Established Nevada Public Sector Architecture Firm, 10+ Years, Direct-Select Public Work

$3.7M

Revenue

$1.1M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a Nevada architecture firm with 10-plus years of history serving the public sector: state agencies, counties, cities, school districts, colleges, and transportation clients. It designs new buildings, renovations, facility assessments, and system upgrades. The standout structural feature is that Nevada law prohibits architects from competing on fee for publicly funded design work, so firms are selected on qualifications, past performance, and relationships rather than price. Roughly 90% of the firm's work arrives through direct selection, and it has never advertised.

The economics are clean. On $3.73M of revenue the firm throws off $1.09M in SDE, a 29% owner-earnings margin, with no debt, no litigation, and no E&O claims. Client stickiness is real: 20 of 41 clients billed since 2023 returned in at least three of four years, and several relationships trace back to founding. The owner deliberately cut intake in 2025 to protect a busy team, which means a buyer inherits capacity upside rather than a tapped-out book.

Delivery is not founder-dependent in the way most small design shops are. Four project leads average seven years with the firm and two staff architects stamp their own drawings, so day-to-day production continues without the owner. A buyer steps into $1.51M of contracted work left to bill into 2026, a $471K near-term pipeline, and 14-plus named public entities identified but never pursued for lack of bandwidth. The ideal acquirer is an architecture, engineering, or construction firm wanting an instant Nevada public sector platform.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong and verifiable: $1.09M SDE on $3.73M revenue is a 29% margin, delivered cash-free and debt-free with no litigation or E&O claims. The firm also carries $1.51M of already-contracted work left to bill, which means a meaningful chunk of next year's revenue is signed rather than hoped for.
The moat is written into Nevada law. Architects are prohibited from competing on fee for publicly funded design work, so selection is driven by qualifications and relationships, not price, which structurally protects margins and shields the firm from the fee races that crush private-sector design shops.
Demand is counter-cyclical and policy-driven. Revenue flows from state capital improvement programs, county and municipal budgets, school and college facilities, and transportation infrastructure, all of which keep funding projects through downturns and are increasingly backed by federal and state infrastructure dollars.
This is operator-ready, not owner-trapped. Four project leads average seven years of tenure and two architects stamp their own drawings, so project delivery runs without the seller, and the owner offers up to 12 months of transition to hand off client relationships and proposals.
Repeat revenue is the base case here. 20 of 41 clients billed since 2023 came back in at least three of four years, with several relationships dating to founding, so the firm renews public clients by default rather than re-winning each project cold.

How to improve it

Restore and expand intake immediately. The owner throttled new work in 2025 to protect the team, so a buyer who adds two or three project architects can convert the existing demand overflow into billed revenue without spending a dollar on marketing.
Pursue the 14-plus named public entities already identified but never approached. These are warm targets within an existing relationship-driven selection process, so a dedicated business development push in the first 90 days can seed the pipeline beyond the current $471K near-term and $1.51M contracted backlog.
Systematize facility assessments as a lead engine. Management notes assessments convert into follow-on design projects, so productizing a recurring assessment offering to current public clients creates a predictable funnel of downstream design fees.
Add adjacent licensed capacity (engineering or interiors) or bolt-on a small local firm. The market is fragmented with many sub-scale shops, and acquiring one brings staff, licenses, and client relationships that immediately expand the platform's ability to absorb turned-away work.
Formalize knowledge transfer away from the seller during the 12-month window. Document the proposal process, client agreements, invoicing, and QC so that the firm's selection track record and relationships survive the owner's departure and do not walk out the door.
Tighten utilization and project margin tracking. On a professional services firm this size, moving billable utilization up a few points and enforcing scope discipline on fixed-fee public contracts flows almost entirely to the bottom line.
Lock in and extend key staff with retention and incentive packages before close. The four project leads and two stamping architects are the franchise, so equity-lite incentives or multi-year retention tied to the 12-month transition protect the asset you are buying.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize client concentration and the backlog. With 41 clients billed since 2023 and $1.51M of contracted work, confirm what share of revenue and backlog sits with the top three to five clients, and verify that contracted work is genuinely signed and funded rather than estimated.
Validate the direct-selection moat and continuity. Confirm the Nevada fee-competition prohibition applies to the firm's project mix, and understand whether selections are tied to the owner personally versus the firm's prequalified standing, past-performance record, and staff architects.
Pressure-test staff retention and licensing. The deal's value rests on four long-tenured project leads and two architects who stamp drawings, so review employment terms, non-competes, compensation, and any flight risk, and confirm license status and continuity post-close.
Confirm the lease and transition mechanics. The ~2,860 sq ft office runs through November 2028 with assignment requiring landlord consent, so secure consent early, and paper the 12-month owner transition with specific, enforceable deliverables around client introductions and QC handoff.
Reconcile the SDE build and working capital. Review the 2025 financials given the owner's deliberate intake cut, normalize for the excluded business vehicle and any owner add-backs, and model the cash-free debt-free delivery against unbilled WIP and receivable timing on public contracts.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →