Antony Startup
Antony Startup is the President of Criterium-Twin Cities Engineers located in Edina, Minnesota. He has an extensive background in project management, continuous improvement, engineering and construction management having worked in the industrial sector in the UK, Canada, and the United States.
Prior to becoming an affiliate owner with Criterium Engineers, Antony was responsible for leading and implementing business process improvements for large private companies in the energy and agriculture sectors. We were able to chat with Antony about his experience acquiring an existing Criterium Engineers franchise.
Can you give us a bit of background on yourself and how you discovered the opportunity with Criterium-Schimnowski?
I was in engineering design in the UK for a while, then moved to Canada and added project management. I really enjoyed the project management side and transitioned more into business development towards the end of my corporate career. I worked for large companies and took time off during COVID for family reasons.
I started thinking about long-term goals and always wanted to manage my own business. It offered the freedom and flexibility to make decisions and drive strategy, which can be challenging in the corporate world.
After the break, I explored acquiring a business, considering my criteria, and working with brokers. Initially, I was not interested in Criterium Engineers because I wasn’t sure about returning to engineering. But as I looked closer, it ticked several boxes: my engineering background, experience with inspection-type work, and project management. It ended up being a slow burn, with the opportunity becoming more appealing over time.
Did you consider establishing a new location before acquiring an existing one?
While looking at [Criterium] Schimnowski, I also explored other businesses, weighing starting a new Criterium franchise against buying an existing one.
What stood out about buying an existing business was the stability, security, and known pipeline of work. I wanted a business operating for at least 10 years with around $1,000,000 in revenue, which this franchise met. [Criterium] Schimnowski also had more potential, as it specialized in retaining wall work and design, with untapped opportunities in real estate evaluations, offering growth without sacrificing revenue.
Can you walk us through the process of acquiring the franchise?
Paul [Schimnowski] was working with a broker. I went through the typical NDA process. I took my time to learn more about the business, review offering memorandums, and then met with the broker and the seller. There you have discussions about what the business really does and pricing strategy. Then I started working with David [Leopold, President, Criterium Engineers] and the rest of the franchise headquarters team talking about the onboarding process.
What did you appreciate about the onboarding experience from Criterium’s involvement? Was there anything you believe could improve the acquisition or onboarding experience?
I liked the initial training and the onboarding process. Criterium, like many franchises, did their discovery day where they introduced you to key personnel on the team and they talked to you about the franchise and the history, which I appreciated.
The flip side is there’s not a readily available resource, such as a general support hotline where you just pick up the phone and you get immediate support all the time. You have got to be a bit proactive when you need something. That said, I have not had any issues getting support when I needed it, and people have been willing to discuss what support should look like. So, I appreciate that and the support I’ve received has helped me get the business up and running.
How has the transition of ownership impacted day to day operations at Criterium-Twin Cities Engineers?
I think for day-to-day operations, there hasn’t been much change to this point. When we were talking earlier, we talked about the busy season. So that typically runs from April through October. I bought the business beginning of March/end of February, at the beginning of that busy season. So, from a day-to-day operations perspective, we kept everything simple.
Because the whole team is getting used to new ownership and we wanted to avoid unnecessary changes on the operation side. We made minor tweaks to certain systems and how we operate on a day-to-day basis but nothing significant, but that is what we are going to be focusing on in this next year. Meeting new metrics longer term.
Did existing customers have any response or reaction to the change in ownership?
Not really. We sent out an announcement to a lot of people, especially those repeat customers we had relationships with. The retaining wall business is roughly 1/3 of our overall revenue and a lot of that is driven by repeat clients. We made them aware of the change, but with Paul [Schimnowski] staying on1, the impact was minimal.
It’s accepted that clients are going to send checks to a different address, the name of the company is going to be different, but I think we’ve done our best to try and keep the service level that they appreciated, and they’re still working with the same people. So, we definitely didn’t have a negative reaction, but again, I think it’s just because it was business as usual for most people.
1Incoming Affiliate Owners may have the opportunity to discuss the option for the seller to stay with the office for an agreed upon duration after the ownership transfer, to support a smooth transition and facilitate knowledge sharing.
What strategies (either new or existing) have you implemented to reach new customers in your local area?
We have started to branch out and try to be more proactive around HOAs [Homeowner Associations]. That was previously an untapped market for Paul under Criterium-Schimnowski. So, with Alan Mooney’s [P.E., Founding President of Criterium Engineers] support, we spent time really trying to tap into that market, understand those customers, learn more about the services, and products that they need to build that side of the business.
And then the other piece was commercial inspections and evaluations. That meant starting to spend more time and energy working with commercial brokers and trying to understand that business, talking about the different commercial valuations that we do.
For me, what I want to do is step away from the transactional clients, for instance, the one-time foundation evaluation we might do for a single-family home and instead look more at building relationships with long term HOAs, commercial brokers, and real estate agents. The primary focus is building a customer base around those relationships and minimizing the transactional clients.
