The closing is behind you. The real work starts Monday at 6 AM — and nobody hands you a playbook for the next five days. Here is one.
You spent six months doing due diligence. You negotiated the deal. You signed the papers on a Friday afternoon, shook hands, and drove home. Congratulations — you own an HVAC business.
Now it’s Monday morning. You’re standing in the parking lot at 6 AM, keys in hand, and the first truck just pulled up. A tech you’ve met twice looks at you from across the lot. You give him a wave. He gives you a nod. And you think: What do I actually do today?
I sold my company after 22 years. Then I watched dozens of buyers go through their first week — some of them smooth, most of them messy. The difference wasn’t intelligence or experience. It was having a concrete, hour-by-hour plan for the first five business days.
This isn’t strategy. This isn’t vision. This is the tactical checklist the broker never gave you, the attorney never mentioned, and the seller definitely didn’t write down. Work through it in order. Don’t skip steps. Don’t get creative.
Before we get to Monday, though, you had a weekend.
The Weekend Before: Saturday and Sunday After Closing
Most buyers celebrate Friday and coast through the weekend. That’s a mistake. You have two days with no employees, no phones, and no pressure. Use them.
Saturday morning: Change the alarm code.
This is not optional and it is not symbolic. The previous owner, his wife, his brother-in-law who helped out during busy season, and three former employees may all know that code. Change it before you leave the building on Saturday. Write the new code somewhere secure and share it with exactly the people who need it on day one.
Saturday afternoon: Walk the facility alone.
No agenda, no checklist — just look. Open every cabinet. Turn on every light. Walk every bay. You’re not auditing. You’re orienting. You want the layout in your head before you’re doing it with eight people watching you. Look at what’s on the dispatch board for Monday. Read every job on it. You should know every open call before your first employee arrives.
Sunday: Read the dispatch software from home.
If the seller gave you login credentials, use them. Pull up the week’s schedule. Know which techs are assigned to which calls. Know who has the farthest drive, who has the equipment installs, who has the callbacks. You don’t need to change anything — you just need to know what Monday looks like before Monday happens.
Charge your phone. Set two alarms. You are about to receive somewhere between 20 and 50 calls in the next five days from people who don’t yet know you bought this company. Vendors, subs, existing customers, referral sources, equipment reps. Be ready.
Day 1 — Monday: Show Up, Be Present, Don’t Spook Anyone
Your only job today is not to scare people.
That sounds simple. It isn’t. Every employee in that shop is wondering whether they’re keeping their job, whether their pay is changing, whether the new guy is going to blow everything up. Your presence either settles that anxiety or amplifies it. Everything you do today should be designed to lower the temperature.
The all-hands meeting: Keep it under 15 minutes.
Gather everyone — techs, office staff, warehouse — before dispatches go out. Stand up front. Say this (or words very close to it):
“I want to take 10 minutes before we get the day started. My name is [name], and as of Friday I’m the new owner. I bought this company because it’s a good business with good people, and I don’t intend to change that. My goal for this week is to listen and learn — not to walk in here and start moving furniture. Nothing is changing today. If you have questions or concerns, my door is open. Let’s go take care of our customers.”
Then stop talking. Don’t overpromise. Don’t announce initiatives. Don’t talk about your vision for the future. Short, calm, clear.
After the meeting, let dispatch run normally — follow the existing schedule exactly as the seller left it.
Call every technician individually within four hours.
Not a group call. Each one, one-on-one, from your cell. Keep it brief: “Hey, it’s [name] — just wanted to touch base after this morning. How’s the day going? Anything you need from me?” That’s it. You’re not interrogating. You’re making contact. Techs talk to each other, and by 2 PM everyone will know whether the new owner called them personally. This matters more than you think — see the employee retention guide for why the first 48 hours set the retention trajectory.
What not to do on Day 1:
- Don’t move into the seller’s office
- Don’t change any process, price, or procedure
- Don’t make promises about raises, bonuses, or promotions
- Don’t fire anyone
- Don’t announce new software, new uniforms, or new branding
Today you are an observer with a checkbook. Act like it.
Day 2 — Tuesday: Money and Coverage
Today is the day you handle the two things that can blow up your company before the end of the week.
Bank account signature changes — first thing in the morning.
If the seller’s name is still on the business accounts, you have a problem. Depending on your deal structure, you may not have legal access to company funds, and the seller still technically does. Get to the bank when it opens. Bring your closing documents. Add your name, remove the seller’s (or put the account in your entity name). This is not bureaucratic — this is survival.
Insurance carrier notifications — before noon.
Call your commercial general liability carrier, your workers’ comp carrier, and your vehicle fleet insurer. Tell them the ownership change has occurred and the effective date. Ask each one to confirm coverage is continuous and that your name is on the policy as the insured.
Do not assume the seller’s policy automatically transfers. In most cases it doesn’t — there’s an endorsement or a new policy required. A gap in workers’ comp coverage on an active crew is a catastrophic exposure. A customer slip-and-fall during an uninsured window could cost you the company before you’ve made your first loan payment. This is not something to get to later. See the financial literacy crash course for background on the financial instruments involved in ownership transfers.
Review open estimates and pending jobs.
Pull the open estimate log out of the dispatch software or the office manager’s desk. For every estimate that’s more than two weeks old: note whether it’s been followed up. For every job that’s scheduled in the next 10 days: confirm the part is on order, the equipment is committed, and the customer is confirmed. Surprises in week two come from jobs nobody tracked in week one.
Return every call from yesterday.
If you didn’t catch it on Day 1 — vendor, customer, equipment rep — call them back today. Don’t let a backlog build. You are establishing your reputation as someone who returns calls. In a service business, that’s half the job.
Day 3 — Wednesday: Vendors, Passwords, and Your Spot in the Building
By Wednesday the initial shock has worn off for the employees. They’ve seen you’re not erratic. Now you have operational work to do.
Call every vendor and supplier today.
This means your primary equipment distributors (Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Rheem — whoever they buy from), your parts houses, your refrigerant supplier, your filter/IAQ vendor, and any subcontractors (sheet metal, electrical, plumbers) who work alongside your crews. The call is short:
“Hi, this is [name] — I’m the new owner at [company]. I wanted to introduce myself and make sure we’re squared away on the account. Can you confirm our terms and who we contact for ordering?”
Three things happen when you make these calls: you confirm the relationship is intact, you find out if the seller left unpaid balances that could freeze your credit, and you start building a personal connection with people who will become part of your vendor network for years.
Change every password and admin access.
Go through the list:
- Dispatch/field service software (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, ServiceFusion — whatever they run)
- Email accounts and domain admin
- Google Business Profile
- Social media accounts
- Website/CMS login
- Accounting software (QuickBooks, Sage, etc.)
- Supplier portals and online accounts
The seller’s access should be revoked. Not because they’re dishonest — because they don’t work here anymore and system hygiene matters. If you’re unsure how to locate all the accounts, your office manager almost certainly knows where the logins live.
Learn the dispatch workflow.
Sit with whoever runs dispatch — office manager, dispatcher, or yourself — and walk through a full day’s cycle. How do calls come in? How are they triaged? How does the software assign to techs? What happens when a tech needs a part mid-job? What’s the callback protocol? Don’t change any of it. Just understand it. According to ServiceTitan’s transition guidance, new owners who shadow the dispatch process for a full day before touching the software make significantly fewer costly configuration errors.
Choose your spot in the building — not the seller’s desk.
This is psychological, not logistical. If you sit at the seller’s desk on Day 3, you’re either trying to be him or replacing him — and neither framing helps you. Find a spot that’s yours: a conference table, a second desk, a corner office that was underused. You’ll move properly when the dust settles. For now, having your own physical space matters.
Day 4 — Thursday: Customers, Books, and Your Daily Rhythm
You’re halfway through the week. The operation hasn’t fallen apart. Now you establish the patterns that will carry you through month one.
Send the ownership change letter to service agreement holders.
Every customer with a maintenance agreement or service contract needs to hear from you — in writing, via email or letter — before they find out from a tech at the door. The letter is short: ownership has changed, service agreements are honored in full, your name and contact info, a promise of continuity. Don’t make it a marketing piece. Make it a reassurance piece.
Your office manager likely has the service agreement customer list. If the business uses CRM software, it can export it. The service agreement attrition guide covers why proactive communication in week one is the single biggest factor in reducing first-year customer churn. Sending this letter on Thursday of week one keeps you ahead of confusion.
Meet with the bookkeeper or office manager for a financial walkthrough.
Sit down with whoever handles the day-to-day books and ask them to walk you through: what’s in the checking account right now, what’s owed to vendors this week, what invoices are outstanding and for how long, and what the payroll cycle looks like. You’re not auditing them. You’re getting oriented to the financial rhythm of the business.
Pay attention to: anything over 60 days past due on receivables, any vendor who’s been slow-paid for months, and the payroll date. Missing a payroll in week one is an unrecoverable trust event. Know when it runs and make sure the account can cover it.
Review the current month’s P&L — just the top line.
You don’t need a deep dive. You need to know: are revenue and job volume this week tracking roughly consistent with what you saw in due diligence? If week one is 40% below a normal week in this month historically, that’s a signal worth investigating. If it’s tracking normal, breathe. You’ll dig into the detailed financials in month one — for now, see the first 90 days playbook for when to start your deeper financial review.
Start your personal daily routine.
What time do you arrive? What’s the first thing you look at — the dispatch board, the call volume, the open estimates? When do you leave? This routine sounds trivial. It isn’t. Your employees will learn your patterns within two weeks, and consistent presence is one of the most powerful management signals you can send. Decide on your routine Thursday and execute it Friday. Lock it in.
Day 5 — Friday: Close the Loop, Breathe, Plan Forward
The first week doesn’t end on Friday afternoon. It ends Friday morning when you do the work to close it properly.
End-of-week debrief with your office manager.
Sit down for 30 minutes with the person who runs your office. Ask them three questions:
- What went smoothly this week that I should make sure stays intact?
- What’s the one operational thing that needs my attention next week?
- Is there anything about this week — any call, any issue, any employee concern — that I should know about?
Then listen. Don’t defend, don’t fix, don’t promise. Just gather information.
Pull the week-one dispatch report.
Go into the software and look at total jobs dispatched, completion rate, callbacks (calls where a customer called back because the issue wasn’t resolved), and revenue billed. Compare to whatever baseline the seller gave you in due diligence. If callbacks are elevated, that’s a quality signal to watch. If revenue is tracking normal, that’s a green light to keep operating as-is.
Send a personal thank-you text to every technician.
Not a group text. Each one, individually, from your cell. Short: “Hey, it’s [name]. I know this was a weird week with the transition. I appreciate how you showed up. See you Monday.” That’s 30 seconds per tech and it costs you nothing. The retention value is significant — see the employee retention guide for the data on what first-week owner communication does to 90-day attrition rates.
Write next week’s three priorities on paper.
Not a digital task list. A piece of paper. Three things — not ten — that you will personally focus on next week. Maybe it’s getting the insurance endorsement fully confirmed. Maybe it’s completing all the vendor introductions. Maybe it’s a financial systems walkthrough with the bookkeeper. Three things. Put the paper on your desk.
Then go home. You made it through week one.
The One Thing You Must NOT Do in Week One
I’m going to be direct about this because I’ve watched buyers blow up good businesses by ignoring it.
Do not make any significant changes in week one. None.
No new pricing. No firing. No new software. No new uniforms or branding. No announcements about a new company direction. No restructuring the org chart. No renegotiating vendor terms. No changing the shop hours.
I understand the temptation. You’ve been studying this business for months. You see inefficiencies. You have ideas. Your instincts are probably right. But the minute you start making changes in week one, you’re sending a signal to every employee, every vendor, and every customer that nothing is stable. And stability is the only thing that gets you to week two intact.
