Established Pool Service, Repair & Renovation Company, 25-Year Central Florida Operator

$2.9M

Revenue

$501K

SDE

6.4x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 25-year-old pool services company operating across two divisions in Volusia County, Florida, one of the state's high-growth residential corridors. The business combines recurring weekly maintenance routes with higher-ticket mechanical repair and renovation/construction work, giving it both predictable base revenue and episodic upside. It serves a mix of residential, commercial, and HOA clients through a fleet of 13 branded vehicles and a 13-person team, and the sale includes an owned commercial facility with a customer showroom, offices, and parking.

The financial profile is solid but honest: roughly $2.94M in trailing revenue against $500,581 in seller's discretionary earnings, an SDE margin near 17%. That margin reflects the reality of a labor and vehicle-heavy field services model rather than a light asset business, and the recurring maintenance book is what anchors the enterprise value. Florida's year-round pool usage and steady population inflow make demand structurally durable, and pools are a chore homeowners pay to outsource in good times and bad.

The asking price of $3.2M includes $650,000 of real estate, meaning the operating business is being valued closer to $2.55M, or roughly 5.1x SDE ex-real estate. That is a meaningful distinction for a buyer underwriting cash flow versus paying for a building. The two-division structure, established brand, and lead repair technician already in place make this a credible platform for a home services roll-up or an operator stepping into a running book.

Why we like it

The recurring weekly maintenance routes across residential, commercial, and HOA accounts create a predictable revenue floor that is genuinely sticky, since homeowners rarely switch pool servicers without cause. Layered on top is higher-margin repair and renovation work, giving the business both a stable base and episodic upside from equipment replacement and construction jobs.
Twenty-five years of operating history in the same market means an established brand, a mature client base, and documented systems, which lowers execution risk versus a younger business. A lead repair technician is already in place to support continuity, reducing the key-man dependency that sinks many field services deals at transition.
Florida's climate makes pool service a year-round need rather than a seasonal one, and Volusia County sits in a high-growth residential corridor with steady population inflow feeding new pool installations and service demand. Pools are a maintenance obligation people outsource in good times and bad, which makes this cash flow durable through a downturn.
The included real estate is a customer-facing showroom with offices and parking, which supports the renovation sales funnel and gives a buyer control over occupancy costs. Backing out the $650k building, the operating business trades around 5.1x SDE, a reasonable entry for a recurring-revenue home services platform.

How to improve it

Audit and reprice the weekly maintenance routes in the first 90 days, since long-tenured pool books almost always carry accounts that have not seen a price increase in years. Even a modest per-account monthly increase across the recurring base flows almost entirely to the bottom line given fixed route density.
Push aggressively into commercial and HOA contracts, which the listing explicitly flags as an underdeveloped growth lane. These accounts are larger, stickier, and less price-sensitive than one-off residential customers, and they compound the recurring revenue base that drives the enterprise multiple.
Use the existing showroom and renovation crew to convert more maintenance customers into higher-ticket repair and remodel jobs. A structured cross-sell process that flags aging equipment during routine service visits turns the recurring route into a lead engine for the high-margin division.
Tighten labor productivity and route optimization across the 13-person team, since SDE margins near 17% suggest room to improve technician utilization and drive time. Route-density software and clear per-tech job targets can lift jobs completed per day without adding headcount.
Build a simple digital lead pipeline with local SEO, Google reviews, and paid search for the service area, which most legacy pool operators neglect. In a growing residential market this is a low-cost way to capture new installs and service switchers before competitors do.
Formalize maintenance agreements into auto-renewing, auto-billing contracts if they are not already, to harden the recurring revenue and reduce churn. Predictable ACH billing also improves working capital and makes the revenue base far more defensible at a future exit.
Implement basic financial hygiene and monthly reporting to clean up the seller-reported numbers into buyer-ready statements. This protects your own exit multiple later and gives you real visibility into division-level margins between maintenance and renovation.

Diligence notes

The financials are seller-reported on a trailing twelve month basis, so verify revenue and the $500,581 SDE against tax returns and bank statements. Scrutinize the add-backs behind SDE, since owner compensation, personal expenses, and one-time items can materially inflate the number a buyer is paying 6.4x on.
Separate revenue and margin by division between recurring maintenance and repair/renovation, because the two have very different quality of earnings. Understand how much of the $500k SDE comes from lumpy construction jobs versus the sticky recurring book, as that mix directly determines what the business is really worth.
Pull the recurring account roster to confirm real customer count, average monthly billing, contract terms, and churn history. Confirm whether accounts are under formal agreements or informal handshake arrangements, since undocumented routes transfer far less reliably at closing.
Assess key-person risk beyond the owner, particularly the lead repair technician who supports continuity and any licensed personnel required for construction and renovation work in Florida. Confirm which contractor licenses the business relies on and whether they transfer or require a qualifying individual post-sale.
Appraise the included real estate independently to confirm the $650,000 allocation is fair, and separate that value cleanly from the operating business so you know your true multiple on cash flow. Review the facility's condition, any deferred maintenance, and whether it is appropriately sized for the operation.
Inspect the 13-vehicle fleet and enclosed trailer for age, mileage, and near-term replacement capex, since a tired fleet can quietly consume the first year of cash flow. Build a realistic reserve for vehicle and equipment turnover into your underwriting rather than treating the included assets as free.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →