We caught up with Eric Willin, the former President of EZFacility, and current Portfolio Manager at Jonas Software, to talk about the acquisition process for EZFacility and what life looks like post-acquisition.
George:
Eric, thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. Really appreciate it.
Eric:
Glad to do so.
George:
Could you tell us a little bit of background on EZFacility?
Eric:
EZFacility is a complete business management software. It’s primarily in the sports and fitness market. It serves thousands of clients from multisport facilities to sports training businesses, personal training businesses and gyms from large to small.
Their main features are membership management, field, league, and court scheduling. They also do registrations, point of sale, and more.
George:
How is the idea for EZFacility conceived?
Eric:
My business partner and I had a background in conference room scheduling for businesses that use video conferencing. It would automatically launch the video calls and schedule the conference rooms.
We took that knowledge and we had a friend who ran an indoor sports facility, one of those indoor sports domes, and they had no way to schedule their fields and courts. We took that and we came up with a scheduling solution for them. Eventually, that led into getting into the sports industry pretty big. We had a great relationship with U.S. Indoor Soccer at the time, and from there, it really took off.
One of our sports clients actually had a need to schedule personal trainers, which we didn’t do at the time. We added some features around that, and that eventually became our gym management software.
George:
Can you walk us through any of the early days of the company? Do you have any interesting stories to share?
Eric:
We started out in my one-bedroom, tiny one-bedroom apartment in Long Beach, New York. I had a very patient wife. We had two tiny desks and two small laptops.
It took nearly two years to get the company off the ground and running. That relationship with U.S. Indoor Soccer was really the key to us expanding in that market and eventually getting out of that apartment into an actual office space.
George:
Let’s shift focus now to some more M&A-specific questions. How did you discover Jonas Software?
Eric:
We had met Jonas at various times at different trade shows and events. They came up to our booth and we talked about everything Jonas had to offer what they do.
At the time, we weren’t quite ready to look to being acquired, but they were always an interest to us.
George:
How did Jonas compare to some of the other acquirers that you were approached by?
Eric:
It came down to the Jonas strategy. The buy and hold promise, keeping businesses autonomous, their best practices, those are all big factors when comparing them to others who were looking to come in and flip the business for a profit.
You spend all this time building your baby and you really care about the future and what’s going to happen to it. That’s what always stuck out to us with Jonas.
George:
A material part of the purchase price for EZFacility was through an earn-out based on post-acquisition performance. Can you elaborate on this point and how it worked out for the company?
Eric:
We actually had two targets based off of net revenue for our earn-out. We had a two-stage earn-out and we successfully hit both of those. We actually hit them early.
George:
How has the acquisition affected the company as a whole?
Eric:
I believe we were about 10 employees at the time of acquisition, and I’d say approximately four years later we are up to 40. We also quadrupled our revenue.
It definitely opened up more career opportunities not only for myself but for the rest of the company. Any time any sort of challenge would arise, there is always someone at a fellow Jonas company who has been through it or has either made a certain mistake before that we could learn from or has successfully overcome that challenge and we could learn from that.
George:
At Jonas, as we often talk about our ABCs model that you’ve touched on as differentiators.
We have autonomy, our decentralized operating model, our buy and hold forever, which allows us to invest for the long term, and a culture of sharing best practices, which is learning from the Jonas or CSI family of software companies.
How is your experience aligned with these three differentiators?
Eric:
I’d say it aligned perfectly, and it really is a true story.
As I mentioned before, the autonomous model and decentralized model was great and led to a less stressful environment, especially with the stresses going into an acquisition.
Life really didn’t change much for the employees. The opportunities for career advancement…a great example of it is the current president of EZFacility, as I’ve now moved on to other positions, started as a product trainer within the company seven years prior. So he worked his way up to actually running the company over a fairly short course of time.
George:
Your career has grown tremendously since EZ Facility was acquired by Jonas.
Can you describe or go into detail a little bit about the progression of your role since the acquisition to date?
Eric:
I maintained myself as the president of EZFacility for a few years, and eventually, we acquired a great company that manages hockey arenas, named Frontline Solutions. Then we also acquired MiGym, which is a fitness-based app.
Both of those were rolled underneath EZFacility to become the EZ Group. Then I was a manager of the EZ Group. As of two years ago, I have become a portfolio manager here at Jonas and I have 10 different brands under me.
It’s really been a great experience. I look forward to what’s next.
