Commercial Lighting Design, Sales & Distribution, New York State

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a New York State lighting business that designs, sells, and distributes lighting solutions for both commercial and residential clients, with the commercial side driving roughly 75% of its $5M in revenue. Founded in 2005, the company has nearly two decades of continuous operation, a loyal customer base of specifiers, contractors, and homeowners, and a lean team of six full-time employees. The business combines technical design expertise with product distribution, which creates stickier professional relationships and larger project values than a pure box-moving distributor.

The company operates out of a leased 4,500 square foot office and warehouse facility and carries roughly $150,000 in inventory included in the asking price. The seller frames the competitive edge as a shrinking field of direct competitors who can match the full design-plus-distribution capability, and positions geographic expansion as the obvious growth lever since the model travels well across adjacent markets with minimal incremental capital.

At $2.2M against $800K in cash flow, this is priced at 2.75x SDE, a reasonable multiple for a distribution business of this size. The reason for sale is benign (the owner wants to pursue other projects), and seller financing plus 6-8 weeks of transition training are on the table. The key question for any buyer is how much of that $800K sits in the owner's own technical and sales relationships versus the team and systems.