The SBA’s post-closing guidance emphasizes that operational continuity in the first 30 days is a primary risk factor for loan repayment — businesses that experience early operational disruption are significantly more likely to miss debt service in months 3–6. Stability isn’t just people management. It’s financial management.
The time for change is month two and beyond. The first 90 days playbook has a phased roadmap for when to introduce what. Week one is not the time.
The only exception: safety issues. If something is genuinely dangerous — a tech working without PPE, a vehicle with known brake issues, a gas leak being ignored — fix it immediately. Everything else waits.
Quick Reference: The Week-One Checklist
Weekend (Sat–Sun)
- Change alarm code
- Solo facility walk
- Review Monday dispatch board
- Log in to dispatch software, know the week’s schedule
Monday
- All-hands meeting (under 15 min)
- Individual calls to every technician (within 4 hours)
- Do not change anything
- Return all calls
Tuesday
- Bank signature changes (morning)
- Insurance carrier notifications (before noon)
- Review open estimates and pending jobs
- Return yesterday’s calls
Wednesday
- Call every vendor and supplier
- Change all passwords and admin access
- Shadow dispatch workflow for a full cycle
- Establish your workspace (not the seller’s desk)
Thursday
- Send ownership change letter to service agreement holders
- Financial walkthrough with bookkeeper/office manager
- Review current month top-line P&L
- Lock in your daily routine
Friday
- 30-min debrief with office manager
- Review week-one dispatch report (jobs, callbacks, revenue)
- Personal thank-you text to every tech
- Write next week’s three priorities on paper
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if an employee asks me directly whether their job is safe on day one?
Answer honestly and briefly: “My intention is to keep the team intact. I’m not planning any changes right now, and if that ever changes I’ll come to you directly.” Don’t promise indefinite employment — you don’t know what you’ll find in month two. But you can commit to directness, and that’s what people actually want. Vague reassurance is worse than a clear answer.
Should I tell customers the business has been sold before I send the formal ownership letter?
Only if they ask directly. If a customer calls and mentions the previous owner by name, you can say: “The business changed ownership recently — I’m the new owner, [name]. I’m glad you called.” Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is. Most customers care about whether their equipment runs, not who owns the company. The formal letter to service agreement holders (Thursday of week one) handles the proactive communication.
The seller said he’d be available for questions during the transition. How much should I lean on him?
Use him for specific, factual questions: “Where does the Lennox equipment account get billed?” or “What’s the backstory on the Johnson account?” Do not rely on him for operational decisions — those are yours now, and the faster you own them the better. If your deal includes a formal seller transition consulting agreement, great — use the structured time. But don’t develop a habit of calling him every time something feels uncertain. That habit is hard to break and it undermines your authority with the team.
When do I actually start paying myself?
This is more complicated than it sounds and depends on your entity structure, your SBA loan terms (if applicable), and whether you’re taking a salary vs. a distribution. The short answer: you likely won’t pull your first check until week two or three, and your full compensation picture won’t be clear until month two. Read the paying yourself guide before you set up payroll — there are SBA compliance requirements that catch new owners off guard.
What Comes After Week One
This checklist gets you through Day 5 without a crisis. What comes next is a different kind of work — strategic, slower, and more deliberate.
The first 90 days playbook picks up exactly where this leaves off: month one’s financial deep dive, month two’s operational improvements, month three’s growth planning. Read it before Friday of week one so you know what you’re building toward.
The service agreement attrition guide goes deep on what happens to recurring revenue after ownership changes — and why the communication cadence you establish in week one is the biggest factor in first-year retention.
According to ACCA’s workforce development resources, the most common first-year failure point for new HVAC owners isn’t technical skill or financial management — it’s employee attrition in the first 90 days. Everything in this week-one checklist is designed to give you the best possible foundation for keeping the team that makes the business worth what you paid for it.
You signed up for something real. Week one is just the beginning. Work the checklist, keep your head down, and don’t let anyone tell you there’s a shortcut.
Acquire HVAC is a chapter-based guide for buyers of HVAC businesses — written by operators, not advisors. Browse all chapters at acquirehvac.com.