George:
What tips and advice would you give to a business owner looking for a potential exit with Jonas?
Eric:
Definitely have to say it’s not all about the number.
You’ve likely spent years and countless late nights building up this business and you want to make sure it’s going to continue to thrive. Not only that, I’m sure you want to consider what the future holds for your employees.
I’ve not only seen EZFacility but other companies in my group, where that’s exactly what has happened. The companies have grown, the staff has grown, and the opportunities presented to our employees have just been fantastic.
Thank you Eric Willin for sharing your experiences. If you own a software business, we would love to learn more about your company. Feel free to reach out to learn more.
Recent Posts
CORA Group and C&R Software Announce Acquisition of SpringFour
Warminster, PA, September 4, 2024 – C&R Software (“C&R”),the world’s leading Cloud-native end-to-end software and solutions provider for the...
Vertus Group Announces Acquisition of B4Checkin
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – Vertus Group, a Division of Jonas Software, is pleased to announce the acquisition of B4Checkin (“b4”), the provider...
Beating Acquisition Process Challenges
Once you have decided that it is time to sell your VMS business, you will want to find and analyze the set of challenges that you and your business...
Fitness | Leisure | Sports Vertical Overview
Since the acquisition of EZFacility, our presence in the fitness, leisure, and sports vertical has grown significantly to serve over 25 different...
2024 Mid-Year Review
2024 has been a milestone year full of new growth for Jonas Software, see our review of 2024 so far: 15 innovative and mission-critical software...
CORA Group Announces Acquisition of Carlson Marketing Solutions Loyalty Platform from Kognitiv
Warminster, PA, July 10, 2024 – CORA Group (“CORA”), an operating portfolio of Jonas Software, a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc., is...
Vertus Group Announces Acquisition of Teachworks
Simi Valley, California, United States of America – Vertus Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of Teachworks, the leading provider of Tutor...
Vesta Announces Acquisition of MWC Partners
Wallingford, United Kingdom, June 10th, 2024 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of MWC Partners Ltd. (“MWC”), a...
Career Progression Stories: Jeff MacKinnon
We caught up with Jeff MacKinnon, Jonas Software's CFO, to talk about his career progression, His role at Jonas, Our ABCs, and more!Thank you, Jeff,...
Vesta Announces Acquisition of Dataflow Events
Wallingford, United Kingdom, June 10th, 2024 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”) is excited to announce the acquisition of Dataflow Events...
Jonas Software Acquires Ezy Systems
Jonas Software Acquires Ezy Systems, strengthening the customer experience for wine producers. Brisbane, Australia, June 18, 2024 – Jonas Software...
PE or Jonas? What You Need To Know
Is PE right for you? Selling your business to a private equity (PE) firm is a landmark decision that requires careful consideration and strategic...
New Zealand Overview
Since the initial acquisition of Jonas Leisure (Formerly Centaman), our presence in New Zealand has continuously grown and now hosts a suite of...
Jonas Software Acquires Kahootz
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, March 25, 2024 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Inovem Limited (“Kahootz”). Kahootz is...
Navigating Success At Jonas: Kevin Morgan
Kevin Morgan, Chief Investment Officer at the Jonas UK portfolio, shares a perspective on success at Jonas, M&A and much more.
...Are You Ready To Sell Your VMS Business?
Are You Ready to Sell? Many entrepreneurs faced with this question may feel that their situation is unique to them. If you can relate to any of the...
Jonas Software Acquires Intelligent Counting Ltd.
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, March 25, 2024 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Intelligent Counting Limited (“iC”)....
Vesta Announces Acquisition of Amisoft Spa.
Wallingford, United Kingdom and Montevideo, Uruguay, March 15th, 2024 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”) – through its wholly owned and Uruguay based...
Career Progression Stories: Darren Cox
We caught up with Darren Cox, Director of Business Development at CORA Group, to talk about his career progression, His role at Jonas, Our ABCs, and...
CORA Group Announces Acquisition of Vanson Technology Services
CORA Group Acquires Vanson Technology Services, Expanding in Loyalty Engagement Solutions Warminster, PA, March 8, 2024 – In a strategic move to...
Constellation Software Inc. Announces Results for Q4 and Year Ended December 31, 2023
Toronto, Ontario (March 6, 2024) - Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU) ("Constellation" or the "Company"), Jonas Software's parent company, has...
Vesta Announces Acquisition of Béker-Soft Informatika Kft
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, March 6, 2024 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Béker-Soft Informatika Kft....
