For trade owners who are starting to think about selling. We break down how buyers really size up a shop like yours, and the small things that quietly move the price — in plain language, with real numbers, not guesses.
What an acquirer really pays for a plumbing company — the EBITDA multiple range, the value drivers that move it, and the buyer red flags that quietly cost owners a turn at the table.
An HVAC owner thought he was selling a $500K-EBITDA company. The first buyer who looked under the hood priced it like he was selling a job with a brand. Here's how owner dependence shows up in a business valuation, and what a management layer is worth.
Know your buyerAn owner closed the best install year of his career and called his broker. The buyer didn't see a great year — he saw a one-time replacement spike. Here's how HVAC revenue durability gets graded, and what a spike costs in the multiple.
Know your buyerAn owner thought 22 years of loyal customers meant a premium. A buyer asked one question — how much is actually under contract — and re-priced the deal. Here's the gap, and how to spot it in your own books first.
ValuationWhat an acquirer actually pays for an HVAC company — the real multiple, the add-backs that move it, and the red flags that knock a turn or two off the price.
Most owners present 8–12 add-backs to a buyer. The buyer's quality-of-earnings team typically keeps three or four. Here's the line between the SDE add-backs a buyer will fund — and the ones they'll quietly cross off — for a small skilled-trades business.
FoundationsA record top-line year feels like the moment to sell. But buyers price revenue that survives you, not revenue that spiked. Here's why your best revenue year might not raise your multiple — and what does.
Exit readinessA formal CPA-firm Quality of Earnings on a small trade business runs $15k–$50k+ and lands after you've signed the LOI. Here's what's actually in one, what a $499 buyer-grade diagnostic covers of the same workup, and what only the CPA firm can sign off on.
FoundationsBuyers don't pay for revenue. They pay for revenue that survives you. Here are the small-business value drivers — recurring revenue, owner-independence, clean books — that decide where your multiple lands across HVAC, plumbing, pest control, and the rest of the trades.
FoundationsRepeat customers are an asset. They're not the same asset as a signed maintenance plan. Here's what trade-business buyers count as real recurring revenue — across HVAC, plumbing, pest control, and the rest — and what they quietly discount.
FoundationsSDE and EBITDA both measure your real earnings — but buyers use them differently, and picking the wrong one can misprice your business by a turn or more. Here's which applies to you.