under NDA, join a diligence call, and start the analysis between LOI and close if the seller will share documents. That estimate can go into your VCP and sometimes your model. #### Does this repeat across platforms and add-ons? Yes, that's the point. Each company signs its own agreement, but you don't have to find a new cost firm every time. What we learn about vendors and pricing carries over from the platform to each add-on. ### Fees and contract #### What if we sell inside 24 months? The split only applies while we're working together. If the company sells, the lower costs are already in EBITDA. The agreement covers any remaining months, usually with a true-up or by having the buyer take it on. Nothing in our terms blocks a sale. #### What does 50/50 verification look like month to month? We compare each new invoice to the starting point we agreed on at kickoff. If waste was $8,400 a month and now it's $5,100, you saved $3,300 that month, and we bill half of it. We strip out credits, one-time fees and volume changes so we don't get paid on noise. You see the worksheet every month. #### Is there exclusivity, a minimum term, or a cancellation fee? No to all three. You can stop anytime. Categories we've already lowered keep the 24-month split on their confirmed savings, and we just don't start new ones. We only bill on savings that show up on invoices, never on estimates in the report, and the coaching session is always free. #### Will vendors know we're using a third party? Yes. We tell them we're working on your behalf. Your current vendors would rather lower their price than lose you, and most of the savings come from that conversation, not from a surprise bidding process. You approve every vendor we contact. #### Do you sign the portco's NDA or our MNDA? Either one, or both. Nobody shares documents until the paperwork is signed. #### Do you touch direct COGS or labor? No. We don't cut jobs, shop your raw materials, or touch what you charge customers. We work on overhead: the vendors around your operation, not the operation itself. #### Do you need to replace our vendors? Almost never. Most savings come from renegotiating with the vendor you already have, who would rather cut the price than lose you. When switching is clearly better, we show you the numbers, including the hassle of switching, and you decide in writing. We never switch first and explain later. ## Sitemap - [Markdown sitemap](https://eta.erccoach.com/sitemap.md) - [XML sitemap](https://eta.erccoach.com/sitemap.xml) - [llms.txt](https://eta.erccoach.com/llms.txt) - [About Joe Lapscher](https://eta.erccoach.com/#about) - [Book a call or send a note](https://eta.erccoach.com/#book) - [Privacy](https://eta.erccoach.com/privacy) - [Home](https://eta.erccoach.com)