Construction, Remodeling & Interior Design Group, 15-Year Georgia Contractor

$8.0M

Revenue

$923K

SDE

3.3x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Coweta County, Georgia construction group made up of three complementary entities that cover new home construction, residential and light commercial remodeling, and interior design. The company builds homes for customers on their own land (having deliberately exited speculative building), takes on major renovations, and offers design services in-house, letting it capture a customer through multiple stages of a single project. On roughly $8.0M in revenue it throws off $922,797 in cash flow, an 11.5% owner-earnings margin that is respectable for a contractor of this size.

The operation runs with nine employees spanning administration, estimating, project management, field supervision, bookkeeping, and design, plus an established subcontractor bench. That is a real management layer rather than a one-man shop, which matters for a buyer who is not a licensed builder. New work comes largely from referrals and reputation with only light SEO, which is both a testament to the brand and a flashing signal that a proper demand-generation engine has never been built.

The business is being marketed as SBA pre-qualified at a $2,997,000 asking price, a 3.25x cash flow multiple. It leases its office at $4,260 per month with the lease running to September 2027, so there is no real estate in the deal. The stated reason for selling is vague ("Other Opportunities"), which is worth pressing on given the strong headline numbers.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is solid for the category: $922,797 of cash flow on $8.0M in revenue is an 11.5% margin, and the shift away from speculative building toward contracted, customer-land projects reduces inventory risk and the swings that wipe out overleveraged builders in a downturn. At a 3.25x multiple the purchase price is $2,997,000, which SBA financing can turn into a modest equity check against a business already covering a real management payroll.
The moat is relationship and reputation based: 15-plus years operating, established subcontractor relationships, and referral-driven demand mean the pipeline does not depend on paid acquisition. Three complementary entities under one roof let the company sell design, build, and remodel to the same customer, a coordination advantage most single-trade contractors cannot match.
There is a real operating team in place, nine employees covering estimating, project management, field supervision, bookkeeping, and design, which means the business is not fully dependent on the owner swinging a hammer. That team depth is exactly what makes a $900k-cash-flow contractor financeable and operable for a buyer who runs it rather than builds it.
The growth story is credible and cheap: the company admits it does almost no formal marketing beyond light SEO, so structured lead generation, a real website funnel, and adjacent service lines (cabinetry, handyman) are obvious levers. When the existing business was built on word of mouth alone, incremental marketing spend tends to convert unusually well.

How to improve it

Stand up a real demand-generation engine in the first 90 days. The listing concedes marketing is limited to some SEO, so add paid search, a lead-capture website, Google Local Services ads, and a referral-incentive program to widen the top of the funnel while the referral base still carries the volume.
Launch the identified adjacent service lines, cabinetry and handyman services, to raise revenue per customer. These are natural attachments to existing remodeling and new-build jobs and can be sold to the current customer base without new acquisition cost.
Tighten job-level costing and gross-margin discipline across all three entities. With subcontractor-heavy delivery, small estimating errors compound fast, so implement standardized bid templates and per-project profitability tracking to protect the 11.5% cash-flow margin.
Formalize the sales pipeline and CRM. A referral business often loses deals to slow follow-up, so track every inbound lead, quote turnaround, and close rate to convert more of the existing demand into signed contracts.
Build owner-independence into the org chart before the seller leaves. Confirm which entity holds the general contractor license, identify the qualifying individual, and cross-train project managers so the business does not hinge on any single license-holder or estimator.
Renegotiate or extend the office lease well ahead of the September 2027 expiration. At $4,260 per month occupancy is cheap, and locking in favorable terms removes a near-term uncertainty that a lender and future buyer will both scrutinize.
Standardize a preferred-subcontractor program with rate agreements and quality SLAs. Codifying the currently informal subcontractor network protects capacity and pricing as volume grows and reduces key-relationship risk tied to the departing owner.

Diligence notes

Reconcile the $922,797 cash flow across three separate legal entities. Confirm the add-backs, intercompany transactions, and how design revenue and shared office costs are allocated, because combined SDE from related entities is where restatement risk hides.
Pressure-test the vague reason for selling. "Other Opportunities" on a business posting these numbers deserves a direct conversation, and you want to understand whether the owner is a working builder whose departure removes production capacity or truly a passive figure.
Verify licensing and the qualifying individual. Establish who holds the Georgia residential and general contractor license, whether it transfers with the sale, and what continuity plan exists so operations are not halted at close.
Examine backlog, work-in-progress, and revenue concentration. Review the signed-contract pipeline, deposit and draw schedules, and whether a handful of large custom-home projects drive an outsized share of revenue, since a thin backlog changes the value materially.
Confirm subcontractor and labor dependency. Understand which trades are captive versus outsourced, whether crews follow the owner, and how warranty and callback obligations on completed homes are handled and reserved for.
Validate the SBA pre-qualification specifics and lease assignment. Confirm the loan structure, required equity injection, and that the landlord will assign or renew the lease expiring in 2027, all of which gate a financed closing.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →