Introducing The ACE Framework

Since 2015, Acquira has acquired over 30 companies and invested in more than $50 million worth of small businesses. In the last year, we’ve created one roll-up that we plan to take public in 2023.

We've learned how to acquire businesses, implement systems, build culture, and create companies that allow owners to grow their own wealth and freedom.

Allowing for freedom is why we created The ACE Framework, a change management system designed to grow an ownership-run business into a management-run business.

What Is An ACE?

• An ACE is a company that grows under its own power.
• An ACE is a company that believes in servant leadership.
• An ACE is a company that believes its employees are more than just resources.
• An ACE is a company that improves its community.
• An ACE is a board-run company.
• An ACE is a company that improves the lives of everyone in its orbit.

Managing a company in the modern world, with all of its interconnectivity, complicated relationships, and technological challenges takes discipline and hard work. One of the best ways to tackle these challenges is through effective methodologies and systems. 

Properly built systems help us declutter our workflow and they provide us with a solid foundation to meet key goals. That’s where the ACE Framework comes in.

ACE stands for “Acquira Certified Enterprise.” It is our proprietary change management system, designed to integrate, systematize, and grow newly acquired businesses, with a special emphasis on culture, systems, and servant leadership.

“Our framework is about identifying a leadership team, ideally within the organization,” explains Acquira CEO Hayden Miyamoto. “It’s about really investing in the team, training them, and getting buy-in and implementing a lot of the procedures that we've already created for the home service space.”

The Four Pillars

There are four pillars to any successful business that, once optimized, will ensure the company is successful. ACE helps businesses build their leadership team and educate that team in each of those pillars: Strategic Planning, People & Culture, Operations & Systems, and Revenue & Finance. 

By balancing each of these pillars, you can ensure that the business will grow under its own steam. 

Strategic Planning includes:  Annual planning through a forecasting procedure Defining your Mission, Vision, and Values Creating departmental missions and departmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Conducting leadership team audits Developing an organizational chart & company structure Implementing Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

Operations & Finance includes: Scheduling and dispatch procedures, scripts, and KPIs Customer Service training, procedures, checklists and KPIs Procedures, checklists, and KPIs for technicians Warehouse and inventory software, procedures, checklists, and KPIs Equipment maintenance procedures, checklists, and KPIs Fleet procurement procedures, checklists, and KPIs Financial budgeting Conducting operational audits Monthly P&L board presentations Implementing ERP for Operations and Finance

Culture & Clarity includes: Creating job descriptions with deliverables that are linked to procedures with success metrics How to implement structured communication, including one-on-one meetings and performance reviews Creating an employee handbook Onboarding & training procedures Hiring procedures Designing compensation and bonus structures Designing career progression paths How to accentuate culture Creating a culture where ideas flow in all directions Conducting regular clarity audits Human Resources Management Systems

Revenue includes: Price book optimizations Sales tech training, procedures, checklists, and KPIs Digital & traditional marketing strategy Process and training for building a B2B sales team Procedures for validating new markets New product validation procedures and training Understanding revenue and creating financial projections Creating your customer avatars & understanding what work you should stop doing by analyzing contribution margin by segment Building a price book Digital & traditional marketing strategy Reducing the cash conversion cycle Sales tech training, procedures, checklists, and KPIs Demand planning and complete financial budgets Process and training for building a B2B sales team Procedures for validating new markets and new products

The purpose of the Framework is to ensure that each of those pillars is balanced. The ACE Integration process is designed to help business owners create that balance. 

ACE Integration

The ACE Integration process takes one year to complete and members receive in-depth, on-site coaching from an ACE Certified Integrators. It includes four in-depth workshops, as well as six additional “Solutions Visits” from an Integrator to help address any specific issues.

“These concepts are introduced over a longer period of time with the help of an extremely emotionally intelligent, empathetic integrator who we've been identifying and accrediting along the way,” Hayden explains. “We're now working with a few people who are just fantastic. It's typically a year-long engagement involving an external integrator and all of these systems and tools.”

The integrators we work with have backgrounds in entrepreneurship, investment banking, private equity, and business operations. 

Learn more about ACE Integration.

Conclusion

The ACE Framework is a system that encourages discipline – where goals are set and people are accountable for those goals. It is a robust and comprehensive management system that will help any business improve its output.

Schedule a call with us today to learn how we can help.

Key Takeaways

• A fully balanced business requires Strategic Planning, Culture & Clarity, Operations & Finance, and Revenue to be working in tandem.
• An ACE Integrator will provide a combination of mentoring and on-site visits to ensure your company grows.
• The ACE Framework is the best way to grow your business in order to sell it for more than what you paid.