American-Made Solar & Green Technology Manufacturer, Baldwin County AL

$2.0M

Revenue

$515K

SDE

7.8x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is an American-made manufacturer of solar-powered products serving both residential and commercial markets, founded in 2011 and based in Baldwin County, Alabama. The company designs, engineers, manufactures, and assembles its own proprietary solar solutions, and separately produces a unique insulation material aimed at energy efficiency. Products are sold through an established dealer network that purchases and installs the equipment, giving the business a distribution channel it does not have to rebuild every quarter.

The numbers are modest but real: roughly $2M in revenue against about $515K to $550K in cash flow, which implies a healthy owner-earnings margin north of 25%. The operation runs lean with nine full-time employees including one manager, out of a 15,000 square foot leased warehouse at $10,500 per month. The listing includes $500K of inventory and a heavy $2.5M in FF&E, meaning a large share of the $3.99M ask is backed by hard production machinery rather than pure goodwill.

The strategic pitch is straightforward. The seller is retiring, there is no dedicated sales team, and the dealer channel plus product line could be pushed into new geographies and commercial applications. That is upside, but it is also a tell: this business has grown to its current size largely without proactive selling, which cuts both ways for a buyer underwriting growth.

Why we like it

The margin profile is strong for a small manufacturer, with roughly $515K to $550K of cash flow on about $2M of revenue, a 25%-plus owner-earnings margin. That kind of conversion in a hard-goods business usually signals real pricing power on proprietary products rather than commodity assembly.
The dealer network is the most durable asset here. Products move through established resellers who buy and install, which means the company is not dependent on a founder's personal Rolodex for every sale and has a distribution base a new owner can lean on and expand.
A meaningful chunk of the ask is collateralized by tangible assets, with $2.5M in FF&E and $500K of inventory included. That improves downside protection and makes an SBA or asset-based lender more comfortable than a pure-goodwill deal would.
There is clear, un-pursued growth right in front of a new owner. Management admits there is no sales team, so a buyer who bolts on even a modest outbound function and expands the geographic footprint has an obvious lever the current owner never pulled.

How to improve it

Hire or install a real sales function in the first 90 days. The listing flat-out says a sales team would make this business much more profitable, and with a dealer channel already in place, adding two reps to recruit and activate dealers is the highest-ROI move available.
Audit and expand the dealer network geographically. Map where current dealers sell, identify white-space states, and set a target of adding dealers in adjacent Southern markets first where solar and insulation tax incentives are strongest.
Diversify beyond solar's policy exposure by leaning into the insulation product line. Insulation demand is far less tied to fluctuating solar tax credits, so growing that SKU set hedges the revenue base against changes in federal or state solar incentives.
Quantify and de-risk the tax-credit dependency in the sales pitch. Rebuild product ROI stories that stand on operating-cost savings alone, so demand does not collapse if credits are reduced, which protects volume through any policy or macro downturn.
Tighten inventory turns against the $500K of stock on hand. Manufacturers this size often carry slow-moving components; a basic SKU velocity review can free up working capital and improve cash conversion within the first two quarters.
Formalize the manager role and document tribal knowledge before the seller's 30 days of training expire. With only nine employees and a retiring owner, capturing engineering specs, dealer relationships, and production processes is critical to preserving value.
Explore recurring or replacement-part revenue. Selling maintenance kits, warranties, or replacement components to the installed base and dealer channel would add a repeat-revenue layer to what is currently a one-time-sale model.

Diligence notes

Reconcile the revenue and cash flow discrepancy. The structured fields say $2M revenue and $515K cash flow, while the body text says approximately $2.5M revenue and $550K cash flow. Get audited or bank-verified financials to confirm which is real before anchoring on the 7.75x multiple.
Stress-test the tax-credit dependence. Products explicitly market available tax credits as a buying driver, so quantify what share of demand hinges on federal or state solar incentives and model volume under a scenario where those credits shrink or expire.
Scrutinize the $2.5M FF&E valuation. That figure is larger than revenue and drives much of the asking price, so get an independent equipment appraisal and confirm the machines are owned free and clear, current, and not obsolete.
Examine dealer concentration and contracts. Understand how many dealers drive revenue, whether relationships are contractual or informal, and what churn looks like, since the dealer network is the core moat and could be fragile if it rests on a few relationships.
Assess key-person risk around the retiring owner and single manager. With nine total employees, determine who holds the engineering IP and production know-how, and whether 30 days of transition support is remotely sufficient to run the shop.
Verify the proprietary product claims and any IP. Confirm patents, trademarks, or trade secrets actually exist and transfer with the sale, because much of the margin premium depends on the products being genuinely differentiated rather than commodity solar assembly.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →