America's new millionaire class: Plumbers and HVAC entrepreneurs

Millionaire class? The article describes a small business owner who wants to retire. Meanwhile, the private equity firms are going to monopolize the market and raise prices. Sadly, none of the 20 or 30 year olds who are actually doing the work will be able to buy out their owners business.

Any young tradespeople: form a coop and buy your bosses business. Better to be a 10% owner than 0%.

The private equity + consolidation part concerns me too. Bad for the customer and the next gen of small business owners.

I would expect those same PE companies to lobby for legislation to make it harder for new start up competitors to start.

We are stupid if we let this happen.

What we need are new antitrust laws, not only to breakup or tax megacorps, but also to breakup consolidation of control from investment firms (private equity but also others). Without this, there is no real fair playing field for competition.

Owners would never sell their business to young tradespeople for any less than twice the value. The hatred that the old have against the young is just too strongly ingrained.

They'll be fine with selling for much less to a "worthy" buyer though, such as a private equity firm.

> Bad for the customer and the next gen of small business owners.

Another example of the previous generation pulling up the ladder once they've reached the top. Sell the business to Private Equity (who will squeeze both employees and customers), flip everyone the bird, and parachute off to Florida to suck down Pina Coladas for the rest of your life.

That seems a very cynical view, and it doesn't ring true to me. Anecdotally, I know of multiple business that were built up by one person, and then practically gifted to the employees. Some people really care about the business, customers, and employees.

The real question is how do we get the next generation to realiie they can start their own business and take all the money the private equity is trying to get.

> Anecdotally, I know of multiple business that were built up by one person, and then practically gifted to the employees.

And when was that? Because that's how it used to be, a business would go to the children or a child of the owner, or go to the employees. But that trend has changed and that's why we're reading this article. More small/medium business owners send their kids to study for different careers, and the relationship between owners and employees aren't the same as they might have been in the past. The owner generally feel a lot of resentment towards his employees because they are mere workers and not as successful as him, and partly because their salaries are an expense that he doesn't feel it is fair that he has to pay. The current generation of old people are quite different from previous.