🧵 Found a solid small business for sale in the HVAC & plumbing space.
Not sexy. But strong cash flow and real demand. Here’s what I see: HVAC / plumbing is one of those industries… People don’t “want” it. They NEED it. When systems break → they pay fast. That’s why these businesses work. But here’s the interesting part… This one is very “old school”. Almost no marketing. No real systems. Just reputation and referrals. That tells me something important: The demand is already there. It’s just not scaled yet. Now let’s look at numbers: • ~$1.57M revenue • ~$430K SDE (3-year avg) • Asking ~$1.5M So around ~3.4x earnings. Not a steal. But fair for this type. Now here’s what caught my attention… Revenue mix: • 60% new construction • 20% remodel • 10% service This is where the opportunity is. Construction is good… until it’s not. Cyclical. Depends on market. Service is the gold: Recurring Higher margin More stable And here it’s only 10%. So big upside just by shifting focus. Another thing: Team is small and stable. Low turnover. Skilled people. In this industry, that’s HUGE. Because good technicians are hard to find. But there is one challenge… Owner is still doing a lot: Sales Estimating Scheduling Managing jobs So this is not passive. You need operator or replace him. Now think about this: No website (or very basic) No ads No funnels Everything comes from word of mouth. Sounds good… but also risky. No system = no control over growth. So why hasn’t someone bigger rolled this up? Because businesses like this are fragmented. Local. Relationship-driven. They need someone to bring systems + scale. Here’s how I would approach: Step 1: Buy business like this (or few of them) Step 2: Build marketing engine (Google, local SEO) Step 3: Push service contracts + maintenance plans Step 4: Add CRM + scheduling systems Now you have: Recurring revenue Predictable pipeline Higher valuation That’s how you turn 3–4x business into 5–7x. Also growth angles: • Fire mitigation services • Property managers contracts • Long-term maintenance deals