Construction Vertical Market Overview
Since the initial acquisition of Jonas software by Constellation Software, the construction vertical has continuously grown and now hosts a suite of...
CORA Group Launches CORA Legal Group
CORA Legal Group is focused on shaping the future of legal technology by uniting industry leading software companies to better serve the evolving n...
Jonas Software M&A Advisor 2023 Year In Review
Jonas Software acquired 17 innovative companies in 2023. For a detailed overview of our 2023 acquisitions, read the 2023 Year in Review here. Of the...
Jonas Software 2023 Year In Review
2023 has been an amazing year full of new growth for Jonas Software: 17 innovative and mission-critical software companies were acquired by Jonas...
Vertus Group Announces Acquisition of Tangerine Global
Simi Valley, California, United States of America – Vertus Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of Tangerine Global, a leading provider in...
Jonas Software Acquires Rental Car Manager
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, December 22, 2023 - Jonas Software is pleased to announce the acquisition of Rental Car Manager, a leading provider...
Career Progression Stories: Zach Plener
We caught up with Zach Plener, Director of M&A at Vertus Group, to talk about his career progression, His role at Jonas, Our ABC's, and...
Jonas Software Launches Vertus Group
Jonas Software is pleased to announce the official launch of Vertus Group, a new vertically diverse portfolio focused on increasing capacity to bot...
History of the Jonas Food Portfolio
Jonas Software has a 15+ year history of providing mission critical software solutions to customers in food-related industries, such as foodservice...
Jonas Software Acquires Corum Health
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, October 23, 2023 - Jonas Software is pleased to announce the acquisition of Corum Health. Corum Health is a...
Acquisition Stories: MCR Systems
We caught up with Matthew Gatter, the former Managing Director of MCR Systems, and Richard Clancy, Group CEO of Vesta Software, to talk about the...
Vesta Software Group Acquires Nodum
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, October 12th, 2023 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”), a subsidiary of Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased...
Jonas Software Acquires 4GL Solutions
Markham, Ontario, Canada, September 21, 2023 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the 4GL Solutions ("4GL"). 4GL is...
Jonas Software’s Latin America Acquisitions
Jonas Software has grown at an astronomical rate in Latin America since our first two acquisitions in late 2021. Since then, Vesta Software Group, a...
Jonas GROWs 2023 Conference
That’s a wrap on our #JonasGROWs 2023 event! Thank you to everyone that helped put this conference together and thank you to all of the senior...
Vesta Software Group Acquires GSoft
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, August 1st, 2023 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”), a subsidiary of Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to...
Jonas Software Acquires Theta Technologies Pty Ltd.
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - July 25 2023 - Jonas Software ("Jonas") is pleased to announce the acquisition of Theta Technologies Pty Ltd...
CORA Group Feature ‘Insights from Amalan Loganathan’s Career Journey’
CORA Group is a subsidiary of Jonas Software. In their latest ‘employee spotlight’ feature, they sat down with Amalan Loganathan, Executive Vice...
CORA Group Announces Acquisition of WebRecon
Warminster, PA, United States of America - July 13, 2023 – CORA Group (“CORA”) a subsidiary of Jonas Software, is pleased to announce the...
Vesta Software Group Acquires Uruware
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom - July 6th, 2023 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”), a subsidiary of Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to...
Vesta Software Group Acquires Hellenic Systems Ltd
Vesta Software Group, a subsidiary of Jonas Software, has acquired Hellenic Systems Ltd., a leading provider of factory MES software systems.
...20 Years of Jonas Software Operating Group
This June marks 20 years of Jonas Software acquiring, growing, and operating vertical market software companies as an operating group of...
Jonas Software Acquires PVX Plus Technologies Ltd
Markham, Ontario, Canada, March 31, 2023 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of PVX Plus Technologies Ltd (“PVX...
Ineo Global Mobility Expands Portfolio with Strategic Acquisition of The Hessel Group Ltd., a CORA Group Company
Warminster, PA, United States, May 19, 2023 – CORA Group (“CORA”) a subsidiary of Jonas Software, is pleased to announce the acquisition of The...
Jonas Software Acquires Data Basics
Warminster, PA, United States, May 3, 2023 – CORA Group (“CORA”) a subsidiary of Jonas Software, is pleased to announce the acquisition...
Jonas Software Acquires SupportAbility
Jonas Software acquired SupportAbility, the leading client management, operations and compliance software for service providers under the NDIS in A...