What financial metrics or KPIs do you focus on to assess the performance of the office?
Good question. Obviously, revenue is a marker, but it’s not a great indicator of business sustainability since you can have great revenue but low or no profit. I keep track of where we’re heading in terms of revenue, profit percentage, and revenue per employee.
I also look at where the business is coming from, which we historically didn’t understand. We’re now focused on getting a better grasp of where business is coming from and how much profit we’re making on certain types of jobs, as that data is more available.
I hope to upgrade our data tracking systems in the next year. We’ve started a trial with a system called Jobber, which, while designed for plumbers and electricians, offers insights into how I get leads and turn them into quotes. It also helps track project hours and improves accuracy in metrics.
The system isn’t perfect for our business, but there won’t be a perfect off-the-shelf option unless we build one. I also think it’s important not to focus only on quantitative metrics like profit but also on qualitative ones—are customers happy, and are we delivering a good product? Profits are great, but without client satisfaction, it’s just a one-time deal, and that’s not the business we’re building. We want relationships and repeat business, which is harder to measure.
What has been rewarding and/or challenging about owning a Criterium-Twin Cities Engineers?
For me, the most rewarding part is living the life I wanted by taking the risk to leave a secure corporate job with a good salary and benefits but lacking personal fulfillment. I decided it was now or never, despite having two young kids, to take a chance and avoid the regret of not trying something new instead of staying in a job that left me dissatisfied.
Biggest challenge? I have been fortunate that Paul is the guy that he is, and he’s got a lot of integrity. The franchise is what he told me it was going to be. Often, you hear people discover unpleasant surprises post transaction because the seller was not as truthful as possible or put too much polish on certain aspects of the business. I also benefited from the fact that Paul was willing to stay on and work with me too. So, I feel like the challenges have been minimal.
It has been more about getting familiar with the business. Getting to know the people in a remote environment. I must know people at headquarters, but it’s not like we’re in the same office building. Same with the other affiliates. That can be a challenge.
Asking for help like, ‘I do not know you, but I really need your help, can you help me with this?’ But everyone has been very willing to help. That was a bit of a challenge stepping into the busy season. That limits what you can do, but at least you generate revenue quickly, which is nice.
Looking back, is there anything you would do differently in the acquisition or the initial phase of ownership?
I think there’s always stuff you can do differently, but would it have made a huge difference to the outcome? I don’t know. One thing I do think about is getting a quality of earnings report during due diligence. It helps verify the numbers, confirm the clients are real, and ensure the financials are correct.
Though I think they are worth the investment, I chose not to get one because I felt good about Paul and the numbers. Plus, Paul’s willingness to stay on as an employee for several years reassured me. I figured if something was off, he wouldn’t be so open about the deal we structured.
That said, a quality of earnings report is great for mitigating risk, and if I bought another business, I’d likely do one. I also wish I’d spent more time with the team in the field, interacting with clients. Fortunately, that’s something I can still work on. The team’s been steady, and business has been good, but if I could go back, I’d focus more on that aspect.
What trends in the industry or in franchising in general do you see as significant for your business?
Starting at a higher level, I feel like the COVID break created an environment where many people paused to think about what they want to do. There are more people like me, interested in building their own business or buying a franchise, who are well-suited for it but not necessarily willing to take the leap.
Golden handcuffs make it hard to give up security and take a temporary pay cut to take a risk, but more people are dissatisfied with corporate America and want more control over their day-to-day life. There’s growing interest in franchises because they mitigate risk. With a proven system, it’s a less uncertain step into business ownership, and people are realizing it’s a good path to long-term financial security.
In the engineering industry, we’ve started using drones more, and I think there’ll be more remote visual evaluations. AI will play a bigger role in initial evaluations, helping filter out noise, but people will still want or need an engineer in many situations. So, we have some built-in security there.
AI will change how we work, especially in report writing and evaluations, but our biggest risk is not responding to new technology. Complacency is a danger, so it’s essential to assess whether it adds value now and what it needs to do to add value in the future. Fortunately, we are far from being replaced, and it’s likely the busy work will be what gets taken.
What are your long-term goals for Criterium Twin-Cities Engineers?
I want to grow the business. In the short term, I want to focus on establishing the culture—getting clear on what we do, what service we provide, our core values, and our mission and vision. These are short-term priorities that will help build our longer-term strategy. We’re fortunate to have a good team that takes pride in their work, and we can build on that as we grow. Culture has been on my mind because there’s always that trap where you can fall into focusing on revenue growth and hoping that the culture will figure itself out.
But for me it is a priority right now because we have a small team. It is a lot easier to be intentional about building the right culture now instead of when you’re a team of 15 or more people and then deciding to change the organizational culture. You must be intentional about that. Having that culture, the vision, and the mission will help the team understand where we want to take the business and what we want Criterium-Twin Cities to look like in the future.