New Deals: An auto repair shop, land surveying firm, and 3 other finds

Sign Up | Podcast | Advertise | Work With Me

NEW DEALS

1/ Auto Repair Shop

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: N/A
💼 EBITDA: $743,746
📊 Revenue: $2,172,207
📅 Established: 1981

💭 My 2 Cents: As every car owner knows, auto repair is your basic definition of an essential business that is always in demand. There’s a lot of competition in this space, so it’s super important to have a reputation for providing high-quality service. This shop has built a stellar reputation (average rating of 4.6 on Google) over their 45 years in operation while bringing in steady strong earnings. I like that 30% of their business is B2B (fleet customers) while on the consumer side they have an impressive 60% repeat business rate. I also like the over $1M of FF&E and the large full-scale facility included in the sale, as these provide real asset value to the purchase. I’d want to better understand the repeat behavior on the B2B side, whether there’s an opportunity to bring in additional fleet customers, how much competition there is in their local area, and what the current utilization level of their facility is. I’d also need more detail on the condition and projected useful life span of the FF&E and facility, the qualifications and experience of their staff, and the current role of the owner. Based on their long track record, this should be a great opportunity for someone looking to get into a classic boring business.

2/ Land Surveying Firm

📍 Location: Austin, Texas
💰 Asking Price: $1,300,000
💼 EBITDA: $852,264
📊 Revenue: $3,232,499
📅 Established: 1990

💭 My 2 Cents: This company specializes in Boundary, Design, and Construction surveying and LiDAR services for high-resolution mapping and quality control, a necessary service for most real estate and land projects. Their positives include a great customer base of engineering firms, land developers, and municipalities, 30 years of experience in the field, a highly trained staff, and in-depth technical expertise. I’d want to see the revenue split for their different services, who their key customers are, how they win new jobs, if they have much repeat business, if there is any seasonality to their workload, and how they differentiate themselves from their competitors. Finally, I’d need to understand how they keep up with technological developments in the industry, if there are any licensing requirements, and what possibilities exist for providing other services like hydrographic surveying. I like that the seller is willing to offer a year of training and to carry 10% of the purchase price, as this is a great signal that they believe in the strength of the business going forward and are directly invested in a new owner’s success.

3/ Data and Lead Provider

📍 Location: Saint Johns County, Florida
💰 Asking Price: $3,000,000
💼 EBITDA: $973,651
📊 Revenue: $3,481,037
📅 Established: 2009

💭 My 2 Cents: This company maintains a robust database of more than a half billion B2B and B2C email, digital, postal, and phone records, letting them provide data and leads that help businesses optimize their marketing strategies. I like their low overhead and how they generate significant revenue and great margins with only seven employees. I especially like how they are primed for further growth with their proven business model and ready scalability. At the same time, there’s a lot I’d need to better understand about this business. For starters, I’d need to dig into who their clients are, how they source their data sets, the legality of buying, owning, and selling these lists given changing privacy laws, and how rapidly evolving technology and the rise of AI is impacting their business. I’d also want to get a handle on the costs involved in building and updating their data sets, what is in the $2M in inventory and how this value is calculated, and the roles and responsibilities of the different staff members. If that all checks out, then this is a very intriguing deal made even better by the owner offering $1M in seller financing with a 7% interest rate over ten years​.

4/ Tree Service Business

📍 Location: Georgia
💰 Asking Price: $1,400,000
💼 EBITDA: $447,000
📊 Revenue: $2,255,000
📅 Established: 1995

💭 My 2 Cents: Tree service businesses benefit from strong repeat revenue and are easier to staff since they don’t require the highly specialized skills needed in fields like HVAC or plumbing. This long-established company handles tree removal, trimming, and stump grinding for residential and commercial properties. Since barriers to entry are fairly low, location, reputation, and service quality are the most important factors in a business like this. They nail all three, as they are in Atlanta (known as the City of Trees) where there is always demand for their services and where they have become known for their top-notch work. I like their sizable and experienced team, solid backlog of work, and history of working with insurance companies for prompt payment. I’d want to know their revenue breakdown between residential and commercial work, the levels of repeat customers and recurring revenue, the extent of their current backlog, and how they acquire new business. I’d also need to ask about the condition of their $900K worth of equipment, if there is any seasonality to the business, and what would be involved in replacing the owner post-transition. With their skilled crews and wide array of equipment, this company could make a lot of sense for someone looking to expand in the industry.

5/ HVAC and Power Generator Service Business

📍 Location: Kansas City, Missouri
💰 Asking Price: $2,000,000
💼 EBITDA: $560,000
📊 Revenue: $3,000,000
📅 Established: 2005

💭 My 2 Cents: This business provides sales, installation, and servicing for HVAC systems and emergency standby generators. I really like their current operation as they have both commercial and residential clients with no one customer representing more than 20% of revenue, exclusive distribution rights with a major HVAC manufacturer in the Kansas City metro area, and one ongoing MSA with a large commercial client that ensures consistent, recurring revenue. Similarly, I like their different revenue streams and how they’ve built strong relationships with their vendors and customers over their decades in business. I’d need to understand their revenue split between HVAC systems and standby generators, how much of their work is installation versus servicing, how they attract new clients, who their main competition is, and what opportunities exist for adding new services or expanding geographically. I’d also be curious about the specific details of both their exclusive distribution agreement and MSA and how much of their business is related to these. There should be a fair amount of equipment that comes with this type of business, so I’d want specifics on its nature, condition, and value. I’d finally need to get a feel for which employees would stay on post-transition and what would be involved in replacing the owners. As a rule, HVAC companies are always worth a serious look, and this one, with their established operation and diverse revenues, is no exception.