Established Civil & Environmental Engineering Firm, Mercer County NJ

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a civil and environmental engineering firm in Mercer County, NJ offering a full menu of land development services: surveying, civil engineering, stormwater management, environmental permitting, site planning, and subdivision development. These are the technical gatekeeping services that developers, builders, and municipalities must pay for before a shovel hits the ground, which gives the firm a defensible position in the local land development chain. The client base is described as loyal and recurring, and growth has been referral-driven on the back of a reputation for precision and responsiveness.

The numbers are the headline here. On $1.3M in revenue the firm throws off $550k in cash flow, a 42% owner-earnings margin that is unusually fat even for a professional services shop. That margin is the entire thesis: this is a high-skill, low-overhead practice where the value sits in licensed expertise and relationships, not in equipment or inventory. The office is leased, so there is no real estate to buy and no capex drag.

The deal is priced at $1.65M, roughly 3x cash flow, and has been prequalified for SBA financing stacked with a seller note. The broker's illustration shows an owner-operator putting in $180k down and clearing about $276k per year after debt service. The seller is retiring and will provide transition support to hand off client and referral relationships, which is critical in a business where the goodwill walks out the door with the principal unless it is deliberately transferred.