Strategic Acquisition Positions HeiTech Services for Rapid Growth

Overview

A historic wave of business transitions is taking shape across the United States. According to McKinsey’s The Great Ownership Transfer, roughly six million small and medium-size businesses will face ownership transitions by 2035 as baby boomers retire, putting millions of companies, tens of millions of jobs and significant economic value into play.

In the middle market, change is already commonplace. The National Center for the Middle Market 2020 study on business transitions found that more than three-quarters of companies had either experienced a major transition in the previous five years or expected one in the next five, with the fastest-growing companies the most likely to undergo frequent shifts. Today, acquisition activity remains strong: 20% of middle market companies have completed an acquisition in the past year, while 57% say they are at least somewhat likely to make one in the year ahead.

Despite being commonplace, transitions come with many challenges, not the least of which is finding a willing buyer. For service-disabled veteran-owned government contractors, the challenge is especially acute, because maintaining that designation and the contracts tied to it significantly narrows the pool of potential successors.

This case study explores how one veteran entrepreneur stepped into that gap, acquiring HeiTech Services and creating a path to preserve jobs, sustain a successful business and build its next chapter of growth.

The Opportunity

Acquire the right platform for growth

Inspired by his mother, who ran an in-home daycare that allowed her to support her family while spending time with her own children, Brandon Muniz knew from a young age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. While serving in the U.S. Army, he began preparing for his path to business ownership, using his free time to study entrepreneurship and eventually interning under the owner of Acquisitions.com, where he learned the mechanics of structuring deals, executing transactions and creating value after an acquisition.

Those experiences convinced him that buying an established business offered advantages over starting from scratch. An existing company came with customers, employees, systems, cash flow and a proven track record, providing a foundation he could build upon while sidestepping some of the earliest and greatest risks of entrepreneurship. It also offered the opportunity to carry forward the legacy of an existing business and provide an exit path for an owner ready to retire.

But Muniz wasn’t looking for just any established company. He wanted a business where his background could provide a distinct advantage. His military service, including strategic communications and service with the U.S. Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, had taught him to lead, plan, solve problems and adapt quickly when circumstances changed. Combined with his knowledge of government contracting, those skills made the sector a natural fit, and HeiTech specifically checked the right boxes.

As a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HeiTech needed to maintain qualifying service-disabled veteran ownership and control to preserve its SDVOSB status and eligibility for certain contracts. It also had an ethical founder, an experienced management team and clear opportunities to use AI and process improvements to drive growth. For Muniz, the acquisition offered the chance not simply to own a successful business, but also to build on its strengths while applying his own capabilities to create additional value.

The majority of companies fail within their first five years. By acquiring a company with more than five years of proven history, much of that initial risk has already been overcome. I also saw an opportunity to leverage the skills and experience I had developed to build upon an existing business, continue its legacy, grow it for the future and, most importantly, take care of the employees who helped make it successful.”

The Approach / Solution

Proactively position the business for continued growth

Muniz approached the acquisition with equal focus on successfully navigating the ownership transition and preparing HeiTech for its next phase of growth. That meant balancing new ideas with existing strengths, staying decisive in the face of uncertainty, and investing in the people and capabilities needed to compete for the future.

Five priorities have guided that approach.

Align stakeholders around shared success

One of the most important parts of the acquisition happened well before the deal closed: understanding what success could look like for everyone involved. While rigorous due diligence is essential, Muniz believes taking
the time to consider each party’s priorities helps build the trust and alignment needed for a successful transition.

“Successful acquisitions are the acquisitions where everyone walks away feeling like they had a win,” he says.

That philosophy shaped his approach to the transition, ensuring the deal did not focus solely on his own objectives as the buyer. By identifying where the interests of the seller, employees, business partners and other stakeholders align, Muniz has worked to create an environment of transparency and collaboration in which all parties can share in the company’s continued success.

Balance fresh perspective with institutional knowledge

Muniz was 26 when he acquired the nearly 26-year-old HeiTech, making him one of the youngest people in the room as he took the helm of a seasoned team and began working with federal leaders who had already built long careers overseeing critical government programs.

Rather than viewing his age as a disadvantage, Muniz focused on the value he could bring through his military experience, technology skill set and preparation in acquisitions. At the same time, he recognized that HeiTech’s existing team possessed deep institutional knowledge that could not be replaced.

