BreakThru Realty

Sell a Plumbing Company in Florida

Plumbing companies sell on the same logic as any trade, with their own twists: service and repair work is worth more than new construction, licensed plumbers are the scarce asset, and the qualifying licence has to be handled before a buyer can operate. Owners who separate the two kinds of revenue and keep the plumbers through the sale are paid more.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth · (786) 914-1017

Your first step: Confidential Business Exit Review

Start With a Confidential Business Exit Review

Your business represents years of decisions, relationships and work. Before anyone hears it might be for sale, know what it would sell for, what a buyer's lender will accept, and what you would take home. A licensed business broker prepares it and walks you through it privately.

What you receive

  • A recast of your earnings into seller's discretionary earnings, with the add-backs documented
  • A price range from closed sales of comparable Florida businesses, with the reasoning
  • The lease, staffing and financing issues that would move the price, and what to fix first
  • What a buyer's SBA lender is likely to accept
  • An estimate of what you would take home after the fee and any payoff

What happens next

  1. Answer a few questions about the business. Revenue and what you take home are enough to start.
  2. A business broker prepares the review from comparable sales.
  3. We call within one business day to walk through it, privately.
  4. Nothing is listed, and nobody is contacted, unless you decide to sell.

Free and confidential. The details you give us are seen only by the broker preparing the review. We do not contact your landlord, staff or customers.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth · How a business sale works

Service Versus Construction Revenue

A buyer pays most for residential and commercial service: drain cleaning, repairs, water heaters, repipes, backflow testing, with repeat customers and property-management accounts. New-construction plumbing for builders is lumpy, slow to collect and tied to a few customers, so it is priced lower and discounted further when one builder is a large share of sales. The financials are presented with the two separated, so the buyer can see what they are paying for.

Licensed Plumbers and the Qualifier

Journeymen and master plumbers decide how much work the company can take, and a buyer wants to know who stays. If the buyer does not hold a plumbing contractor's licence, the business needs a qualifier: you through a transition, an employee who holds the licence, or a hired qualifier. Florida regulates who may qualify a contracting business and how many; confirm the rules for your licence with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation before the business is marketed.

Recurring Accounts and Contracts

Property managers, homeowner associations, restaurants and commercial accounts on a regular schedule are what make a plumbing company more than a phone number. Backflow testing contracts and maintenance agreements are counted and documented. A clean customer database with job history shows a buyer the work that repeats.

Equipment, Fleet and Permits

Vans, jetters, camera equipment, trenchers and the tooling on each truck are listed with ownership and condition. Open permits and jobs in progress transfer under a work-in-progress schedule agreed at closing, and warranty obligations are documented so the buyer prices them rather than discovering them.

Who Buys Plumbing Companies

Licensed plumbers buying their first company with an SBA loan; HVAC and electrical owners adding a trade; regional home-service groups buying for the service revenue and the plumbers; and operators moving to Florida. The buyer who can keep your crew usually pays the most.

Questions you may be asking

Will my employees, customers or landlord find out?
Not from us. The review itself involves nobody but you and the broker. If you later sell, the business is marketed without its name or address, buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement and prove their funds before they learn who you are, and the landlord is approached only once there is an accepted offer.
What does a business broker charge?
A success fee paid from the proceeds at closing, set out in writing in the listing agreement before you sign anything. The review costs nothing.
My books are not perfect.
Few are. The review shows which add-backs a lender will accept and which records to tidy before a buyer looks, so the price holds through due diligence.
I only know my revenue.
Tell us the revenue and what you take home, even roughly. We work out the rest with you and ask for tax returns later, only if you want a firm range.

Find Out What My Business Is Worth

Tell us the type of business, the city, how long it has operated, annual revenue, owner benefit or seller's discretionary earnings, EBITDA if you track it, monthly rent and lease expiry, number of employees, how involved you are, why you are selling, your timeline and whether you would consider seller financing. A licensed BreakThru business broker prepares a confidential valuation from comparable sales and replies within one business day. Everything you tell us is confidential, the valuation is free, and nothing is listed or announced unless you decide to sell. Prefer to talk now? Call (786) 914-1017.

Questions Owners Ask

What is my plumbing company worth?
A multiple of seller's discretionary earnings, higher for service and repair revenue with recurring accounts, lower for construction revenue concentrated in a few builders. A confidential valuation gives you a range from sales of comparable plumbing and trade companies.
What happens to jobs in progress and open permits?
They transfer under a schedule agreed at closing: the buyer finishes the work and the price adjusts for what has been billed and collected. Open permits are closed or reassigned with the licence holder's cooperation.
Do I have to stay after the sale?
Usually for a training period, and longer if you are qualifying the licence until the buyer is licensed. The length is negotiated with the price.
What does a business broker charge?
Brokers selling small businesses usually charge a success fee paid from the proceeds at closing, commonly quoted in the market at around ten percent of the price, often with a minimum fee; larger sales are usually priced on a sliding scale. BreakThru's fee is set out in writing in the listing agreement before you sign anything, and the valuation costs nothing.

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