Vesta Software Group Feature ‘Investors in People – Abdul Khan’
Vesta Software Group is a subsidiary of Jonas Software. Their latest ‘Investor’s in People’ feature sits down with Abdul Khan, Ma...
Jonas Software Acquires Seiki Systems
Jonas Software pleased to announce the acquisition of Seiki Systems Limited (Seiki). Seiki is a leading supplier of production control and manufac...
How Is Jonas Software a Different Acquirer?
Jonas Software acquirers mission-critical software businesses from around the world – but how is Jonas Software a different acquirer?
...Jonas Software M&A Advisor 2022 Year in Review
Jonas Software M&A Advisor-Led Processes 2022 Year in Review. Jonas acquired 16 software companies and 4 were advisor-led processes.
...Jonas Software 2022 Year In Review
2022 has been a busy year full of new growth for Jonas Software: 16 innovative and mission-critical software companies were acquired by Jonas 12...
Jonas Software Acquires Huntington Business Systems (“HBS”)
Jonas Software is pleased to announce on the 16th November 2022 it acquired Huntington Business Systems (“HBS”). HBS is a leading provider of T...
Vesta Software Group Acquires Qwantec Ingenieria Limitada (“Qwantec”)
Vesta Software Group, a subsidiary of Jonas Software is pleased to announce the acquisition of Qwantec, a market leading Chilean and Peruvian softw...
Jonas Software Launches CORA Group
Jonas Software is pleased to announce the official launch of CORA Group, a new vertically diverse portfolio focused on increasing capacity to both ...
Jonas Software Acquires VetlinkPRO
Jonas Software is pleased to announce the acquisition of VetlinkPRO.
...Vesta Software Group Acquires Datalogic Software
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom - November 2, 2022 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”), a subsidiary of Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to...
Jonas Software Acquires Vizergy Digital Marketing
Vizergy serves the hospitality industry with leading marketing technologies, talent, and leverage a data first approach to marketing.
...Jonas Software Acquires Brainbase
Markham, Ontario, Canada - September 16, 2022 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Brainbase. Brainbase provides...
Jonas Software Acquires Uniworks Meat Processing Solutions
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – September 15, 2022 - Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Kevin McCarthy &...
Jonas Software Acquires Halo Leisure Enterprise Ltd.
Jonas Software acquires Halo Leisure Enterprise Limited and their product Workflow Asset Management (WAM).
...Jonas Software Acquires Infoscience Limited
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom - June 8, 2022 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Infoscience...
Origin Story: The Jonas Software Australia / New Zealand Portfolio
In early 2010 Jonas Software acquired Centaman. Centaman operates within the attractions and leisure industries, both new verticals for Jonas at the...
Harrison Kelly and Jeff Berg – Career Progression Stories
Recently, we were able to catch up with Harrison Kelly (CEO), and Jeff Berg (Co-Founder and CTO) of InnoSoft in a very special in-person meeting. In...
Jonas Software Acquires CompuMove Systems Corporation
Jonas Software acquires CompuMove Systems Corporation, a comprehensive moving software that features fully integrated and customized move systems.<...
medQ Inc. Acquisition Sharpens Jonas Software Focus on Healthcare
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – March 31, 2022 - Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of medQ Inc. (“medQ”). medQ is an...
Jonas Software Acquires Power2SMS Limited
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom - March 22, 2022 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Power2SMS Limited...
Jonas Software Acquires LilYPad POS
Markham, Ontario, Canada - March 21, 2022 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of LilYPad POS (“LilYPad”). LilYPad...
Jonas Software Acquires RBRO Solutions Inc. to Expand Global Legal iManage Functional Practice
Markham, Ontario, Canada - March 1, 2022 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of RBRO Solutions Inc. (“RBRO”). A...
Why Business Owners Sell to Jonas Software
Selling your software company is not easy. It is an enormous undertaking that requires a lot of time and effort - and not to mention that it could...
Mike Korbel – Career Progression Stories
We caught up with Mike Korbel, Former President of Centaman, and spoke about
...Jonas M&A Advisor 2021 Year in Review
Jonas Software acquired 14 software companies in 2021. You can read more about our 2021 Year in Review here. Of the 14 acquisitions Jonas completed,...
Jonas Software 2021 Year in Review
There were 14 new software businesses that joined the Jonas family of companies in 2021: Six were in the United Kingdom / Europe, four were in North...
