The Opportunity

Kustom US is a fast-growing consumer and commercial services company based in Orlando, Florida. The company has been growing at a compound rate in excess of 20% through a blend of green-field expansion and M&A. The restoration market is highly fragmented, growing at a rate twice that of GDP, and has several active PE-backed platforms looking to consolidate the space. The owner-CEO, Andrew Zavodney, has built a scalable platform, the operating margins of which are significantly better than those prevailing in the market. Zavodney expects to transition out of day-to-day leadership of the company within the next 5-10 years, during which time he expects continued growth in the 20%+ range and plans to expand into related services such as environment remediation.

The Need

In order to advance the Company in it goals, Zavodney sought an executive to join the team as COO. This individual would take on P&L leadership for the Company’s 20+ branches, standardize processes and integrate acquired companies, and refocus the Company in the commercial services and large loss markets and away from residential services. Prior experience working in a sponsored environment was considered a huge plus as Kustom’s operating processes, investor mindset, and focus on outcomes align well with that market. Zavodney had previously hired a top-3 global firm to conduct the search who had been in the market 13-months already without success.

The Results

In retaining Vardis, Kustom was attracted by its “Partner Led/Partner Delivered” search model. Vardis’ involvement resulted in the hiring of Kevin Sheppard as COO. Kevin spent the entirety of his professional career in the environmental services space, first with Clean Harbors where he rose to SVP, Sales Operations, and then with ACV Enviro, a private-owned company, where he served as Chief Development Officer. During this time, he successfully led the business to a sale to Republic Services and championed a financial strategy resulting in a 35% increase in annual revenue and an 80% increase in profitability. Kustom’s CEO said, “Hiring Kevin catapults Kustom onto a new playing field. We truly have a best-in-class team. I’m confident we will go into 2023 the strongest we’ve ever been, with a high-velocity operating model that will empower our people to deliver an unmatched caliber of service to our customers.” Vardis has completed six engagements with Kustom, in finance, operations, and sales. Most recently Vardis recruited a new member to Kustom’s Board of Directors as well as a Chief Human Resources Officer.

Kustom Case Study

The Opportunity

The Need

The Results

The Team