For most of the past year HVAC operators were bracing for a hard deadline. Beginning January 1, 2026, contractors would no longer be allowed to install residential systems using R-410A refrigerant, forcing a full switch to R-454B equipment. In May 2026 the EPA reversed course and lifted that installation deadline for pre-2025 equipment. According to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the agency is fixing every problem it can under existing authority to keep costs down for contractors and homeowners.

The relief sounds like good news. It is not that simple. The Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Institute argues the rule works against its own stated goal. As AHRI President Stephen Yurek explains that extending the compliance deadline is maintaining and even increasing demand for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall under the AIM Act. The AIM Act's phasedown schedule was not touched by the new rule, which means the supply of R-410A keeps shrinking even as demand gets a longer runway.

That mismatch has a price tag. The Heating Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International trade group estimates the expanded rule could add as much as $13 billion in costs across the refrigeration subsector alone. Commercial refrigeration users are also seeing GWP limits temporarily loosened for supermarket systems, keeping demand for HFC blends elevated at the exact moment supply is tightest.

AHRI notes that over 90% of new residential and light commercial equipment already ships with next-generation refrigerant, which suggests the extension mostly benefits operators still clearing older inventory.

Price volatility, not a hard compliance cliff, is now the real risk. Technicians still need training on both refrigerant families and business owners still need to plan equipment purchases around uncertain pricing. Buyers evaluating an acquisition should ask how a target's service fleet and inventory are positioned for a multi-year transition rather than a single deadline. The regulation moved. The cost pressure did not.

Photo by Adobe Stock Photos

Most home services operators track profit closely and cash loosely. That gap is where trouble hides. A monthly P&L can look healthy while a business quietly runs out of money to make payroll, because revenue and cash rarely move on the same calendar. The tool that closes that gap is the 13-week cash flow forecast, which according to GTreasury became standard practice because private equity sponsors demanded it from every portfolio company they backed.

The concept is simple. Instead of forecasting a full year on broad assumptions, an operator builds a rolling weekly view of cash in and cash out for the next 13 weeks, updating it every week as actuals replace estimates. As Cherry Bekaert explains, the discipline forces leadership to look at accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll at the invoice level rather than as a monthly lump, which is exactly the detail a P&L hides.

That detail pays off in two ways. It gives an operator enough runway to see a cash crunch coming weeks before it happens rather than the day before payroll is due. And as Accordion notes, weekly variance tracking reveals when receivables are slipping or payables are stretching, letting an owner fix the collection process instead of just reacting to the shortfall.

Building one does not require expensive software. A spreadsheet with beginning cash, expected receipts by customer, expected disbursements by vendor and payroll and an ending cash balance for each of the next 13 weeks is enough to start. The habit that matters is updating it every week and being honest when actuals miss the forecast. Operators who run this discipline consistently see a slow season or a receivables problem coming months before it would otherwise show up as a crisis.

Photo by Luke Tatone

Luke Tatone is the founder and CEO of Searchfunder.com, the online platform for the global search fund community connecting searchers, funders, lenders and intermediaries worldwide. He launched Searchfunder in 2014 with co-founder Mark Yuan after graduating from MIT Sloan. We sat down with Luke to talk about watching the search fund community grow over the last decade, where self-funded searchers are reshaping the space and what community actually gives a first-time searcher that data alone cannot.

Westgate Partners: You built and exited an accounting services company before starting Searchfunder. What did operating that business teach you about the lower middle market that most searchers only learn the hard way?

Luke Tatone: It really opened my eyes to the opportunities in the lower middle market. At least relative to most of my MBA classmates, I had an appreciation for both the volume and quality of companies along with the succession problem.

WGP: You have a philosophy degree and an MBA. How does this inform how you run Searchfunder?

LT: No one studies philosophy for financial gain, and that mindset is what let us avoid the trap of raising outside capital and giving up control even when it would have been easy to do. As a result, we can make decisions based on the long-term health of the Searchfunder community without external pressure to maximize shareholder return. MIT is where I learned platform dynamics and, more importantly, where I met my co-founder Mark, who deserves all the credit for what Searchfunder has become.

WGP: What was the actual moment that convinced you searchers needed a community platform rather than just more deal databases?

LT: When we started in 2014, there were only a handful of searchers, mostly from Harvard and Stanford, and the big search fund conferences were just getting started. We had a couple of false starts around peer-to-peer deal sharing based on the DARPA Red Balloon Challenge before backing ourselves into what became Searchfunder by giving free access to anyone who posted or commented. Within a few months it was obvious searchers needed community more than they needed deal sharing, and we have been focused on that ever since.

WGP: You've said searching doesn't have to be a lonely road. What does the isolation actually look like for a first-time searcher, and where does it do the most damage?

LT: On bigger platforms like LinkedIn, most posts are people touting their successes. At Searchfunder we try to elevate every voice and get the broadest possible participation, which has made it a place where you can share your struggles openly. I still try to read every post, and we do not tolerate abusive behavior, which is how we have avoided the toxic cultures that define so many other social platforms.

WGP: A first-time searcher joins Searchfunder and asks where to start. What do you tell them to do in week one, and what do you tell them to ignore?

LT: My recommendation is simply to sort the feed by the top-performing posts of all time. That gives you a snapshot of the collective intelligence of the entire Searchfunder community over the last decade. There is a lot of talk out there about "the algorithm," but we try to be as transparent as possible and give members full control of how their posts are organized.

WGP: Searchfunder now gives members unlimited IBISWorld access. How much of what you build is "give searchers better data" versus "give searchers each other"?

LT: We have been partnering with IBISWorld since the pandemic, when one of their reps found their way onto Searchfunder and it evolved into a full API integration. Members are always telling us what they need in the form of posts and comments, so we started asking whether we could answer those questions with a data partner, which led to BVR DealStats and DataAxle. You can now research an industry, find contact details and reference comps in one place. Honestly, the participation rate on each of these partnerships is still frustratingly low.

WGP: The search fund model has gotten louder and more crowded over the past several years. From where you sit running the community, is deal flow keeping pace with the number of searchers, or is more capital chasing the same businesses?

LT: It is definitely more crowded today than it was ten years ago. That said, we have ~10K members on Searchfunder and 17M company records on DataAxle, so there is still a lot of room to grow if searchers are patient. My belief is that in the future, pretty much all companies will be owned by searchers.

WGP: How has the makeup of Searchfunder's community changed since 2018, whether more institutional search fund backers, more self-funded searchers or more international activity?

LT: Self-funded searchers have expanded the fastest. Access to debt is tougher when you do not have the SBA like we do here in the US, but we have active communities throughout the world. I am often surprised how people hear about us, but word travels fast.

WGP: After building one company and now watching thousands of searches unfold, what's the one belief about buying a business you've completely changed your mind on?

LT: Sometimes I worry there is too little conviction around meeting customer needs. In a future where every business is run by searchers, what will the experience be like for the customer?

WGP: Where do you see the self-funded search model in five years, still a niche path or closer to a default track for a certain kind of operator?

LT: As long as the SBA keeps expanding, I think self-funded search will be the default career path for the entrepreneurially minded.

Find Luke at searchfunder.com. Operators and investors can reach Luke directly by connecting with him on LinkedIn.

WestGate Partners (WGP) is an independent sponsor focused on acquiring and growing lower middle market businesses in residential and commercial services. We bring institutional experience, tailored capital with hands-on partnership to help owners transition, grow and preserve their legacy. By partnering with strong operators, we build enduring businesses in economically-insulated industries.