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Full Editorial Writeup
This is a 20-year-old roofing and construction company doing roughly $2.2M in annual revenue with reported earnings near $750K, a stout 34% margin for a trades business. The company runs a subcontractor-based model with an experienced superintendent handling daily operations, which keeps fixed overhead low and gives the business operating flexibility without carrying a full employee roster. Core services span roofing, remodeling, and general construction across an established regional market.
What stands out is the customer acquisition engine, or rather the lack of one. Nearly all business has come through word-of-mouth referrals and reputation built over two decades, with minimal spend on advertising, SEO, or structured sales. That is both the tell on durability (a 20-year referral base is real) and the obvious growth lever for a buyer willing to turn on even basic demand generation.
The owner reports limited day-to-day involvement, with the superintendent effectively running the field work. That makes this a semi-absentee, manager-run operation that could appeal to a strategic acquirer, a competing roofing contractor, or an owner-operator who wants an existing book of business rather than a cold start. The deal is off-market, SBA pre-approved per the seller's rep, and priced at 2.4x EBITDA with seller financing available.
Why we like it
- Earnings quality is the headline: roughly $750K EBITDA on $2.2M revenue is a 34% margin, which is well above typical roofing comps and reflects the low-overhead subcontractor model. If that margin holds through diligence, the 2.4x price is cheap for a business throwing off this much cash relative to the $1.8M ask.
- Durability comes from 20 years of operating history and a referral-driven customer base, with revenue ranging $1.8M to $2.5M across cycles. Roofing and remodeling are replacement-and-repair driven, so demand persists even in downturns when homeowners defer discretionary spend but cannot ignore a failing roof.
- There is a clear market tailwind on the demand-generation side because the business has done almost no advertising, SEO, or paid acquisition. A buyer inherits a company that grew on word of mouth alone, which means the easiest growth channels are completely untapped.
- Operator advantage is strong since an experienced superintendent already runs daily operations and the owner is only lightly involved. This lowers key-man risk at the top and makes the business genuinely transferable, which is rare for a trades company this size.
How to improve it
- Stand up a basic digital marketing engine in the first 90 days: a conversion-focused website, Google Local Service Ads, and a review generation system tied to every completed job. A referral-only roofer leaves enormous volume on the table, and paid lead flow is the fastest path to filling crew capacity.
- Build and formalize a direct sales function with trained estimators and a CRM to track leads, bids, and close rates. Right now growth depends on inbound referrals, so adding outbound and structured follow-up can lift revenue without changing the operating model.
- Push into insurance and storm restoration work if not already active, since those jobs carry higher ticket sizes and recur with weather events. This is a natural margin and volume expansion for an established roofer with local reputation.
- Lock down the superintendent and key subcontractor relationships with retention agreements before close. The entire operating model leans on this one manager and the sub network, so protecting those relationships is the difference between a smooth transition and a collapse in capacity.
- Introduce preventive maintenance and roof inspection service plans to convert one-time roofing customers into repeat revenue. A light subscription or annual inspection program would add recurring cash flow to what is currently a project-by-project business.
- Add commercial and multifamily roofing contracts to diversify beyond residential referrals. Commercial accounts are larger, more predictable, and less seasonal, which smooths the revenue swings seen in the $1.8M to $2.5M historical range.
- Tighten job-costing and margin tracking per project to protect that 34% EBITDA margin as volume scales. Subcontractor-based models can leak margin quickly if pricing discipline slips, so instrumenting unit economics early is essential.
Diligence notes
- Verify the $750K EBITDA with tax returns and bank statements, and understand exactly what the add-backs are since cash flow (SDE) is listed as Not Disclosed. A 34% margin is high for roofing, so confirm it is sustainable and not inflated by deferred maintenance on equipment or underpaid owner labor.
- Scrutinize the subcontractor model closely: get the roster, pricing terms, exclusivity, and worker-classification exposure. Misclassified subs are a real liability in construction, and if the sub network is thin or loyal to the owner personally, capacity could evaporate post-close.
- Pin down the superintendent's role, compensation, and willingness to stay. The listing describes limited owner involvement and daily operations run by this one person, so the business's transferability hinges entirely on retaining that individual.
- Confirm facilities, equipment, vehicles, and real estate arrangements, since the listing explicitly says these need to be verified in diligence. Understand what hard assets are included versus leased, and whether any real estate sits outside the asking price.
- Analyze revenue concentration and the referral pipeline by pulling customer-level revenue and lead sources. A business this dependent on word of mouth needs its top-account concentration and the stickiness of its referral channels stress-tested.
- Validate the SBA pre-approval and seller financing terms directly, since both materially affect the capital stack and the quality of the exit for the seller. Confirm the owner will carry a meaningful note, which signals confidence in the stated numbers.
Source
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- Profitable Plumbing Business, 60-Year Bay Area Plumbing Contractor
- Industrial Refrigeration Company, 41-Year Ammonia & CO2 Systems Contractor
- Well-Established HVAC Contractor, 20-Year Monmouth County NJ Operator
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