That combination of confidence and a willingness to rely on the institutional knowledge of HeiTech’s experienced management team helped the company navigate an unexpectedly compressed ownership transition. Instead of arriving with a mandate to overhaul the company, Muniz focused on empowering employees to identify opportunities and giving them the resources to act. By listening first and applying his own perspective where it could add value, he built trust while preserving the expertise that had made HeiTech successful.

Stay decisive amid uncertainty

Military experience taught Muniz that making a good decision today is often better than waiting indefinitely for the perfect one. Whether addressing personnel issues, replacing outdated tools or refocusing priorities, “Don’t be afraid of being the bad guy,” he says. “Make the decisions that you know are right, even if they’re unpopular.”

Acting decisively allows organizations to learn faster, correct course and maintain momentum during periods of transition. This became especially important when the acquisition veered sharply from what had been planned. Muniz expected a 90-day transition with HeiTech’s previous owner, but circumstances compressed the handoff to just two weeks. Soon after, widespread federal contract reductions associated with the government-wide Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative created what HeiTech’s president, Carl Etchison, described as the most challenging government contracting environment in more than 30 years.

Amid the disruption, Muniz and his management team remained focused on business development as the most important priority. Even as many government contractors pulled back and shifted attention to internal issues, HeiTech hired a new business development team, increased proposal activity and worked closely with customers to understand their evolving priorities. Keeping an external focus positioned the business to take advantage of critical key growth opportunities.

Use AI to amplify people and resources, not replace them

Alongside business development, Muniz identified automation as another critical area in which to strengthen HeiTech. Because security requirements can limit the use of off-the-shelf solutions, he saw an opportunity to build fit-for-purpose automation around specific business problems, both within the company’s back office and on agency contracts. The team began by looking for repetitive, manual and data-heavy processes where technology could remove bottlenecks and increase capacity.

Internally, the goal was never to automate jobs away, but to shift employees from manual execution toward oversight, quality control and higher-value work. In one use case, an employee with no previous coding experience used AI to build a timekeeping application for HeiTech’s telehealth nurses, automating administrative work that had consumed three days each month. The tool reduced demands on the accounting team while giving nurses more time to support veterans and their families.

HeiTech is applying the same thinking across its federal contract work, proposing custom AI tools, machine learning and other applications that can make government processes more efficient and cost-effective, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars.

Keep building new ways to differentiate and deliver value

Muniz views HeiTech’s service-disabled veteran-owned designation as an advantage, but not one the company can rely on for long-term success. His approach is to continually ask what value HeiTech can provide that competitors cannot and to build those capabilities before they are needed.

For example, HeiTech pursued CMMC Level 2 certification, a rigorous cybersecurity standard that enables contractors to handle sensitive government information. Earning the certification required more than six months of work, a six-figure investment and significant technology and process improvements. Because relatively few small government contractors have achieved it, the capability strengthens customer confidence while creating a meaningful point of differentiation that expands future opportunities for HeiTech.

Muniz plans to continue adding specialized expertise as the company grows. This could include new acquisitions that have complementary capabilities, such as specialized cybersecurity, expanding the value HeiTech can provide customers along with the company’s ability to compete for larger, more complex contracts.

There are always growing pains that come with growth, but there’s also a cost to stagnation. It’s been incredibly rewarding to bring new people into our team, see them embrace our culture and get them invested in the vision for HeiTech and where we’re headed over the long term.”

The Results:

New wins. New opportunities.

The long-term vision for HeiTech is to build on its longstanding customer relationships and reputation as an ethical, trusted government partner, grow beyond its small-business designation and ultimately compete with some of the industry’s largest contractors to bring its solutions to a broader customer base. The first 18 months under Muniz’s ownership have set the stage, with new contracts, significant workforce growth and expanded capabilities strengthening the company’s position for what comes next.

For Muniz, the formula for sustaining that momentum and achieving the growth objectives comes down to delivering for both employees and customers. “Outcomes are everything. If you can create a safe, stable and innovative environment where your employees can thrive and consistently deliver the outcomes your customers need, you can build and sustain growth in any industry.”

You come into the industry with a certain level of credibility because people trust the way the military raises veterans. But it’s only enough to open the door. You have to be commercially competitive, and you have to be bringing solutions that the customer needs.”