Jonas Software Acquires Lean Industries
Markham, Ontario, December 23, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Lean Industries (“Lean”). Lean was founded...
Kim Goldberg – Career Progression Stories
We caught up with Kim Goldberg, the former COO at Computrition, and a current Group Leader at Jonas Software. We talked about her career...
Jonas Software Reaches Agreement with Capita plc to Purchase AMT Sybex
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, December 24, 2021 – Jonas Computing (UK) Limited, part of Jonas Software (“Jonas”), has agreed to...
Jonas Software Expands in Hospitality Vertical with Acquisition of Seekom Limited
Seekom is regarded as a mainstay within the hospitality industry, highly esteemed for its full in-house property and channel management platform fo...
Acquisition Stories – Eric Willin, EZFacility
We caught up with Eric Willin, the former President of EZFacility, and current Portfolio Manager at Jonas Software, to talk about the acquisition...
Vesta Software Group, a subsidiary of Jonas Software, Announces Acquisition of GeneXus Consulting (GXC S.A.) & K2B (Magalink S.A.)
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, October 11, 2021 – Vesta Software Group (“Vesta”), a subsidiary of Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the...
Acquisition Stories – Jo Burgess, Shortcuts
Jonas Software acquired Shortcuts, a salon management platform, in 2013. The company was founded in 1994 by Jo Burgess, a salon owner with a knack...
Jonas Software Acquires the Intellectual Property of MySkillChart
Markham, Ontario, September 21, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the intellectual property of MySkillChart...
Acquisition Stories – David Santora, Ineo Global Mobility
Jonas Software acquired Ineo Global Mobility in September 2020. We caught up with David Santora, CEO of Ineo, to discuss the acquisition process for...
Jonas Software Announces Acquisition of Newline ASP
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, September 7, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Newline ASP...
Acquisition Stories – Des O’Mahony, Bookassist
We caught up with Des O'Mahony, CEO and Co-Founder of Bookassist, which Jonas acquired in 2017, to discuss the acquisition process for Bookassist...
Jonas Software – Half-Year Report 2021
Jonas Software has seen continued growth in acquisitions since the beginning of 2021 – there have been 9 companies that have joined the Jonas family...
The History of the Jonas Construction Portfolio
In June 2003, Constellation Software acquired Gary Jonas Computing Ltd, a functionally rich suite of products for the private club and construction...
Jonas Software Announces Acquisition of WM-data Deutschland GmbH
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, June 25, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of WM-data Deutschland...
Constellation Software Completes Agreement with Fair Isaac Corporation to Purchase Its Collection and Recovery Business
June 7, 2021 — FICO (NYSE:FICO), a leading predictive analytics and decision management software company, and Constellation Software Inc....
Jonas Software Announces Acquisition of Dynamiq Pty Ltd.
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, April 30, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Dynamiq Pty Ltd (“Dynamiq”)....
Culture of Sharing Best Practices: ABCs Spotlight Part 3
One of our previous posts highlighted how Jonas is a different type of acquirer of software companies. We like to talk about our ABCs in terms of...
Jonas Software Acquires Invotech Ltd.
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, April 6, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Invotech Ltd. Invotech...
Jonas Software Acquires Omniterm Data Technology Ltd.
Markham, Ontario, Canada, April 6, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Omniterm Data Technology Ltd. Omniterm...
The Jonas Fitness Portfolio – Evolution to Total Health and Wellness
While Jonas has a 10+ year history in the fitness vertical, it has more recently begun to expand its focus to total health and wellness including p...
Jonas Software Completes Acquisition of UniOne
South Brisbane, March 15, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of UniOne. UniOne provides customised software to...
Jonas Software Enters New Geography with Acquisition of Easit AB
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, February 26, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Easit AB (“Easit”),...
Acquisition Stories – Al Quinn, Kitomba
We recently caught up with Al Quinn, one of the co-founders and most recent CEO of Kitomba – a software company focused on the hair & beauty...
Jonas Software Acquires C-SAM Ltd.
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, February 1, 2021 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce the acquisition of C-SAM Ltd (“C-SAM”). C-SAM is an...
Jonas Software 2020 Year in Review
2020 for Jonas Software was challenging for many reasons. The year began business-as-usual for the first couple of months, then things quickly took...
Jonas Software Acquires Bluestar Software Limited
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, December 23, 2020 – Jonas Software (“Jonas”) is pleased to announce an expansion into the Emergency...