I Bought a $3.5M Business and Regret It (Here’s Why)

Acquisition Collective

He Bought a Roofing Company—And It Nearly Broke Him: Hard Lessons in Business Acquisition
In this brutally honest interview, Camille shares his raw and unfiltered journey of acquiring a commercial roofing business—and the major challenges that followed. After growing his residential roofing company in New Jersey from $300K to $7M in revenue, Camille stepped into the world of business acquisitions with high hopes. What he got was a reality check.
From due diligence missteps to culture clashes, team dysfunction, overestimating synergies, and the harsh truth of managing people stuck in a fixed mindset—this is the behind-the-scenes story of what can go wrong after the deal closes.
Key Topics:
Buying a business from family & scaling it
Transitioning from residential to commercial roofing
How poor team dynamics can kill growth
The danger of culture fit and tight-knit legacy teams
Missing red flags during due diligence
The cost of misplaced trust and weak expectations
Why his next acquisition will look very different
The hard pivot from “culture guy” to “performance guy”
This is a must-watch for anyone in the acquisitions space, especially if you're considering buying a service business or taking over a legacy team.
Intro – Building and buying roofing companies
02:04 The acquisition journey begins
06:00 Red flags ignored during due diligence
08:00 Team vetting mistakes
10:30 Culture shock: legacy staff vs. new systems
17:00 Deal structure, seller behavior, and SBA terms
26:00 What he'd do differently on the next acquisition
36:00 Crushing lessons on leadership, vision, and team fit
42:00 How he's turning it around now
49:00 Advice for future business buyers
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