How to Create a Business Exit Strategy: Key Steps & Timing
Key Takeaways A real exit strategy is built in five steps: define your personal and financial goals, get a defensible valuation, close operational gaps that hurt due diligence, build an advisory team, and communicate the plan to relevant stakeholders. Done properly, the full process takes three to five years, with enough runway to fix weak […]
Plumbing Business Valuation for Sale: EBITDA Multiples & Calculator
Key Takeaways Plumbing businesses are valued using three core multiples: SDE (1.68x–2.97x) for owner-operated shops under $1M in earnings, EBITDA (2x–4x) for established businesses with a management team, and revenue multiples (0.34x–0.66x) as a secondary sanity check. The formula is always the same: Value = Earnings Metric × Multiple. What changes is which earnings number […]
Strategic Buyer vs Private Equity For Business Sale: Key Differences, Pros & Cons
Key Takeaways A strategic buyer acquires to operate and hold long-term, while private equity buys to scale and resell within a 3 to 7 year window, and that difference shapes every decision made after the sale closes. Service businesses in this size range are valued on a multiple of EBITDA, typically 2x at baseline and […]
How to Sell a HVAC Company: Key Steps, Average Duration & Top Options
Key Takeaways Selling an HVAC company is a 6 to 12 month transaction, with another 6 to 12 months of preparation work usually needed before going to market. Around 89% of listed businesses fail to sell, and the most common reasons are owner-dependent operations, sloppy books, and revenue-based valuation expectations that buyer math will not […]
How Long Does It Take to Sell a Business: Stages & Average Timeline
Key Takeaways Selling a privately held HVAC or plumbing service business typically runs 12 to 18 months end-to-end, with 6 to 12 months of that time spent on the active listing-to-close window. Owners who skip preparation usually sit on the market longer, accept lower multiples, or end up in the 89% of listed businesses that […]
How to Sell a Plumbing Company: Process, Timelines & Best Options
Key Takeaways Selling a plumbing company is a 9 to 12-month process that runs through valuation, financial cleanup, buyer outreach, due diligence, deal structuring, and a 6 to 12-month transition where the seller stays on, paid, and bound by a non-compete. Only about 20% of brokered listings actually close, and roughly 50% of agreed deals […]
How to Value an HVAC Business for Sale: EBITDA Valuation & Calculator
Key Takeaways HVAC owners with annual revenue under $5M usually expect a sale price tied to revenue, but buyers value service businesses on adjusted EBITDA, not top-line sales. Most owners walk into the conversation with messy add-backs, undocumented owner dependency, and no growth story, which keeps the multiple stuck near the 2x baseline instead of […]